Latest News from Communication Arts & Sciences

Beth Cohen, undergraduate major in CAS (class of 2009), co-authored a book chapter entitled "Exploring Family Members' Experiences of Imprisonment." The book, "Working for Justice: A Handbook of Prison Education and Activism," will be published in June, 2013 by the University of Illinois Press. Her contribution to the chapter was completed as a research assistant for Dr. Smith. We're very proud of our talented CAS majors.

Communication Arts and Sciences Department PhD candidate Mike Bergmaier will study a key part of civic education in American democracy. He is investigating new formats for high school and college debates that are more accessible, rather than the current specialized formats highlighted with rapid-fire delivery and dense theoretical arguments. Specifically, Mike will explore the effectiveness of participants negotiating ground rules prior to each debate, rather than imposing a rigid format or an anything-goes approach. Funding from the Democracy Institute will enable the University to host a pilot debate tournament with student competitors to test this new approach to debate competitions.

Also receiving support from the Institute was Matt Wilson, who is pursuing a PhD in Political Science. Matt studies how nations experience major transitions in their political systems. Funding from the Democracy Institute will allow him to research and analyze decisions of Mexico's prominent political party, known as the Partido Revolutionario Institutional (PRI), that led to its eventual defeat after holding power from 1929 to 2000. Matt's theory is that leaders create and change political institutions to stay in office, and their success depends on specific constraints and the type of opposition they face.

The Penn State Democracy Institute is a collaborative partnership of research, teaching, and outreach between The Center for American Political Responsiveness and The Center for Democratic Deliberation. Go to: http://democracyinstitute.la.psu.edu

Michael Hecht, Ph.D., Penn State Distinguished Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, received the 2012 State Rural Health Leader of the Year Award. Hecht leads a multicultural drug prevention project, keepin’ it REAL (Refuse, Explain, Avoid, Leave), that aims to reduce alcohol, marijuana and tobacco use among middle school-aged youth. The program – recognized by the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices and available through Penn State and D.A.R.E. America – is a program “from kids, to kids, through kids” that has been proven to be effective in lowering levels of drug use. Under Hecht’s guidance, keepin’ it REAL has been adapted for use in rural settings and is the first program to emphasize culturally relevant themes for rural youth.

Read more about the Rural Health Awards

The Department of Communication Arts and Sciences of The Pennsylvania State University is seeking applications for lecturer positions.

The lecturers will teach sections of our basic public speaking course and/or a range of undergraduate communication courses in the social sciences. Master’s in related field required. Candidates with Ph.D. degrees in the discipline might also be assigned to teach upper level courses. The start date for these positions is August 16, 2013.

These are one year, non-tenure track appointments with the possibility of yearly reappointment. Lecturers normally teach three courses per semester. Summer teaching opportunities are also available every year. Applications received by May 20 will be assured of consideration; however, all applications will be reviewed until available positions are filled. For more detailed descriptions of the department, please visit our website at: http://cas.la.psu.edu. We encourage applications from individuals of diverse backgrounds.

To be considered for this position, applications must be submitted electronically at www.la.psu.edu/facultysearch. Include (1) a formal letter of application detailing relevant qualifications for this job, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) and evidence of teaching effectiveness. In addition, the candidate should request that three letters of recommendation be submitted electronically to Robin Haynes at rjh3@psu.edu.

Employment will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity and the diversity of its workplace.

If you would like to study abroad in Vienna this summer, from May 17th to June 15th, and earn 6 credits taking Health Promotion and Education courses, please see the program brochure and PowerPoint for more details and the application procedure. The deadline has been extended so apply now while seating is still available.

A grant from the World Health Organization's Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases will help scientists from Penn State's Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology to investigate the impact of climate and land-use changes on infectious disease dynamics in Tanzania's Maasai Steppe. Dr. Smith is involved in this initiative. 

