Gender and Communication Section Head elections 2025

The Gender and Communication Section will be holding online elections for one co-chair and one vice-chair positions, for the term 2025 - 2029.

The elections will be held online from 7 to 21 May using the SurveyMonkey platform.

Individual members and representatives of institutional members in good standing, who are also registered as members of the Gender and Communication Section by 5 May are eligible vote. Voters will receive a voting link on 7 May.

To verify if you are a member of the GEN Working Group, log in to your IAMCR account and select “My Sections and Working Groups” from the menu.

Read about the Gender and Communication Section

More information and timeline at https://iamcr.org/s-wg/elections2025

Candidates

For Co-chair:

For Vice-chair:

Statements

For Co-chair

Ambrish Saxena, South Asian University, India

I am a combination of academics and industry having vast experience on both the sides. In the industry, I have worked on all media platforms – print, radio, TV, digital and films and has been associated with news organisations, like News 24 Group, Zee Group and TV Today Group. In academics, I have remained associated with institutions of high repute.

I am well-versed with the system of academic audit and have supervised the work of IQAC and NAAC in different institutions. I have been involved in research with national and international organisations. I was Principal Investigator (PI) for India in the just concluded third cycle of study by Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS), Germany. Earlier, I handled a study of WHO on the media coverage of health issues in South East Asian Countries.

I am working as Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Design, South Asian University, New Delhi. I am in the process of setting up departments of Arts, Design and Media under this Faculty. South Asian University is an international university established by 8 SAARC nations. Earlier, I was working as Professor and Dean, in DME Media School, Delhi Metropolitan Education, GGS IP University, New Delhi.

I have master’s degree in 4 subjects – Political Science, Journalism and Mass Communication, Law, and Management. I have more than 74 books to my credit as author and editor. I have presented more than 60 papers in National-International Conferences. I have guided/supervising 20 PhD and M Phil students. 

I have been associated with 24 universities in India as External Expert in BOS, DRC and Academic Council. I have written study material for IGNOU and produced lectures for CEC, a unit of UGC, India. I have worked in film projects of the Films Division and National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

I am Secretary of Global Media Education Council (GMEC). I am in the Advisory Board of South Asia Communication Association (SACA), also members of AEJMC and ICA.

I have visited the US, China, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Romania, Turkey, UAE, Egypt and Bangladesh in pursuance of my academic interest. I have virtual access to numerous countries for my academic and professional activities. I hold sessions for the students of Canada, France, Belgium and Germany. Also, I have trained journalists in Maldives, and journalists of African countries in India.

I have been consistent in attending IAMCR Conferences in the physical space (except during COVID-19). In the Lyon Conference, I attended most the GEN sessions and provided a moral support to the conduct of sessions in the absence of leadership. I have been a Reviewer of Abstracts in GEN and Law sections for many years. I have been conduction webinars on International Women’s Day for my previous institution DME in collaboration with IAMCR-GEN for the last three years. 

Dr Ambrish Saxena, Professor, South Asian University, an institution established by SAARC in New Delhi, India

Patricia Núñez, Complutense University, Spain

My name is Patricia Núñez, from Spain. I am a full Professor and the Head of Applied Communication Science Department in the Faculty of Media & Communication at Complutense University.

I am working as Vice-chair of Gender and Communication Section at the IAMCR since 2020, and I am interested in serving the Section as Co-Chair, considering my peer Wajiha Raza Rizvi is stepping down. I wish to improve the Section with the help of the new team in the future, also continuing to finish some of the work that we as Head of the Section have been doing together in the past.

During my five years, we have tried to gain visibility in the organization and added value to the association through online events during the Covid-19 and face to face in France and New Zealand in 2023 and 2024. I am grateful all our members and authors, and different organizations of all over the world that joined hands with us at different events, and collaborated with us to help in improving our voice and network.

We have promoted different online and face-to-face seminars in collaboration with significant global gender networks such as UNITWIN, ECREA and ALAIC, over my five years as Vice Chair of the Gender and Communication Section. 

I am working with Universities Network of Gender, Media, and ICT (UNITWIN), representing Spain in the UniTwin. As an active member of UniTwin network, I have participated in different events such as the New York Assembly, international workshops and projects. 

