The Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction announces a call for papers for the 2025 annual meeting, which will be held at the Voco Chicago Downtown Hotel, August 6-8. The theme this year is "media of interaction," which invites exploration and emphasis on the diverse and dynamic media through which people communicate and interpret meaning. Media are essential aspects of social life and fundamental features of any social order, past or present. Discussions of “media” are often focused on mass or social media. However, a medium is any means or method used for the circulation of information and may include verbal and written language, music, clocks and calendars, clothing, memes, videos, emojis, and so on. A focus on media may emphasize the form through which symbolic interaction emerges, evolves, represents, and influences aspects of contemporary social life. These include face-to-face encounters, mass media representations (news, entertainment), digital media (texting messages, social media platforms, memes), Media interactionists may further distinguish among genres (ritualistic, journalistic, literary, instructional) and styles (formal or informal, persuasive or authoritative, experiential or reflective), among other analytical choices. “Media of interaction” is thus broadly conceived. Media play crucial roles in shaping interaction, selves, societies, and cultures, and investigations of media remain essential for understanding the accomplishment of everyday life in our rapidly evolving social world.

The organizing committee is pleased to announce that we have secured two remarkable speakers.

Dr. David L. Altheide will give our keynote address. Dr. Altheide is Regents’ Professor Emeritus on the faculty of Justice and Social Inquiry in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. Dr. Altheide is the author of numerous books, the most recent of which is Gonzo Governance: The Media Logic of Donald Trump (Routledge, 2023).

Our plenary speaker will be Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble. Dr. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of Gender Studies, African American Studies, and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Noble is author of Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (NYU Press, 2018).

• Christopher J. Schneider, Vice President SSSI, Brandon University (Chair)

• J. Patrick Williams, President SSSI, Nanyang Technical University

• Jacqueline Low, Past-Vice President SSSI, University of New Brunswick

• Thaddeus Muller, Past President SSSI, Lancaster University

• Jeffrey van den Scott, Vice-President elect, Memorial University of Newfoundland

• Jill Crocker, Treasurer SSSI, SUNY Old Westbury

• Stacey Hannem, Secretary, Wilfrid Laurier University