From November 14 to 18, members from our communication studies department participated in the National Communication Association’s 98^th annual convention celebrated in Orlando, Florida.  In these conferences, faculty and students share their latest research with colleagues from other institutions and also learn about the most current developments in our field. Through the interactions with colleagues from other academic institutions, faculty members also exchange best practices and activities to share this knowledge with students.

Attendants to these conventions not only present their research, but may also volunteer either as respondents that provide feedback to presenters, or serve as panel chairs charged with coordinating a panel.  Our department’s diversity is reflected in the different panels and roles in which our members participated. The list of our  COMM department members participating at NCA is detailed below, along with links to their participation:

Deanna Fassett

Presenter:

Big Questions and Big Opportunities: Building New COMMunities of Scholarship in Communication and Instruction

Celebrating Critical Communication Pedagogy COMMunities

Top Panel Session: The Dark Side of Basic Course Directing: Creating COMMunity despite Dealing with Difficult Staff Situations

Respondent

Teachers with/in Students Worlds: A Constitutive Re-imagining of Classroom “COMMunity” within the Introductory Communication Course

Luis Felipe Gómez

Presenter:

Punctuating Socialization: Conceptualizing Stage Models as Punctuated Equilibrium

Chair:

Process and Tension in Organizing COMMunities: Difference, Conflict, and Contribution

Rona Halualani

Presenter:

COMMunity and Healing: Conversations between Women of Color Faculty and Graduate Students of Color

Laurina Lanham

Presenter:

Strengthening the Introductory Communication Course: Lessons from a Community of First Generation College Students

Darcy Osheim

Presenter:

‘World of Commcraft’: Gamification in the Introductory Communication Course

Priya Raman

Presenter:

Revisiting Media Usage and Acculturation: Asian Indian Professionals in Silicon Valley

David P. Terry

Presenter:

Alone but Together: Pain, Deprivation and Presentational Performance on the Appalachian Trail

No Sh!t in the Magic Kingdom: Preparing the NCA Program for its Frequent Underage Readership

Wittgenstein’s Mistress

Chair and Respondent:

Animated Shorts: Performances of DISunity

Dr. Rona T. Halualani  has been elected as the editor for the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. This is the national disciplinary intercultural communication journal, and serves as the primary outlet for research on international and intercultural communication for an international audience.

Kudos to Professors Genelle Austin-Lett and Gina Firenzi who both received Outstanding Professor awards from the SJSU Spartans Quarterback Club. They were honored by the Student-Athlete Council at the SJSU-UC Davis football game in Spartan Stadium where they sat in the Provost’s suite to watch the Spartans rout the Aggies 45-13.