As Ex-Member of the ECREA Executive Board, I have been developing ECREA relations with the Global institutions, especially at International Conferences. (ALAIC, for example)
I have also been a member of the EDI committee, a committee about Equality, Diversity, and inclusion in ECREA.

I am a member of different European projects, focusing on gender and equality that include Equality, diversity, and inclusion for research enhancement (EDIRE) or Women with disabilities in social engagement (RISEWISE). I also work for DIGITALFIT, a project focusing on effects and influences of images in social networks on girls´ and women’s health. 

I, along with my peers in UNESCO and UNITWIN have published the outputs of those projects in more than 100 publications—articles, reports, manuals, and guides on the New Generations, focusing on gender, media literacy, and violence in social networks, and ways of improving gender indicators in media. 

As a senior member of the new GEN team, I would like to continue developing the section by joining more voices all over the world and organizations. I will continue contributing to the role that IAMCR has as a reference in the communication area. I would like to keep working with members of Gender and Communication Section to increase our networks, and help them to share their interests by promoting collaborative space.

I am looking and working for a better and inclusive world, giving a voice to people, and sharing opinions to get it.

Sadia Jamil University of Nottingham Ningbo China

I have been serving the IAMCR’s Journalism Research and Education since July 2016. I served the section as the Vice-Chair between 2016 and 2020, and I have been serving as the Chair of JRE section since 2021. To continue my services for IAMCR, I hereby express my interest in chairing the Gender & Communication Section, which primarily reflect my passion to foster gender studies research and knowledge exchange. I believe the issues of gender, identity and representation are posing new sort of challenges to societies across the world, and hence the IAMCR’s Gender & Communication Section serves as an international platform form for media and communication scholars to address the structural challenges of gender disparity, and their intersections with other layers of oppression, for instance cast., ethnicity, race, nationality and religious identities. Currently, I am acting as the interim co-lead of Gender Studies Group of Institute of Asia Pacific Studies (IAPS) at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo (China). I need your support to encourage me to contribute my role as the Chair of Gender & Communication Section in IAMCR.

I take this opportunity to introduce myself through the bio below:

Dr. Sadia Jamil is an Assistant Professor and Director of Research at the School of International Communications, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China. She earned a PhD in Journalism (University of Queensland, Australia), a Master of Science in Media Management (University of Stirling, Scotland), and a M.A. in Mass Communication (University of Karachi).

She has taught courses at the Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi and in the past, at the University of Queensland, Australia.

She is the recipient of University of Queensland's prestigious Centennial Award and IPRS Award in Australia (2010), and recipient of Union Insurance's Cairo Air Crash Journalists Victim Memorial Gold Medal in Pakistan (2007).

Dr. Jamil is the Country Representative UAE and China of Asian Media Information & Communication Centre (AMIC), and she is the Chair of the Journalism Research and Education Section of the International Association of Media & Communication Research (IAMCR). Dr. Jamil is also the co-editor of the prestigious IAMCR and Palgrave book series, the 'Global Transformations in Media and Communication Book Series'.

Dr. Jamil is one of the Ambassadors of Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA). She sits in the editorial board of six leading international journals in the areas of journalism, digital media, political communication, and media practices in the Middle East. She is serving as honorary advisor of Media Action Nepal as well.

Dr. Sadia Jamil 
Assistant Professor & Director of Research, 
School of International Communications, 
University of Nottingham Ningbo
Contact: sadia.jamil@ymail.com

Sneh Gupta, Bennett University, India

Dear Colleagues and Section Members, 

I stand before you, seeking to serve at IAMCR Gender and Communication Section (GEN) for its open positions, driven by a resolute commitment to advancing rigorous scholarship at the intersection of gender and media. My eight-year journey within IAMCR, as a dedicated member, contributor, and award recipient, alongside my role as an Assistant Professor at Bennett University, India, has equipped me with the unique perspective and experience needed to amplify South Asian voices and contribute significantly to the GEN section's global impact.

