12th South Asian Media and Cultural Studies Conference 2026
Conference dates: January 29-30, 2026
Theme: “Resilience & Renewal: Tradition, Innovation, and Media Futures in South Asia”
Location: Florida State University (hybrid format)
Conference website: bit.ly/samcs26
Contact: samcs@cci.fsu.edu
The 12th Annual South Asian Media and Cultural Studies (SAMCS) Conference will be held on January 29-30, 2026. This will be a hybrid event, hosted both online and in person at the Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA. Proposals were due by 11:59 pm EDT on October 1, 2025.
The 2026 conference theme, “Resilience & Renewal: Tradition, Innovation, and Media Futures in South Asia,” explores how media and communication are shaping, and are shaped by, the region’s cultural, political, and social transformations. The theme encourages reflection on how local, Indigenous, and urban communities across South Asia and South East Asia engage with media to preserve identity, share knowledge, and respond to change. From journalism and cinema to digital storytelling, strategic communication, and grassroots media, the conference welcomes a wide range of perspectives on how tradition and innovation intersect in everyday practice. It offers space to explore how media contributes to more resilient, and culturally grounded futures in the region.
The conference opening keynote speaker is Dr. Michael R. Ogden, Dean Emeritus, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Zayed University. His talk, entitled, “Indigenous Responses to South Asia’s Climate Crises,” focuses on Indigenous documentary, climate resilience, and the role of South Asian perspectives in shaping global media futures. This talk will be in-person at the FSU Center for Global Engagement and streamed at 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, January 29, 2026.
The conference closing keynote speaker is Dr. Taimur Shamil. He is national security and foreign policy expert from Pakistan, based in New York. His talk is “The Narrative Power: Mapping South Asian Think Tanks and Their Influence on Policy Formulation,” The talk is in-person at the FSU Center for Global Engagement and online at 1:30 pm Eastern Time on Friday, January 30, 2026.
The program included individual presentations, panels, posters, creative projects, and works-in-progress from scholars, students, artists, and practitioners.
The Draft Program is here. It will be updated to include conference streaming links and any program changes.
The SAMCS Conference aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue, collaboration, and exchange among scholars, students, policymakers, artists, and community leaders from across the globe. We are committed to supporting work that engages critically with both local and global dynamics shaping media and cultural expression in South Asia, and globally.
Please register here:
Please direct any questions to the organizing team at samcs@cci.fsu.edu.
Feel free to share this announcement with colleagues and networks who may be interested.
Warm regards,
The SAMCS Organizing Team
Email: samcs@cci.fsu.edu