The tumult of the past 18 months has displayed that effective communication is the language of progress. The skill of communication is a learnable skill that improves every area of society – from public health to governmental policy to interfamilial management. At least that elevation of communication is what the International Communication Association (ICA) believes. Via conferences and journals, ICA aims to advance the scholarly study of human communication by encouraging and facilitating excellence in academic research worldwide, according to its website.
In order to further its mission, ICA selects an exceptional researcher to receive an Applied/Public Policy Research Award. In 2021, Dr. Srividya “Srivi” Ramasubramanian won the award at the 71st annual conference.
Watch the video of Dr. Srivi receiving her award below. Check out other videos by ICA here.
"Srividya Ramasubramanian has produced exceptional, groundbreaking, and transformative research in which she applies her rigorous media literacy scholarship to create community initiatives that improve the lives of marginalized communities and underserved populations,” said an ICA representative on its website. “She is a prolific scholar, whose work has had a measurable impact outside academia in far-reaching initiatives, including Media Rise Project, Muslims & Media project, and Difficult Dialogues on Campus Race Relations. During COVID-19, she published 80+ essays that provided public resources for community members to manage the challenges created by the pandemic.”
The full award ceremony is available on ICA's YouTube channel, with Dr. Srivi's mention timestamp happening from 3:33 to 5:33. The positive reaction to Dr. Srivi’s academic work does not end with ICA officials. Dr. Srivi’s recommendation letters sing her praise.
“Her scholarly excellence, research trajectory, pedagogical approaches, and community-based applied efforts are all seamlessly aligned to create inclusive spaces for amplifying the voices of marginalized groups.”
- A recommender for Dr. Srivi
“I remain in awe at the persistence with which she challenges established norms and brings to being new possibilities for justice anchored in the struggles of those that are discriminated against.”
- Another recommender for Dr. Srivi
Dr. Srivi said she is honored to join the ranks of other visionary communication academics.
“Thanks to all fellow scholar-activists, students, collaborators, and my community of support for all their support for doing this work,” said Dr. Srivi.
Check out Dr. Srivi’s welcome video for the 2021 ICA Conference! Along with other organizing committee members like Dr. Mary Beth Oliver (President-Elect of ICA), Dr. Mohan Dutta (Massey University, NZ), Dr. Walid Afifi (UC Santa Barbara), Dr. Meghan Sanders (Louisiana State University), Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika (Rutgers University), Dr. Srivi welcomes participants in the conference in multiple languages.