Read the full story:
http://news.psu.edu/story/272820/2013/04/11/research/who-grant-will-fund-infectious-disease-research-tanzania

Dr. Weinert serves as one of the Comm Arts & Science department's lecturers, many of whom continue to pursue research while serving our department as instructors, principally in our general education course in public speaking (CAS100).

The article abstract reads:

In June 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court left broadcasters in a “holding pattern” by sidestepping the longstanding question of whether the F.C.C.’s broadcast indecency policy can survive constitutional scrutiny today given the vastly changed media landscape.  The Court’s narrow ruling in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. let broadcasters off the hook for the specific on-air transgressions that brought the case to its docket, but did little to resolve the larger issue of whether such content regulations have become obsolete.  This article provides an in-depth analysis of the legal hurdles the F.C.C. will face in attempting to construct any modified policy governing broadcast indecency.  It discusses the insu rmountable First Amendment considerations that will plague the Commission in its efforts, including the current exceptions that swallow the rationale for the regulations and the dramatically changed media landscape that render them futile.

The article citation is as follows: Robert D. Richards & David J. Weinert, Punting in the First Amendment’s Red Zone:  The Supreme Court’s “Indecision” on the F.C.C.’s Indecency Regulations Leaves Broadcasters Still Searching for Answers, 76 Alb. L. Rev. 631 (2013).

The Lexis-Nexis link for the article is available now.

The Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, The New York Times, Pearson Custom Publishing Company, and the Center for Democratic Deliberation would like to announce the Fall 2012 Civic Engagement Public Speaking Contest. Six of the top speakers from CAS 100A—Effective Speech—will speak on issues of civic importance. Judges for the contest include community leaders, representatives from The New York Times and Pearson Custom Publishing Company, and members of the Penn State community.

The initial rounds will take place in Willard on the evening of April 15^th beginning at 6:30 pm.

The final event will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, April 22^nd in the Business Building Rm 110*. A reception and the final results will follow.

This event is free and open to the public.

*Note: the location change for the final round. The closest parking will be in the East Deck by the Creamery.

Each year, Illinois State University officially recognizes an outstanding alumnus in each of its degree programs. This year, the Communication Studies faculty named Dennis Gouran as their distinguished and honored alumni in recognition of his accomplishments in the communication discipline.

Previous award winners include Dr. Marvin Kleinau, nationally known educator at Southern Illinois University, and Dr. Richard West, past-president of the National Communication Association. Dr. Gouran will send a brief statement of acceptance for the Outstanding Alumni award, as he will not be able to attend the department's awards ceremony on April 4.

If you wish, sign into the event at its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/435939016490020/

Our Fall 2012 Civic Engagement and Public Speaking Contest Final will be on C-NET (channel 98) this spring, at the following times:

• Monday, March 18 – 2:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 19 – 9:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 20 – 11:30 a.m.
• Thursday, March 21 – 12:00 a.m.
• Saturday, March 23 – 6:00 p.m.
• Sunday, March 24 – 7:00 a.m.

This may be of particular interest to students who wish to participate in the contest this semester, or in the future.

The New York Times announcement of the Fall Civic Engagement Public Speakingcontest winners can be found at: http://www.nytmarketing.whsites.net/incollege/?page=about?=studentcontests

The College of Liberal Arts is renovating shared staff space, and we decided there was no better place for these documents than their original authors or those authors' admirers. Thus, we undertook a mission to give them away.

Claudia offered this note about the project, which took several weeks to complete: "We found new homes for about 160 dissertations and theses, with faculty, current graduate students, alumni, and interested people in the field.  Requests came 23 states, some as far as Honolulu, Murfreesboro (Tenn.), and Seattle. And one alumna who lives in Toronto, Ontario claimed her dissertation.  Alumni shared stories about their days at Penn State, and spread the word to friends through Facebook.  My estimate is that if each box weighed 30 pounds (which I think this is on the low side), times 35 boxes, then we cataloged, sorted, moved, and repackaged over one half a ton of books. That’s a lot of learning!"

