32 Students and Faculty Represent SCOM at ECA Conference

By Amberly Millis (’16)

March 31 to April 3, students and faculty members in the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University presented at the 107th Eastern Communication Association Convention at the Hyatt Regency in Inner Harbor Baltimore, Maryland. These Students and faculty members presented their scholarly research in the convention’s informational and/or competitive panels.

ecablogphoto

JMU undergraduate student participants included:

Amy D’Amato, Lauren Antilety, Nicole Banville, Alexandra Foley, Katie HaskinsAndrew Haveles, Haley Hoff, Gina JeliffYoon KoKaitlyn Lema, Laura Mack, Kathryn McAnally, Amberly MillisAmanda Pennypacker, Ashley Reynolds, Emma Talkington, Haley Winter, and Lindsay Wright.

Graduate student participants included:

Erin Casey, Claire Habel, Austin Woodruff, and Leanna Smithberger.

Faculty member participants included:

Dr. Carlos AlemanDr. Timothy BallDr. Lori Britt, Dr. Heather CarmackDr. Eric Fife, Dr. Lindsey Harvell, Dr. Kathryn Hobson, Dr. Tatjana Hocke, Dr. C. Leigh Nelson, and Ms. Christina Saindon.

These participants joined with experts and scholars from all over the country to present their research on a variety of communication studies subjects, including crisis, interpersonal, advocacy, leadership, health, organizational, media, rhetorical, and many more. This year’s selection was very competitive, so please congratulate your fellow Dukes for their hard work and accomplishments!

To learn how you can apply to partake in next year’s ECA Conference, go to www.ecasite.org for more information.

SCOM Conference and SCOM Alumni Day, Here We Come!!

There are two upcoming events this week to kick-off the eventful month of April!

36th Annual SCOM Conference

JMU SCOM will hold it’s 36th Annual conference from April 7th- 9th.

SCOM logo

(click imagee for Facebook event page)

KEYNOTE ADDRESS:

“Takin’ It to the Streets:” Promoting Social Justice through Communication Activiism Scholarship by Dr. Lawrence Frey will kick off the Conference. It will take place in Highlands Festival Conference Center at 7-8pm.

Here is a brief schedule of the conferences:

Monday (7th)

Pre-Conference Workshop  3:30-4:30pm @ Harrison 1290

Conference Start 7-8:15pm @Highlands, Festival Conference Center

Tuesday (8th)

Paper Session 1:Social Movements and Cultural Change 9:30 – 10:45am @ Transitions,Warren

Paper Session 2: Communicate Criticism and Popular Culture 11-12:15pm @ Transitions, Warren

Paper Session 3: Independent Research Projects 12:30-1:45pm @ Transitions, Warren

Paper Session 4: Communication and College Life 2-3pm @ Transitions, Warren

Information Session: Graduate Degree in Communication and Advocacy 3:30-4:30pm @ Transitions, Warren

 

Wednesday (9th)

Paper Session 5: Mediated Communication and Identities 9:05-9:55am @ Transitions, Warren

Paper Session 6: Presidential and Public Rhetoric 10:10-11am @ Transitions, Warren

Paper Session 7 : Honors Theses 11:15-12pm @ Transitions, Warren

 

Since there are multiple sessions, find ones that fit your schedule and attend.  You will be able to find out interesting information as well as supporting your classmates.
For the full program you can find it at our Facebook event page.

SCOM Alumni Day

The day is finally here! This Friday will be the ‘Springboard Into the Future’ Alumni event!

Alumni Day flyer
(click image for Facebook event page)

                                                      Five Alumni Panel Presentations in Harrison 0102:

– Panel 1: (9:05-9:55) Entering into the Fast Paced World of For-Profit Organization’s: What to Expect!

– Panel 2: (10:10-11:00) “I graduated with a degree in Communication Studies… Now what?!”

– Panel 3: (11:15-12:05) Branding and Planning the Career of Your Dreams

– Panel 4: (12:20-1:10) Networking Like an All Star: The Ins and Outs of Building Professional Relationships

– Panel 5: (1:25-2:15) Inside the World of Public Relations: From the Day to Day to the Big Picture

Student-Alumni Lunch in Harrison 1290 from 11:30-2pm

Afterwards come out to the Alumni Awards Picnic in the courtyard behind Harrison and Ashby at 3pm!!

Enjoy a sunny Friday mingling with your classmates, faculty members and alumni! This will be a great opportunity to network as well as get to know others in SCOM!

 

We will be updating our Facebook and Twitter page during these events so please stay tuned through these outlets as well!

 

Please let us know if you have any news to share with us. You can contact Dr. Isaac Woo (woocw@jmu.edu),  Karen Kim (kim2yj@dukes.jmu.edu) or Colby Boone (booneck@dukes.jmu.edu) for a blog story idea.f

End of January Weekly Update

Harrison Connect resumes its effort to connect people around Harrison Hall at JMU.

The School of Communication Studies has kicked off its Spring 2014 semester and it is already the end of January.

