Synergies in Communication (SiC)

The 10th International Conference

Bucharest, Romania

27 – 28 October 2022

hybrid academic event



The Department of Modern Languages and Business Communication of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE), Romania, is organizing the 10thannual international conference Synergies in Communication (SiC 2022), to be held in a hybrid format on 27-28 October 2022. The event will be organized under the auspices of the Faculty of International Business and Economics in partnership with Aix-Marseille Université, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University (SOA), Quest Romania, PROSPER-ASE Language Centre, The Romanian Society for English and American Studies (RSEAS), a member of The European Society for the Study of English (ESSE), Association of Japanese Language Teachers in Romania (APJR). A special thematic panel is organized by the SIEF Ritual Year Working Group.


The conference is organized around 6 thematic areas:


Section 1: Synergies in Linguistics, Business and (Inter)cultural Communication (online)

Communication is a synergistic field where effectiveness is given by knowledge from diverse domains and by the ability to align best practice with the increasingly rapid pace of the world today. Moreover, today, universities face the challenge of meeting their dual role as institutions of culture and higher education as well as providers of knowledgeable, flexible, autonomous and self-determined graduates for the labour market. This section of our conference welcomes discussions on topics related to the following main areas:

  • Current developments in academic and research communication
  • Linguistics, sociolinguistics and (inter)cultural communication
  • The language of modern media
  • Language and literature in the cultural and linguistic space
  • Literary and cultural studies; analyses of culturally determined values, mentalities, actions, attitudes etc.;
  • Theory and practice in (inter)cultural education;
  • Business communication – intercultural dimensions and specific skills demanded on the labour market.
  • The inter-disciplinary dimension of business communication – changing mentalities through environmental education.
  • Translation studies;
  • Traductology and terminology in business and economics;

Email: sic.section1@gmail.com


Section 2: Interdependences: Academic and Digital Literacies in the New Educational and Research Environment. Revisiting Quality in Higher Education (online)

This section provides an interdisciplinary forum for specialists in various fields to share expertise and to reflect together on ways forward, in the current academic context, with all its challenges and opportunities. This section will be organised in partnership with the University of Zaragoza, the Doctoral School of Humanities of “Ovidius” University Constanta, and the Romanian Association for Quality Language Services QUEST. Possible topics include (but are not restricted to):

  • Academic literacy development – case studies from different international contexts;
  • New developments in communication, study, teaching, assessment, and professional development in the digital era;
  • Quality related aspects in the new educational and research environment;
  • New perspectives on academic networking, research and dissemination of research outcomes;
  • Revisiting research methodologies in applied linguistics and education;
  • Current and upcoming challenges in multilingual education.

       Email: sic.section2@gmail.com


Section 3: Romanian Cultural and Linguistic Studies (online)

Romanian academia play an important role in building bridges between values, traditions and representations attached to Romania and to other cultural areas – in Europe or worldwide. We propose to focus on the presence of Romanian culture in other countries, to strengthening connections between Romania and other cultures, to the teaching of Romanian culture and language to foreigners, with a view to using such cultural and linguistic knowledge in a multicultural context. Papers are invited on, but not limited to topics such as:

  • Romanian cultural studies – literary, translation, socio-linguistic, pragmatic studies;
  • Teaching Romanian as a foreign language – theory and practice;
  • Enhancing Romanian and foreign students’ awareness of each other’s cultures, as a prerequisite for academic and professional mobility, as well as social and cultural inclusion.

       Email: sic.section3@gmail.com


Section 4: East Meets West across Borders and Boundaries (hybrid)

Over the last years, there has been a burgeoning debate about the Eastern multicultural space, ranging from Eastern Europe, Middle East and South Asian countries to the Far East, which has been intrinsically coupled with significant cultural and economic dynamism; however, such diverse and multi-layered areas have also been the subject of all sorts of misrepresentations and misinterpretations. Future trajectory of the Eastern mind-set might provide a basis for the emergence of new civilizations in this new century and new millennium.

This section attempts to explore the outcomes of the various encounters between Eastern and Western cultural conventions in relation to literature, arts, social sciences, media studies and other fields, by carefully examining the observations and insights provided by scholars, as well as by increasing our own cultural awareness. Proposed areas may cover:

  • The Self and the Other;
  • Media, popular culture and visual anthropology;
  • Women’s identity and memory;
  • Psychology and trauma studies;
  • Image, imagination and imaginary worlds;
  • Colonial and postcolonial studies;
  • Translation studies;
  • Literature and the socio-political context.

 Email: sic.section4@gmail.com

Section 5: Synergies in Ritual and Folklore Texts (hybrid)

This section regards a text as a semiotic notion, which comprises verbal and non-verbal messages. All rituals and folklore texts have communicative values, and can exemplify an ideal scheme of an act of communication. The classical understanding of communication, as stated by Harold Dwight Laswell (who addresses the questions “Who says what, to whom, in which channel and with what effect?”) takes in rituals and folklore a form of synthetic combination. Here it is a synergy of verbal (speech, song, or their absence – silence) and non-verbal actions (the use of objects, instruments, clothes, food), accomplished by the various actors, in specific local and temporal circumstances. Participants to this panel will address the following questions and themes with regard to the Ritual Year, or other related themes:

  • Types of verbal communication in ritual and folklore texts (incantations, magic formulae, blessings, etc.).
  • Non-verbal forms of communication (prosody, kinetics, mimics, gestures, etc.)
  • Interpersonal and intergroup communications in calendric customs.
  • Addressees of the communication (God, Saints, Virgin Mary, lower spirits, such as demons of illnesses, spirits of the woods and water, etc.).
  • Ritual carnival as a communication.
  • New channels for, and new forms of ritual and folklore communication.
  • Rational and irrational in the synergies in ritual and folklore texts’ communication
  • Gender and communication.

Email: sic.section5@gmail.com

Section 6: Love in Times of Pandemic, War and Economic Crisis (online)

In the last few years, the world has experienced great changes. The global pandemic, the war between Russia and Ukraine and the economic recession have reshaped our society in different ways, challenging our relationship to the world and to each other. Now, more than ever, we understand the importance of affection in our lives, with all its nuances. The term “love” designates the most complex human experience, encompassing a variety of meanings: gentleness, benevolence, warm-heartedness, generosity, devotion, tenderness, passion, surrender, to name but a few. We welcome submissions that explore all aspects of this topic from various academic fields: literary studies, film studies, theatre studies, cultural studies, religious studies, comparative studies, interdisciplinary studies, etc. The themes for the session include, but are not limited to the following suggestions:

  • Kindness and selfless heroism during the pandemic
  • Compassion, responsibility and the economic crisis
  • Love, war and trauma
  • Love, suffering and loss
  • Love, solidarity and community
  • Love, guilt and forgiveness
  • Love, identity and memory
  • Unconditional love
  • Love for family members, friends and enemies
  • Love, imagination and romantic dreams
  • Love, passion and desire
  • Love, hate and indifference
  • Unrequited and selfish love

Email: sic.section6@gmail.com