The School of Communication Studies just wrapped up its 37th Annual Communication Studies Conference last week. The conference ran from April 13-15 and kicked off Monday night with the keynote address given by Dr. J. David Cisneros from the University of Illinois. Collectively, there were 25 papers presented by 50 students with 22 guest faculty discussants.
Beginning Tuesday morning and lasting till Wednesday afternoon, a variety of student speakers presented their research papers. The topics varied from communication and digital media, persuasion, identity, relationships, well-being, honors theses and more. Some papers had been completed and the presenters expounded on their findings, while others are still in the process of concluding and the outcomes were to be determined.
The director of the conference, Dr. Carlos Aleman, explained to the audiences how each presenter was hand picked by their professor. These students had displayed exceptional research, study and work habits and therefore had the honor of sharing their findings with those in attendance.
Furthermore, guests and speakers could follow along via social media, using the hashtag #SCOMcon2015 to see various pictures and updates throughout the week.
One presenter, Marlena Luciano (’16), talked about her experience presenting at the conference, “Presenting for SCOM week was an incredible experience. Although this was our first time conducting research, we still gained valuable practice in presenting a topic that interested us and received feedback from faculty and other professionals. It taught us the importance of continuing our knowledge in the field of communication by asking questions and finding answers through research.”
As in years past, Top Presentation honors are selected by faculty discussants’ assessments of the clarity of purpose, organization, professionalism, informative value, and level of engagement. This year the following presenters earning highest marks were:
“Crisis Communication and Sexual Assault on College Campuses.” (Julie Hirschhorn)
“Students as Neighbors Employing Dialogue and Deliberation to Manage Town-Gown Tensions.” (Lauren Holder, Courtney Herb & Alison Steed)
“Public Relations Promotion to Advance Child Reading and Literacy.” (Rosemarie McGinty)
To find out more about this year’s conference, the individual speakers and their topics, or information about previous years, you can visit their webpage by clicking here.
