Archives – Harrison Connect

May 20, 2016woocw No Comments

Welcome Dr. Michael Broderick to SCOM

Introducing Dr. Michael Broderick, one of the newest faculty members to join the School of Communications Studies. Broderick received a Bachelor of Specialized Studies in ethnobotanical ecology, which focuses on the interaction of humans in the biotic world (e.g. plants and people). Additionally, Broderick has a Master of Arts in an interdisciplinary program in anthropology and history, as well as a Ph. D in communication studies from Ohio University.

Broderick specializes in food, aesthetics and social change. For Broderick’s dissertation, he conducted an experimental ethnography of a small goat farm in rural southeastern Ohio. He examined the ways in which the food was utilized as an agent of social change and asked the following question: what are the ways in which food is used to create community and social change? He traced a phenomenological arc from consumption to the imagination, story and social change. Thus, Broderick states that his area of focus is on critical approaches to food, culture, aesthetics and non-traditional methods of research and reporting (e.g., creative writing, photography and poetry). Broderick is a proud member of the Virginia Sustainable Food Committee, which looks into ways to incorporate more local foods into the “4 VA” (James Madison University, University of Virginia Academy, Virginia Tech University and George Mason University) dining facilities.

Broderick will be teaching a food and communications course in the spring of 2017. Additionally, he would like to continue to teach courses that focus on critical approaches to food and consumption, as well as develop coursework in aesthetic communication and creative analytics/methodologies. When asked what he likes most about working at JMU, Broderick states, “What’s not to like? It is hands down the best place I’ve ever worked. I’m absolutely excited to come to work each day. My colleagues and the department as a whole are incredibly kind and supportive. The students here are excellent as well. No doubt.”

In Broderick’s free time, he likes to read, spend time with his family, take photos, go to concerts, watch movies and explore the outdoors! Broderick offers his students the following advice, “Live the dream. Take risks. Spend time figuring out what you love and what you’d like to spend your time thinking about; passion drives good research. Be selfish with your time, read good books, listen to good music, go out in nature, see some art, and spend time with thoughtful people. It’s all grist for the mill.”

Please give a warm welcome to Dr. Broderick!

April 27, 2016woocw No Comments

Welcome Dr. Lars Kristiansen to SCOM

By Amberly Millis (’16)

Introducing Dr. Lars Kristiansen, another one of the newest faculty members to join SCOM this year. Kristiansen received his undergraduate degree in public relations management from the BI Norwegian Business School, his masters from Illinois State University and worked on his Ph. D. at the University of Missouri. Afterwards he accepted a job position at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois as not only an assistant professor, but the coordinator of the public relations department.

Kristiansen’s expertise is in image restoration and repair strategies. He is interested in the rhetorical aspects of how and what people/companies say manifests into messages and ultimately dictates what they are accused of. Kristiansen’s main interest is to analyze how such individuals and companies subsequently recover or rebuild a tarnished image in terms of ethical or unethical image repair strategies. Kristiansen has invested research on rhetorical and social protests, politics and hate speech. In 2010 Kristiansen published the book, “In Screaming for Change: Articulating a Unifying Philosophy of Punk Rock,” which advances an understanding of punk rock by going beyond description of punk as a musical, political, social and cultural genre of communication. He is currently working on several projects involving craft beer vs. macro beer campaigns (i.e. Budweiser), as well as how image repair plays a part in the political careers of George Bush and Donald Trump. Kristiansen has been at JMU since last August and states that he is very happy with his move to the Shenandoah Valley.

“Working at JMU is not just a job to me, but so much more. I love how strong the sense of community here is,” said Kristiansen, “Everyone is always friendly, willing to help and are so close knit. I love the culture, faculty members and being able to work one-on-one with students. It all starts with the manifestation of simply holding doors open for one another.” Kristiansen believes that JMU is the best of both worlds in terms of being a large, yet small school that is committed to liberal arts learning. Kristiansen is teaching a variety of public relations focused courses at JMU, including SCOM 260, 261, 362 and 460.

“While at JMU, I am going to strive to continue to grow the public relations program alongside my colleagues and make sure to train students for the 21st century in terms of what they need to be able to do in their select careers,” added Kristiansen. Kristiansen challenges all of his students to use language for strategic purposes in terms of analyzing the world around them. He encourages them to read, watch and attempt to understand everything by breaking down the critical problems that surround them in terms of language.

When not teaching, Kristiansen enjoys spending his free time hiking in the valley, reading and playing music. Currently, he is trying to put together a faculty band!

Please give a warm welcome to Dr. Kristiansen!

April 23, 2015woocw No Comments

SCOM Week 2015

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.

April 19, 2015woocw No Comments

Student Worker Appreciation Week: Honoring two members of our SCOM family

“Family,” a word used often by the SCOM Program Support Technician, Gretchen Hansen, has become a motif to describe the School of Communication Studies’ atmosphere and the people of Harrison Hall. As we near the end of the semester and a very busy April, it is important to recognize the members of our family that sometimes go unnoticed by the general body for their hard work and dedication to the success of our program.