Special thanks to Tom Benson, Kirt Wilson, and the other CAS faculty who engineered this creative way of honoring these publications and the alumni who wrote them.

Wilkes University prides itself on having PhD-level faculty who provide a small college experience to outstanding undergraduate students. Its mission emphasizes "freedom of thought." The university aims to, in its own words, provide "an environment where students can speak their minds and actively engage in the subject matter—this under the guidance of people passionately interested in their fields—and your progress. As one Wilkes faculty member puts it: We believe you can do things you may not even have dreamed of."

Utkarsh Subnis will receive a "Student Research Presentation of Distinction Award" at the Gala Awards Dinner on Friday evening, March 29th as part of the DC Health Communication Conference at George Mason University. The award is based on his thesis research completed in CAS with direction from Professor Roxanne Parrott, "Narrative as a Medium for Health Communication Interventions for Coping With Cancer: A Qualitative Study in Patients Diagnosed with Cancer."

Penn State joined 33 other well-known institutions around the globe already offering massive open online courses (MOOCs). CAS Associate Professor Smith is involved in one of PSU's initial five courses, called Epidemics-The Dynamics of Infectious Diseases. The course is now available for registration, here: https://www.coursera.org/course/epidemics

PSU is working with the Coursera. Since Coursera launched in April 2012, the company has registered a total of almost 2.8 million users, with approximately 1.45 million students enrolling in courses each month.

Professor Denise Solomon received the 2012 Mentor Award from the International Association for Relationship Research. This award recognizes scholars who have made a significant contribution to the study of relationships through mentorship.  Professor Solomon has advised PhD students who now hold tenure line positions at the University of Georgia, the University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University, Rutgers University, the University of Iowa, Central Michigan University, and Wake Forest University. In the past year, five different current or former students were first authors on refereed journal articles that were co-authored with Professor Solomon

• Aloia, L. S, & Solomon, D. H. (in press). Perceptions of verbal aggression in romantic relationships: The role of family history and motivational systems. Western Journal of Communication.
• Weber, K. M., Solomon, D. H., & Meyer, B. (in press). A qualitative study of breast cancer treatment decisions: Evidence for five decision-making styles. Health Communication.
• Jennings-Kelsall, V. J., Aloia, L. S., Solomon, D. H., Marshall, A., & Leifker, F. (2012). Stressors experienced by women within Marine Corps families: A qualitative study of discourse within an online forum. Military Psychology, 24, 363-381.
• McLaren, R. M, Solomon, D. H., & Priem, J. P. (2012). The effect of relationship characteristics and relational communication on experiences of hurtful messages from romantic partners. Journal of Communication, 62, 950-971.
• Steuber, K. R., & Solomon, D. H. (2012). Relational uncertainty, partner interference, and privacy boundary turbulence: Explaining spousal discrepancies in infertility disclosures. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 29, 3-27.

From January 16-February 24, the Art Alley in the HUB-Robeson Center will be hosting “In His Own Words: The Life and Work of César Chávez,” an exhibition of photographs and autobiographical reflections produced by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Featuring thirty-eight photographs paired with personal recollections, “In His Own Words” examines the values and experiences that drove Chávez to work tirelessly to improve the lives of American farm workers, in the process becoming one of the most influential labor and civil rights leaders of the twentieth century.

Symposium Details:

In conjunction with the exhibit, the Center for Democratic Deliberation and Penn State's Institute for the Arts and Humanities are co-sponsoring a symposium on the contributions of Chávez to labor history and Latina/o culture on Feb. 14 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. After brief presentations by each of the four panelists, the moderator will lead an open discussion of Chávez's significance and legacy. All are invited to a reception following the program. This event is free and open to the public.

