Culture and Communication Network (CULCOM) Annual Conference: ‘Defining, developing and assessing intercultural competence in the age of AI’
22 July 2026, Bowland North Seminar Room 7 (Lancaster University) and on Microsoft Teams by clicking on CULCOM2026
Deadline for submissions: 12 June 2026 (23:59 British Summer Time)
Call for submissions: The role of technology in intercultural communication is a subject with a long tradition of research, exploring how it can both foster connection and create isolation. Platforms like social media enable people from different backgrounds to interact and share cultural traditions globally. Translation tools help bridge language gaps, while video conferencing and virtual reality offer real-time and immersive cultural experiences. But these technologies can also create imbalances and barriers. Social media algorithms often create ‘bubbles’, preventing users from naturally encountering (more) diverse cultural content. Such issues necessitate a re-evaluation of how we define, develop, and assess intercultural competence (IC). This re-evaluation is already underway, as seen, for example, in the European Union’s 2019 Common Framework of Reference for Intercultural Digital Literacies and emerging tools like the Chinese Intercultural Competence Scale. Against this background, we invite submissions that consider the impact of digital technologies, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI), on how we understand, develop, and assess IC.
The event is free (no registration fees) thanks to financial support from the Lancaster University Confucius Institute. Tea/coffee and lunch will be provided by the organisers.
Keynote(s):
- Zhu Hua, Professor, University College London, UK: Zhu Hua has extensively researched how people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds communicate with each other. Some of her most recent work focuses on AI in intercultural communication.
- Lies Sercu, Associate Professor, KU Leuven, Belgium: Lies Sercu has extensively researched intercultural competence. Her work includes research into Chinese language education and the development of related competence scales and the role of digital technology in intercultural competence assessment.
We invite:
- 200–250-word abstract for a 20-minute presentation (a 15-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes for questions and answers) about completed or ongoing research.
Following the conference, presenters whose abstracts were accepted and who delivered their presentations will be invited to submit a full-length paper to a Special Issue of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research. Full-length papers will undergo the journal’s standard rigorous peer-review process with publication contingent upon successful peer review by the journal.
For any questions, contact Dima (Dr Dimitrinka Atanasova, School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Lancaster University) at d.atanasova@lancaster.ac.uk