In celebration of Student Worker Appreciation Week, April 13 through April 20, the SCOM family would like to honor Kelsey Evans and Logan Caldwell for their years of service in the SCOM office and their contributions to the School of Communication Studies.

April 15, 2015woocw No Comments

Alumni Advise Students for the Future

The Communications Studies Careers Conference, Taking Off to New Horizons: Ideas, Advice, Opportunities, was last week. Positive vibes and JMU love was spread throughout Harrison Hall as alumni advised students on life after college. There were sessions starting at 9:05am until 4:25pm on topics ranging from the different concentrations within SCOM, to résumé reviews, to mock interviews, to what to expect after graduation, and much more.

“The pot at the end of the rainbow may be filled with gold,” quotes alumnus Rob Burke (’85). With all class years in attendance at the conference, students asked questions relevant to all aspects of the communications field. However, transitioning out of college was an overarching topic Read more Alumni Advise Students for the Future

April 7, 2015woocw No Comments

The Organizational Communication Experience

Seniors in SCOM 450: Advanced Studies in Organizational Communication had nothing but positive feedback about their concentration and the professors within it. After understanding the theories and concepts related to Organizational Communication, students work in teams to apply them during their capstone class. Seniors explain that the concentration has taught them to work in teams, work toward an overarching mission, and understand different settings and clients while applying class concepts.

Throughout the semester, seniors have been working in teams to implement campaigns for organizations in the Harrisonburg community. Within each team are dyads and triads who work on social media, marketing, and event planning on behalf of their class client. Listed below are more details about each project which we encourage all SCOM students and faculty to continue supporting!

March 6, 2015woocw No Comments

February Recap: SCOM Reaches New Heights

Along with numerous inches of snow, the SCOM department has seen major accomplishments for the month of February.

On February 10^th students and faculty attended the Love Talk Film Festival, where scholars and long-term couples shared their expertise on love and relationships. In addition seven mini-documentaries, produced by students in Jennie Rosier’s (fall 2014) SCOM 314: Communication in Romantic Relationships class, were screened. The top three filmmakers received awards for their hard work.

FIRST PLACE:

Filmmaker Name: Jessica Hunt

Film Title: Love Me Not: Why You Stay When You Should Go

SECOND PLACE:

Filmmaker Name: Alyssa Herington

Film Title: “I Love You (maybe)”

THIRD PLACE:

Filmmaker Name: Nicole Lamberta

Film Title: Smooth Sails Ahead!

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On February 13, Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) visited Washington D.C. to attend business briefings with PR agencies: Adfero Group, Burson-Marsteller, Edleman, Fleishman Hillard, and Golin. JMU will continue their professional development efforts with a visit to New York City in March.

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Dr. Fife’s essay was featured on the COE’s story project, “What Sustains Me.” He is the only CAL faculty member included in this project!

The College of Education’s “What Sustains Me” Project is a series of personal essays and/or artistic contributions about the heart of teachers and teaching. JMU College of Education faculty, faculty from other areas of the University, and teachers from surrounding area pre-K through 12th grade schools share their stories for the purpose of better understanding each other as educators and our potential as a community.

James Madison University – Eric Fife essay

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Dr. Lori Britt received JMU’s Goodman Faculty Award! This prestigious award is designed to recognize an exceptional junior faculty member for “excellence in teaching, and especially faculty who integrate their teaching and scholarship to benefit our student and the learning process.” Please share the good news.

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On the weekend of February 27^th, the JMU Speech team completed the last of their regular season travel on the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. With eleven teams representing the eastern area of the US, the JMU team finished as the Top Team both days of competition. Qualification for the national tournament is a season long process and with the results from this last weekend every member of the JMU Speech Team qualified for the American Forensic Association-National Individual Events tournament to be held in Portland Oregon this April; this will be the largest squad JMU has qualified in its history.

Individual Results are as follows:

Olivia Adams, Freshman SCOM, 3rd After Dinner Speaking
Magdalene Dada, Sophomore Nursing, 5th Impromptu Speaking
Abby Fiege, Sophomore SCOM, 4th After Dinner Speaking
Nate Gross, Freshman Undeclared, 2nd Impromptu Speaking, 4th Persuasive Speaking
Armin Haracic, Sophomore International Affairs, 3rd Extemporaneous Speaking
Ally Hepburn, Freshman Undeclared, 1st Informative Speaking
Ty Kemp, Freshman SCOM, 6th Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd Informative Speaking
Haley Lawrie, Sophomore Spanish, 5th Extemporaneous Speaking, 3rd Informative Speaking
Nathan Selove, Sophomore SCOM 2nd Dramatic Interpretation, 4th Informative Speaking, 4th Prose Interpretation
Marieka Turner, Senior SCOM, 3rd Poetry Interpretation
Greta Wolking, Freshman Undeclared, 3rd Persuasive Speaking

1ST PLACE OVERALL TEAM

Day Two Results:

Olivia Adams, Freshman SCOM, 1st After Dinner Speaking
Jessie Bur, Senior SMAD/English, 3rd Poetry Interpretation
Magdalene Dada, Sophomore Nursing, 4th Impromptu
Abby Fiege, Sophomore SCOM, 2nd After Dinner Speaking, 2nd Duo Interpretation, 4th Prose Interpretation
Nate Gross, Freshman Undeclared, 2nd Impromptu Speaking, 4th Persuasive Speaking
Armin Haracic, Sophomore International Affairs, 4th Extemporaneous Speaking
Ally Hepburn, Freshman Undeclared, 6th Dramatic Interpretation, 4th Informative Speaking, 5th Prose Interpretation
Ty Kemp, Freshman SCOM, 3rd Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd Duo Interpretation
Haley Lawrie, Sophomore Spanish, 3rd Extemporaneous Speaking
Nathan Selove, Sophomore SCOM, 4th Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd Informative Speaking, 3rd Prose Interpretation
Greta Wolking, Freshman Undeclared, 3rd Persuasive Speaking, 6th Prose Interpretation

OVERALL TOP TEAM

The team is coached by graduate students Nicole Hudak and Katie Lese, as well as Alyssa Reid and Lee Mayfield.

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REMINDERS:

SCOM Banquet tickets now available!

Below are the dates/times/locations of ticket sales this week:

Monday 3/2: Harrison Conference room 1131 from 11-2pm
Tuesday 3/3: Harrison Conference room 1131 from 10:45-1:45pm
Wednesday 3/4: Harrison 1^st floor hallway from 11-2pm

*Tickets $13, cash and check accepted.

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ALL GRADUATING SENIORS (FULLY ADMITTED MAJORS):

You must take SCOM 394 prior to graduation. Some of you may already have taken the class, and in that case you don’t need to worry about it – but if not, make sure you’re registered for the course by the time it “starts” on March 16. The course consists solely of a set of assessment tests that you must take, with no specific score required, by the deadline (typically mid-April).

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Don’t forget, you can always prepare for your future by visiting the Career and Academic Planning Center. They can help you venture down the right road with advice on majors, internships, resumes, jobs, and more.

February 16, 2015woocw No Comments

Building your Future Through CAP

College is a time for students to develop their future by learning about their interests and potential for growth. This may be a challenging process for most. Career and Academic Planning is a place where students can find help in all aspects of their college experience. Mrs. Laura Hickerson, an Internship Liaison, explains the potential for development through the office, “we are one of the only offices on campus that work with students at all levels.”

December 16, 2014woocw No Comments

No More GCOM?! The “G” Indicators will be removed from Gen Ed Courses by Fall 2015.

“Gen Ed’s are supposed to be easy.” Says who? JMU students immediately associate ‘general’ with ‘easy’. This commonly held mindset is actually a big misconception. Many of these courses are actually very challenging. So why does the dreaded “G” in front of all of these courses change the way students view the difficulty of a course?

This is one of the negative connotations the G has acquired over the years that has come to many faculty’s attention. The G was originally intended to be a positive symbol and make JMU’s General Education program distinctive, when it was created in the late 1990s. Although the General Education program continues to do this, it has acquired negative connotations that have led to major reconsiderations. During JMU’s 2011-2012 program review, faculty proposed the idea of removing the G from the course prefix in General Education classes, according to the General Education page on the JMU website. Last year it was confirmed by various members of the JMU community that this was a good idea.

Last year, the JMU General Education program made a concerted effort to reach as many people as possible including instructors who teach General Education courses to listen their opinion about this issue.

“They tried hard to explain why the program was contemplating the removal of the G,” said Dr. Tim Ball, assistant professor and SCOM basic course director, “They wanted to make sure we thought it was a change that needed to happen.” Read more No More GCOM?! The “G” Indicators will be removed from Gen Ed Courses by Fall 2015.

November 14, 2014woocw No Comments

Meet Jennie Rosier

It’s that time of year again. We are placing things in our shopping carts, swapping them out for others, and trying to get the best deals on what we are offered. Yes, I’m talking about class registration. Before we click that “enroll” button, most of the time we’ve just exited out of the “Rate My Professor” window. We want to know as much as we can about our professors, it’s our college student nature. So, here’s your chance. Through an interview with Dr. Jennifer Rosier, one of our very own SCOM professors, we learn about what she does, her passions, and some of her life convictions.

“I don’t take my life too seriously. I don’t worry about what others are doing and I’m not in competition with other people. I’m only in competition with myself, and I strive to be the best I can be…and I usually am!” When asked the reason for her success, this was Rosier’s response. Rosier has a Ph.D. from Purdue University in Interpersonal Communication. She is currently an assistant professor at JMU and was awarded the SCOM Teacher of the Year award for the school year 2013-2014. Not only is she passionate about teaching, she is also passionate about research. Most of her research is dedicated to enhancing romantic relationships. Additionally, she is the author of Jens Love Lessons, a blog site that offers relationship advice based on research and her expert opinion, and book “Make Love, Not Scrapbooks,” also dedicated to bettering romantic relationships.

Most people who know her as a teacher, know that she doesn’t only teach material, but she also teaches something more than just textbook content—how to be passionate about life and what you do. She has a zeal for life that she tries to pass along to her students. Through much of the interview, Dr. Rosier tells us how she lives her life, and what she believes in that she thinks to be beneficial for her students as well.