The 30th Annual Work in Progress Conference
Thursday, 19 November - Friday, 20 November 2026
Atrium, UQ Brisbane Ctiy
2026 Organising Committee: Matthew Bapty, Oluwapelumi Oginni, Oliver Gough
Please email any enquiries to the committee scawip2026@gmail.com
Every generation inherits a world. Every generation leaves one behind. Worlds are written into being through stories and histories, through creation, critique and expression. They emerge through acts of remembering and imagining, through representation and interpretation, and through the relationships between people, places, technologies, cultures, and environments. Worlds are inherited, negotiated, contested, and reimagined. They are formed as much through everyday practices of meaning-making as through moments of disruption, discovery, and invention
For thirty years, the Work in Progress Conference has been a place where emerging researchers have gathered to share the worlds they are making: worlds of knowledge, critique, creativity, possibility, and change. As we celebrate the conference’s 30th anniversary, we invite researchers to consider the many ways they inherit, construct, challenge, and transform worlds. We particularly call for reflection on questions including the following:
What worlds does your research project reveal? Which worlds does it question? What assumptions does it unsettle? What futures does it imagine? And how might your scholarship, creative practice, and critical inquiry help navigate a time marked by diverse transformation, environmental uncertainty, shifting identities, evolving media landscapes and changing ways of knowing?
Now Open
We welcome research that questions established assumptions, revisits overlooked histories, explores contemporary realities, experiments with new forms of knowledge and communication while imagining worlds yet to come. This theme invites engagement with the processes through which worlds come into being and the forces that shape them.
After thirty years of research in progress, the conversation continues. What worlds are you making?
We invite abstracts in both academic and creative formats across all areas of interdisciplinary Communication and Arts research. Paper presentations should not exceed 15 minutes duration. Please send a 250-word abstract, accompanied by a short bio, to scawip2026@gmail.com by Friday, September 11th at 5pm.
We also invite submissions for the Dr John McCulloch Memorial Prize - $1000 prize for the most outstanding paper delivered by a UQ School of Communication and Arts HDR student.
Established in 2011 and maintained by an annual gift from Mr Gary Portley in memory of Dr John McCulloch OAM (1938-2010). John was a senior parliamentary research officer at the State Parliamentary Library (1984-1995) with a special interest in the advancement of gender equity. John had a long connection to The University of Queensland: roles included activity as a student, as a tutor, and as an elected Sub-Dean of the Arts Faculty. This prize was formalized by Senate in 2015.
Eligibility
Students who:
- are undertaking a higher degree by research program in the School of Communication and Arts, UQ;
- have submitted their paper per the below guidelines by the closing time/date of Thursday, 29 October 2026, by 5pm.
- have then had their abstract accepted by the 2025 WiP committee to present at the conference, and;
- have not previously been awarded the Prize.
Basis for award
Most outstanding applicant based on:
- A written and fully referenced paper of no more than 2,000 words (excluding bibliography).
- The paper must be presented at the conference for the student to be eligible for the Prize.
- Quality of scholarship and written expression and relevance to the annual conference theme.
Nature of prize
$1000
Submission guidelines
Entry is free. The closing time and date is 5pm, 29 October 2026 and your 2000-word paper per the above guidelines should be emailed to: scawip2026@gmail.com
The draft speaker schedule will be sent out in October, after the CFP closes. Registration will open closer to the date, including payment of conference fees.
Enquiries can be directed to the 2026 WiP Committee: scawip2026@gmail.com
We look forward to receiving your submission!
Opening Soon
Registration will open closer to the date, including payment of conference fees. Please check again later; we look forward to welcoming you to the conference.
Enquiries can be directed to the 2026 WiP Committee: scawip2026@gmail.com