My doctoral research focused on "Media Advocacy for Gender Equality as a Sustainable Development Goal for India: A study of new media campaigns and programmes," underscores my commitment to gender advocacy. This research, combined with my active involvement in initiatives promoting gender equality, reflects a deep understanding of the intersection between media, gender, and sustainable development. I am a strong advocate for gender-sensitive research and communication practices, and I am passionate about amplifying the voices of marginalized communities.

I have actively participated in conferences, workshops, and collaborative projects, contributing to the vibrant intellectual community that defines IAMCR. The IAMCR UNICEF C4D Research Grant Award 2021 and the IAMCR Travel Grant Award 2023 are not merely accolades; they are testaments to the transformative role IAMCR has played in my professional development, providing me with opportunities to expand my research horizons and connect with leading scholars in the field. I also received the Best Paper Award at the International Conference ICMC 2023, MICA, Ahmedabad, India in association with the Department of Marketing, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, USA. I have been a panelist at the Social Media Marketing and Education Research Symposium, University of Sunshine Coast, Australia, 2021, at the BW Businessworld exchange4Media International Women’s Day Conclave, India 2021and at a Special C4D Session by UNICEF and Global Alliance for Social and Behaviour Change during IAMCR, Lyon, 2023. My study on Visual and AI Bias on Wikipedia was selected among the 12 best studies on Wikipedia in 2022 and was presented in its annual research showcase by Wikimedia Foundation. 

I have successfully co-organzied and assisted for various global seminars, media practice workshops, panel discussions and conferences like “ChatGPT in the media and communication industry” with leaders from Advertising, PR, and Communication Industry in 2023 by Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and “Mediamorphosis: Contemporary Perspectives from the Media Industry and Academia” in 2020.  My doctoral research and subsequent academic pursuits further solidify my capacity for rigorous academic administration and leadership with strong analytical and organizational skills.

I envision the GEN section as a dynamic and inclusive hub for interdisciplinary research, where scholars from diverse backgrounds engage in collaborative investigations addressing pressing gender-related issues in media and communication. My dedication to contributing my experience, passion, and commitment stems from a deep belief in the section's potential to drive meaningful change within the field and beyond. 

Sneh Gupta
Assistant Professor
Times School of Media
Bennett University, India

Statements

For Vice-chair

Christy Mady, Notre Dame University, Lebanon

I am writing to express my interest in the position of vice chair to the Gender and Communication section at IAMCR. What encourages me to submit my candidacy is the enriching personal and professional experience that IAMCR has given me ever since I presented my first paper at the conference in 2018. I am also encouraged by my encounters with the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Gender and Communication section as they have endowed the section with a welcoming spirit of togetherness and cooperation, and it is my purpose to continue to foster that spirit. 

I have consistently served the Gender and Communication Section as a reviewer, reviewing paper proposals over the years, especially shedding the last-minute load for posting the results and inviting the presentations in time. We completed the task one day ahead of the deadline for the IAMCR Singapore Conference in 2025. Besides being an active IAMCR member and conference presenter since 2018, I have also chaired IAMCR conference sessions and took part in the GEN section’s International Women’s Day webinars.  

I bring into IAMCR a rich professional academic and field background, as I have been actively involved in national and international consultation work, curricula development, and training mainly in the areas of media, alternative media, marginalized groups, and gender.  Besides my current position as associate professor at Notre Dame University – Louaize (NDU), I worked as an external consultant with the likes of Oxfam, United Nations, and Deutsche Welle among others. Recently, I was a consultant on a UNDP communication empowerment project that involved the training of over 130 municipalities and 12 municipality unions across Lebanon’s 7 governorates. I also helped develop a national gender and media course in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW), NDUS, and Lebanese American University (LAU). I also worked on developing a course on gender, marginalized groups, inclusion, and the media, in cooperation with IWSAW and a course on Data Journalism with Deutsche Welle. At NDU, I am an active member of curricula and personnel committees, a graduate theses supervisor, an instructor and have also worked alongside colleagues on program reviews and in the organization of media competitions, forums, conferences and events.