We are delighted to begin our SCOM weekly updates.

Here we go.

Harrison Connect: New Student with a directed project. 

Karen Kim, senior student concentrating in PR, is now managing Harrison Connect as well as the JMUSCOM Twitter account. Please follow her posts during this semester. Please email her at: kim2jy@dukes.jmu.edu if you would like to share anything through our Twitter account as well as the Harrison Connect blog.

Undergraduate Research: Papers are accepted!!

Eight students will present at the Eastern Communication Association conference. Please click here for more information.

Alumni Award 2014: Please nominate outstanding alumni for this award.

The winner will receive up to $1,000 for travel and accommodations in order to receive their award on our annual alumni day, which will be held in 2014 (Time and date T.B.A)

Nomination packets must include: a cover letter, two letters of support, and a resume or curriculum vitae. All materials should be submitted to the Assistant Director of Communication Studies at the following address:

Alumni Award c/o Dr. Toni Whitfield, SCOM Assistant Director

54 Bluestone Drive, MSC 2106 Harrisonburg, VA 22807

OR submit the package electronically to: whitfits@jmu.edu 

Speech Team: Off to a Good Start

The JMU Speech team traveled to Alexandria, VA to the campus of Northern Virginia Community College to compete in the Richard J. Ernst Speech Tournament.  The tournament featured teams from across the Commonwealth as well as teams from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  The individual results are as follows:

Day One:

  • Shelby Akins–7th Prose Interpretation
  • Jessie Bur–6th Poetry Interpretation, 4th Communication Analysis
  • Magdalene Dada–4th Poetry Interpretation
  • Tom Giordano–6th Extemporaneous Speaking
  • Armin Haracic–1st After Dinner Speaking
  • Zach Healy–1st Communication Analysis, 1st Duo Interpretation
  • Katie Lese–1st Duo Interpretation
  • Katrina Miles–4th Prose Interpretation
  • Nathan Selove–4th Persuasive Speaking, 5th Dramatic Interpretation

3rd Overall Team.

Day Two:

  • Shelby Akins–2nd After Dinner Speaking (now qualified for the American Forensic Association-National Individual Events Tournament to be held in April at Arizona State University)
  • Jessie Bur–5th Informative Speaking, 6th Communication Analysis
  • Magdalene Dada–4th Poetry Interpretation
  • Abby Fiege–6th After Dinner Speaking
  • Armin Haracic–5th After Dinner Speaking
  • Zach Healy–1st Communication Analysis, 4th Duo Interpretation
  • Katie Lese–4th Duo Interpretation, 2nd Persuasive Speaking
  • Katrina Miles–2nd Poetry Interpretation
  • Nathan Selove–1st Persuasive Speaking

Third Overall Team Sweeps

Every member on the JMU Speech team advanced to a final round this weekend; a well deserved honor for the hard working members.  After a much needed weekend off, the team coached by Lee Mayfield and Alyssa Reid, will host the ‘Virginia is for Lovers’ Speech Tournament on our campus the weekend of February 8-9.

Debate Team: Madison Cup is coming SOON

This year’s Madison Cup is now set for the 14th annual “James Madison Commemorative Debate and Citizens Forum” on Thursday, April 17th, 2014.

The James Madison Commemorative Debate and Citizens Forum is a unique inter-collegiate debate competition, combining the excitement and challenge of a tournament competition with the participation and empowerment of a public audience.

The funding is supported by the Rupe Foundation, which will provide competition prize money for: the top ten teams and the top twelve debaters. Three teams will qualify for travel stipends.

2014 Topic: This house believes that warrantless electronic surveillance by the U.S. Government has done more harm than good.

Other cool and unique features include:

*$30,000.00 in prize money
*Debating and competing in front of a public audience
*No entry fees
*Continental breakfast, snacks and lunch provided
*Video web-cast of the final round
*Great PR for your debate program
*Madison Cup traveling trophy

Public Relations Student Society of America: Packed House

PRSSA JMU Chapter had its first meeting and an outstanding 102 students attended.

Their New York City agency visits are coming up in February.

The chapter will also elect its new leadership team members on Monday.

 

Eight SCOM students present at the Eastern Communication Association Confernece

 

Even though we have had pretty cold weather in this semester so far, the weather did not bother School of Communication Studies at all. SCOM began the semester with a good news.

Eight students will present at the Eastern Communication Association, which will be held in Providence, R.I. from April 23 to April 27.

It is still early, but, please feel free to leave your messages of congratulations to the authors here.

Those papers are:

“Who are You? Developing and Managing Identity in Different Contexts of Student Life” 

Christine Anzur, Samantha Kempter, Caitlin Kennedy, and Katherine Leeds.

“Flirtation on Social Networking Sites: A Competitive Paper Presentation”

Stefanie Leshner, Elissa Smith, Kara Stucklen, and Neal Sweeney.

There are certainly more deadlines for conferences coming up. Please check SCOM website or HERE for more information.

Well, Congratulations, all SCOM students who are presenting at the ECA conference this year!!