School of Communication Well Represented at NCA Convention

The School of Communication, A&S, had quite a presence at the annual National Communication Association convention in New Orleans, La., Nov. 16–20, with faculty and former students presenting papers on a wide range of topics.

Assistant Professor of Communication Mark Cistulli and Associate Professor of Communication Randy Jacobs (with Jason Snyder of CCSU) presented a paper called, "A Global Force for Branding: A Study of Attitudes, Intentions, the Military, and the Wars Overseas," to the Mass Communication Division. 

Associate Professor of Communication Jack Banks chaired a panel on "The Voice of Gender on Television Networks: Rich Diversity or Hegemonic Conformity?". Alum Nancy Bressler (M '11) was a presenter and Lori Bindig (M '05), who has gone on to earn a Ph.D., served as respondent on the panel and William Yousman (M '99) was a panelist on a program examining various approaches to visual research. 

Assistant Professor of Communication Aimee Miller-Ott presented four papers.  The first one, titled "The Multivocality of Sense Making: An Exploration of the Discourses College-aged Daughters Voice in Talk about their Mothers," was presented to the Family Communication Division.  The second focused on the role of social support in young women's communication about the genital HPV vaccine, and the third was called, "Face Concerns and Facework Strategies in Safe-sex Communication." Her fourth paper, co-authored with Professor of Communication Lynne Kelly, was based on a project supported by a WELFund grant.  The title of the paper is "Mean Girls in College: Communication of Female Relational Aggression in the College Environment."

In addition to her paper with Miller-Ott, Kelly gave two other papers and a presentation.  The presentation focused on the use of skills training to help reticent speakers overcome speech anxiety. She received a "Top 4 Paper" award in the Communication Apprehension and Competence Division, called, "So Many Choices! The Impact of Reticence on Communication Channel Choice across Diverse Interpersonal Situations."  Finally, Kelly presented a paper, co-authored with Professor of Communication Robert Duran, titled, "Narcissism or Openness? College Students' Use of Facebook and Twitter." 

Duran also gave a paper (co-authored with former School of Communication faculty member Diane Prusank) reporting on a content analysis of parenting advice in Essence Magazine, focusing particularly on the role of mother and advice about discipline.

School of Communication alumna Jessica Ruggles '10 also presented a paper at the convention.  Her paper, co-authored with Associate Professor of Psychology Mala Matacin, examined fashion advertisements in Vogue before and after the feminist revolution of the 1970's.