EMJ Students Present Research at ICA 2025
Five Erasmus Mundus Journalism students from the 2023-2025 cohort took the global stage at flagship ICA 2025 in Denver, presenting bold ideas on journalism and Gen Z, AI, and online political communication. How did their ideas turn into presentations at the world’s leading communication conference? Continue reading.
The Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association (ICA), the world’s most important conference in communication studies, was held this year in Denver, Colorado, from July 12–16. Among hundreds of international scholars and practitioners, five Erasmus Mundus Journalism students earned a spot to present their research.
Munich Cohort and "Mundus Media Dreams" Project
Four of the students came from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), presenting their collaborative project Mundus Media Dreams, developed during the winter term 2024/25. At its core, the project asked: how can journalism help make the world a better place in times of global crisis?
To answer this, 21 Mundus students from 17 different countries each conducted seven interviews based on a quota plan, producing 147 interviews in total. The findings were shared through two presentations:
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Aurora Alliegro & Elena Campo (LMU): Building Better Media Landscapes and Societies Through AI Journalism: Global Solutions From Gen Z
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Munnazzah Raza & Henry Stevens (LMU): Mundus Media Dreams: How Can Gen Z Create a Better World Through Journalism?
Amsterdam Cohort: Individual Research
In addition to the Munich team, Xueshan Zhao from the political communication track at University of Amsterdam (UvA) presented her independent study, examining how online misogyny targets women in politics:
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Xueshan Zhao (UvA): The Pattern and Effect of Online Misogyny on Twitter Towards Female Politicians: A Case Study of Finnish Former Prime Minister Sanna Marin
More Than Presentations
Together, the five students impressed audiences with their insights, engaged in panel discussions, and contributed to ICA’s global conversation on media and communication. Beyond the formal sessions, they also took part in networking events, receptions, and social gatherings. These experiences are as integral to ICA as the research itself.
For those curious about what the conference felt like from a student’s perspective, Aurora Alliegro’s LinkedIn report offers a personal take.
The outstanding presence of EMJ students at the prestigious conference highlights the academic excellence of the programme as well as the path the degree opens for the students interested to pursue journalism as an academic discipline, especially in the two more theoretical specialisations of Munich and Amsterdam, the host universities for the presenting students at ICA 2025.