Panelists:

Jill Jensen, Penn State University. “César Chávez and the California Farmworkers: The Struggle in the Fields for Workers' Rights"
Jill is Assistant Director of the Center for Global Workers' Rights in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Penn State University. She holds a Ph.D. in History with special interest in
comparative labor law and social policy development. Her research focuses on the history of international labor standards and human rights.

Josue David Cisneros, Northeastern University. “The Legacy of César Chávez in Contemporary Immigrant Rights Movements"
Josue is an assistant professor of communication studies at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. His research and teaching focus on rhetorics of race/ethnicity, Latina/o identity, immigration, and citizenship in US public and political culture.

Steve Martin, Ripon College. “Remembering (and Forgetting) César Chávez: The Texas Board of Education's Efforts to Erase Chávez from U.S. History”
Steve is an associate professor of communication at Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he teaches American public address, rhetorical criticism, and the rhetoric of social movements with an emphasis on labor and working-class movements. He has published research on both the history of organized labor and Governor Scott Walker's recent efforts to restrict the power of public unions
in Wisconsin.

Richard J. Jensen, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “The Quiet Charisma of César Chávez”
Richard is an emeritus professor of communication at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research focuses on the rhetoric of labor and protest movements, and he is the author or co-author of eleven books, including The Rhetorical Career of César Chávez and The Words of César Chávez (both
co-authored with John C. Hammerback).

Moderator:

John Ochoa
John Ochoa is an associate professor of Spanish and comparative literature at Penn State. He is also the current director of the latina/o studies program. He has published on Mexican intellectual history, Chicano performance art, and is currently conducting research on the Chicano writer and educator Tomás Rivera as well as completing a project on travel literature.

Event Sponsors:

• The Center for Democratic Deliberation
• The Institute for the Arts and Humanities
• The HUB-Robeson Galleries
• The Department of Communication Arts and Sciences
• The Latina/o Studies Program
• The Center for Global Workers' Rights

For more information, contact: J. Michael Hogan, jmh32@psu.edu

Dr. Eberly appeared on the program to be a "citizen critic," the term that titled her first book. She spoke in relation to President Obama's gun control proposals. The program, "World Have Your Say," is the most "American" of BBC programs in Dr. Eberly's opinion in that it bears resemblance to "Crossfire"-like shows, though it eschews experts for every day people from around the globe voicing their opinions on issues of the day.

The interview can be found at the BBC at this link. The topic starts about 24 minutes in and Dr. Eberly appears about 44 minutes into the program.

Marisa Greenberg and Rachael Hernandez, as well as alum MA student, Danielle Catona, have had research papers accepted recently. The paper entitled “Segmenting by risk perceptions: Predicting young adults’ genetic-belief profiles with health and opinion-leader covariates” is co-authored by Dr. Smith, Marisa Greenberg, and Dr. Parrott, and forthcoming in Health Communication. The paper entitled “Investigating Initial Disclosures and Reactions to Unexpected, Positive HPV Diagnosis” is co-authored by Dr. Smith, Rachael Hernandez, and Danielle Catona (now at Rutgers), and forthcoming in the Western Journal of Communication.

Many other papers are coming out soon, and more are on the way. Congratulations to our productive graduate students!

Full citation: Michele Kennerly, "The Mock Rock Topos," Rhetoric Society Quarterly 43:1 (2013), 46-70.

Full abstract: A prominent strain of argument and assessment in ancient texts places stones and words side-by-side for evaluation. I call this strain “the mock rock topos,” exploiting the ambiguity of mock (mimic/taunt) to capture a common ancient attitude toward verbal representations, written especially: that they share certain qualities with stone and stonework but outperform them, too. The mock rock topos consists of four main sub-topoi—masterpiece, mimêsis, movement, and memory—whereby graphic rhetors assert the superiority of their products. Detractors of writers and writing often use lithic language in their criticisms as well. The practice of pairing busts of representative authors with their book-rolls in ancient libraries complicated the representation competition between stone and scroll and enhanced the cultured and cultural experience of readers in those spaces.

Full details online at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02773945.2012.740133