Department of Communication News:
Spring and Summer, 2007
Larry Erbert, from the University of Texas at El Paso, will join our department as an Associate Professor this fall. His scholarship focuses on interpersonal communication (e.g., marital conflict, relationship development and satisfaction, and nonverbal communication) and organizational communication (e.g., organizational narratives and turning points in organizational teams). During the Fall semester, he will teach a special topics course on negotiations in multiple contexts.
Brenda J. Allen accepted an appointment as the Associate Dean for Long-Term Planning and Initiatives in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She will continue to work with Barbara Walkosz and Sally Thee to develop the course schedule, and she will also continue to help maintain the department’s website. In addition, she will teach one course per academic year.
The department has requested to search for an external chair to join us in Fall, 2008. Sonja Foss will serve as Interim Chair during Fall, 2007, and James Stratman will fulfill that role during Spring and Summer 2008.
Deborah Burgess initiated and coordinated a book drive for the Sumedang Student Association for Communication and Media Studies at Sebelas April University, Sumedang, Indonesia. Thanks to her and others in the department, we shipped them five boxes of books.
Barbara Walkosz was selected to attend the national Comprehensive Cancer Control Leadership Institute in June along with nine other individuals from Colorado. Their work at the Leadership Institute will be integrated into the Colorado Cancer plan.
Dee Morgenthaler was awarded the Alumni Association’s first-time graduate student award ($1400). Her research focuses on media literacy, specifically the connection between the use of new types of “participatory” media and the social engagement of their users. She has presented her research at the department’s Communication Days events and at the 2007 Rocky Mountain Communication Association conference. She plans to apply for the doctoral program in the School of Education and Human Development at UCD this summer.
Emily Porter and Stephanie Webb, communication majors, have been selected as judges for "Do Something on the Net," a video production contest that features skin cancer prevention videos produced by community college students. The project is funded by the Colorado Department of Public Health.
Several of our grad students (Denise Adamic, Erin Bassity, Shannon Daut, Maisha Fields, Dee Morgenthaler, and Rosie Russo) presented at the Rocky Mountain Communication Association (RMCA) Conference at Regis University. Their paper was entitled, "Takin’ it to the Streets: The Effects of Political Communication on Public Discourse about Politics, Campaigns, and Democracy."
At the RMCA conference, Brenda J. Allen presented the keynote, entitled “Diversity Matters.” She also was a guest lecturer at the University of Texas, Austin, and the University of Richmond. In January, she was the keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Luncheon at Louisiana State, Alexandria. In addition, she was the keynote speaker for the annual Rosa Parks celebration for the Auraria Campus.
Kathy Pounders received grant money from the CU Online Department to take a 5 week online course from E-College on teaching online courses. Upon her completion of the course, she became a "Certified Online Instructor" with the E-Teaching Institute.
Daniel Montano, Creative and Film Director of MontanoSolaria, has launched a website named iCini.tv. The site is especially dedicated to independent filmmakers, devoted to making them visible and allowing young filmmakers recognition for their work and talent. Aspiring filmmakers can log on, create an account and upload videos. This service is completely free.
Sonja Foss presented three lectures at San Francisco State University in mid-April on agency, feminism, and visual rhetoric. Also, her co-authored book with William Waters, Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation (Rowman & Littlefield), was recently published. The book uses the metaphor of taking a trip to explain the process of writing a dissertation.
Diann Logan had a quilt accepted for the second year in a row at the Denver National Quilt Festival--first weekend of May at the Merchandise Mart. This juried exhibit is national in scope--approximately 400 works were on display, from quilts to embellished garments. This year's entry is entitled "Cicada" and represents the artist's concerns about our human propensity for judging bugs by their shells, books by their covers and each other by outward appearances.
This Fall, we will launch web-based technology to capture students’ speeches in Plaza 116. Think of it as our version of YouTube! Thanks to Barbara Walkosz for her diligent efforts to implement this exciting, cutting-edge facility.
Publications!
2007 Walkosz, B., Voeks, J. Buller, D., Andersen, P., Scott, M., Dignan, M. & Cutter, G. Randomized trial on Sun Safety Education at Ski and Snowboards Schools in Western North America. Pediatric Dermatology, 24 (3), 222-229.
2007 Scott, M.D., Buller, D.B., Andersen, P.A., Walkosz, B.J., Voeks, J.H., Dignan, M.B. & Cutter, G.R. . Testing the risk compensation hypothesis for safety helmets in alpine skiing and snowboarding. Injury Prevention, 13, 173-177.
2007 D’Andra, O., Overby, M.L., Walkosz, B.J., & Walker, K. Accounting for racism: Responses to political predicaments in two states. State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 7 (3), 235-255.
Sonja K. Foss, William J. C. Waters, and Bernard J. Armada, “Toward a Theory of Agentic Orientation: Rhetoric and Agency in Run Lola Run,” Communication Theory 17 (2007): 205-30.
Swartz, O. (2007). Power, praxis, and equity in the struggle for working class dignity. In K. Cahill and L. Johannessen (Eds.), Considering class (pp. 27-46). London: Lit Verlag.
Swartz, O. (2007). [Review of the book Living speech: Resisting the empire of force]. Rhetoric Review
Swartz, O. (2007). [Review of the book Critical Communication Pedagogy]. Southern Communication Journal.
Allen, B.J., Flores, L., & Orbe, M. P. (Eds.). Communicating within/across organizational contexts. International and Communication Annual, XXX. Washington, D.C. National Communication Association.
Allen, B.J. Theorizing communication and race. Communication Theory 74: 259-264.
Stratman, J. (2007). A reflection on “Risk communication, metacommunication, and rhetorical stases in the Aspen-EPA Superfund controversy.” Journal of Business & Technical Communication 21 (1), 23-26.