App Profile: NCA 2023

The NCA 109th Annual Convention will be held in National Harbor, Maryland, located in the Washington, DC area, where historical representations of freedom don the nation’s capital. Washington, DC is home to the White House, Washington Monument, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol, 17 Smithsonian museums, and numerous other sites, attracting millions of visitors from around the world each year. These historic buildings juxtapose the neighborhoods and people of the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area (DMV), many of whom face inequities that directly contrast the symbols of freedom just miles away. For some, the DMV is a clear representation of freedom. For others, this same area highlights an intense lack of freedom. It is from these divergent places and perspectives that we invite Communication scholars to examine both the meaning and praxis of freedom during the NCA 109th Annual Convention.