My research interests are mainly focused on Pan Arab media, journalism, and the intersection of media with the various social, socio-political, cultural, labor, and legal aspects of gender and sexuality in the SWANA region and mainly Lebanon. My work has been published in peer reviewed journals, and I have continued to actively engage in research, since I received my PhD in Communication from Carleton University (Canada) in 2016. My hope is to bring this rich experience to IAMCR where my work would be a continued commitment to meaningful inclusion, scholarship and friendship to keep IAMCR conferences welcoming to scholars from around the globe, so they continue to impart upon others the rich experience I have benefited from and perhaps to make it even richer.

Christy Mady
Associate Professor
Department of Media Studies
Notre Dame University – Louaize

Faiza Rafique, Canadian University of Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dear Memebers and Jury I, Faiza Rafique would like to submit my nomination as a vice chair of gender and communication section for IAMCR. 

I am based in Dubai as currently working with Canadian University of Dubai as a senior visiting lecturer in the school of communication and creative industries. I am also teaching as an adjunct lecturer for Public Speaking at American University of Dubai. Previously, I served as an Assistant professor of communication and media at Fccollege University for 11 years.

I have been associated with Gender and Communication section for more than six years. And this July I will be completing my first term as a vice chair.

Over the period of this time, I was lucky enough to work with my seniors and learn from them. We have managed organizing conferences for IAMCR. I have personally worked on newsletters over these years, with Dr. Wajiha. 
I have also participated in webinars as a collaboration between gender and communication section with Delhi Metropolitan Education University. 

I have chaired many sessions for the Gender Sections over these years and reviewed papers for the section. I am positive and very confident that I will be able to deliver the same quality of work and commitment to the section as a vice chair.

I look forward to being part of the team again. 

Hoornaz Keshavarzian, Simon Fraser University, Canada

My name is Hoornaz Keshavarzian, and I am an Asper Graduate Fellow, CERi Fellow, PhD candidate in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University and a sessional lecturer at University of British Colombia, Department of English and Cultural Studies in Canada. My doctoral dissertation focuses on the intersection of transnational feminist media studies, social movements and politicized bodies. Over the years of my participation in IAMCR, I have consistently submitted my work to the Gender and Communication Section due to its alignment with my research area, and each submission has been accepted.

I have been teaching various courses at SFU since 2019, including the fourth-year level course, Gender and New Information Technologies, informed by Feminist Science and Technology Studies. Similarly, Internet Culture, the course that I have been responsible for since 2023 at UBC, centers around Noble’s Algorithms of Oppression (2018) with a focus on Black feminist technology studies, where gender and race intersect.

Since starting my PhD, I have served in different committees, holding positions such as the Graduate Student Caucus Chair, the PhD Representative on the Indigenous Media Studies Hiring Committee, and the Graduate Representative on the Media, Communication, and Public Engagement Hiring Committee in the School of Communication at SFU. I believe that I can meaningfully contribute to the GEN section given the proximity of my research to this area and my previous committee work and university service.

My recent work tilted “Make Iran Great Again”: Apolitical Influencers and the Revival of a Romantic Patriarchal Nationalism (2025), has been published in Communication, Culture, and Critique – Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcaf005

In this study, Stewart and I argue how the regressive slogan of “Man, Homeland, Prosperity” stands in deliberate and aggressive contrast to “Woman, Life, Freedom”, a rallying cry chanted in the revolutionary aftermath of Jina Amini’s death in Iran. This unfolding feminist movement was to be co-opted, depoliticized and deradicalized by the right-wing monarchists through a populist, patriarchal, and nationalist discourse.

I am currently co-editing a book with Dr. Daniel Ahadi that seeks to conceptualize the new socio-political imaginaries that emerged during the Woman Life Freedom movement in Iran. In March 2023, in response to the state murder of Jina Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman at the hands of the Islamic Republic’s morality police, we hosted a symposium on the Woman Life Freedom Movement at Simon Fraser University. This volume, forthcoming by Fernwood Publishing, brings together papers presented by the symposium’s panelists.

We collectively contend that this feminist revolution with its high-octane motto, Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Kurdish for Woman Life Freedom) sheds light on the gender apartheid and therefore offering new imaginaries when it comes to transnational feminism. Of significance was the presence of women as revolutionary protagonists at the forefront of the Jina Uprising, chanting Woman Life Freedom. This electrifying and solidarity-building slogan crosses national boundaries and compels us to center fights for justice and freedom on a feminist epistemology.