Communication Department News: 2007
- First year PhD student Zachary Benjamin presented his paper "Storming the Gates at the House of Confucius: Academic Pressure, Social Mobility, and the Preservation of an Empire" on November 15 at the Indiana University-Northwest Arts and Sciences Conference in Gary, IN. The paper won the conference's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Student Research. 11.15.2007
- At the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Hearing: From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degrading Images, for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Professor Andrew Rojecki spoke about Hip-Hop and Unconscious Racism. Download Professor Rojecki's statement to the Sub-committee. 9.25.2007
- On Wednesday, Aug. 29, the Department co-hosted a one-day event, "Machine Politics/Politics of the Machine: New Technology in Political Communication Research and Teaching," at UIC. The event, an official pre-conference short course of the American Political Science Association convention, included guided tours of the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory (which developed the Virtual Reality Cave) and the brain imaging facilities at the UIC Medical Center. Sixty-seven participants joined in small, interactive sessions on topics such as digital content analysis, psycho-physiological testing, games and wiki technology, and web graphing led by technologically hip scholars of all ages. A closing reception served famous Chicago food and beverages. Andrew Rojecki and Kevin Barnhurst, Department of Communication, and Doris Graber, Department of Political Science, were the event organizers. 8.29.2007
- Richard Doherty, the Academic Technology Resource Coordinator mounted the new Department of Communication web site, today! The site retains the feel of the old site but is comprehensive, accessible and streamlined. Feedback is welcome. Contact Richard. 6.8.2007
- John Cruickshank of the Sun-Times finished up a successful semester (Sp07) co-teaching a course as a volunteer Returning Community Scholar. John worked tirelessly leading discussions, brainstorming activities, and grading assignments for the joy of working with 12 undergraduate majors and 4 M.A. students. The students appreciated the chance to get John's insights into the fate of the news media, as well as access to resources not generally available to UIC students. He invited every one of them to sit in on one of the daily editorial meetings of the Sun-Times. They've also done field work in community, alternative, ethnic, and activist media outlets, quite a contrast to the mainstream Sun-Times. The LAS Community Scholar initiative is an excellent way to build bridges to the wider community. John agreed to sit on the executive committee of our departmental advisory board, a group we're forming to support the new Ph.D. in Communication. The experience of working with John has enriched the environment of the Communication Department. 5.14.2007
- Dr. Volodymyr Manakin of Ukraine, will be hosted by the Department as a Fulbright Scholar next year, October 2007 - June 2008. Hui-Ching Chang will act as the academic host. 4.14.2007
- Kevin G. Barnhurst was named to the editorial board of the new ICA journal, Communication, Culture & Critique. 4.14.2007
- Kevin Barnhurst is co-PI on a NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) proposal, "Renewable Fuels: Technical, Political, Economic, Environmental, and Communication Aspects," (with K. Brezinsky and S. K. Aggarwal, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, H. BassiriRad, Biological Sciences, and J. Linn, Economics), to provide up to $3.2 million for Ph.D. student education over 5 years, supporting about 5 new Ph.D. students each year each for a period of two years at $30,000, one of them in the Communication Department each year. 4.14.2007
- Ming Zhang, 2006 M.A. graduate working at Monroe Mendelsohn Research, New York City, as a marketing and media research project director for clients such as Bayer and Dove. 3.14.2007
- Patricia Harkin will receive an inaugural Graduate Mentoring Award for 2007 at the Graduate Faculty Annual Meeting, April 25, 1 p.m., 613 SCE. The citation calls her "an outstanding and dedicated mentor to masters students in Communication, assuring their successful transition to advanced study." 3.14.2007
- Jim Sosnoski was invited as a group organizer to Second Life virtual reality, Linden Lab. 3.14.2007
- Kevin Barnhurst was nominated for the C. Peter Magrath Engagement Award, from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. His 2005 HUD-funded project with the North Lawndale Community News could win up to about $30,000 for use in expanding outreach in the qualitative methods course. 3.14.2007
- Jim Danowski received a participation stipend for the 2007 Online Conference for Teaching and Learning, Illinois Online Network (ION), February 14-16, 2007. Jim also received a Master Online Teacher Certification, Making the Virtual Classroom a Reality (MVCR) Program, ION. In addition, Danowski filed a Report of Research Discovery, "Software tools for word co-occurrence network analysis of large textual corpora" (Tech. ID No. DA070), with the UIC Office of Technology Management on January 25, 2007. Co-PI (with Julia Gluesing, Katherine W. McCain, and Kenneth R. Riopelle) on a $750,000 NSF proposal submitted on Feb. 21, on "Mapping Perceptual, Semantic, and Citation Networks Associated with Generation of Scientific Innovations in NanoTechnology, Microbiology, and Biotechnology." Extensive excerpt of his 1993 book chapter, "Network Analysis of Message Content," forthcoming in a Content Analysis anthology by Klaus Krippendorff of the U. of Pennsylvania. 3.14.2007
- Steve Jones as co-PI with Jason Leigh, Andrew E. Johnson, Luc Renambot, Thomas A. DeFanti, won a NSF grant of $497,372 over 3 years to fund the project, "Collaborative Research: Towards Life-like Computer Interfaces that Learn" (Award No. CNS-0703916). Jones also appeared on WLUP (97.9 FM) Jonathan Brandmeier Show, Feb. 28, to discuss technology, popular culture, privacy and the Internet. 3.14.2007
- Steve Jones, UIC professor of Communication, was interviewed about online friendships and interaction for a NBC news segment that was recently broadcast during the newscasts of over 40 NBC stations across the country. Video and text of the segment are available online here. 1.3.2007