COMM Updates - 9/25/2024

Michelle is pictured with co-facilitator, Megan Nicely, at Senate House, University of London.

On September 6, 2024, Professor Bruce Lewenstein presented “Lessons from Science Communication” at the Humanities Communication Convening at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Cambridge, MA. As part of a day-long workshop on developing a "Center for Humanities Communication," he presented key insights from science communication—the most important is the difference between deficit and dialogue.

Publications

Professor Bruce Lewenstein, August 2024, “Science Communication in a Diverse World,” Journal of Science Communication. Recent years have brought a welcome and needed attention to diversity and inclusion in science communication. This diversity covers language, geography, religion, gender, sexuality — and politics. But with diversity comes complication, where our interest in public communication of science and technology comes in conflict with our identities, our politics, and sometimes even our moral positions. This paper presents a number of examples, highlighting the need for science communicators to be self-reflective about their commitments and how they shape their activities as science communicator practitioners and researchers.

G. Asante, Assistant Professor Wunpini Mohammed, A. Appiah-Kubi, September 2024, “LGBT Activism, Social Media and the Politics of Queer Visibility in Ghana,” The Oxford Handbook of Media and Social Justice, Oxford University Press. This chapter explores how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and sassoi (LGBTS) Ghanaian activists use social media to mitigate the tensions around their desire for political visibility and need for personal safety. Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram allow for such complex maneuvering to occur by creating room for anonymity and privacy. Nonetheless, such sites are not outside the confines of social hierarchy in face-to-face interaction. As such, these sites should be approached as spaces where desires for social justice intersect with corporate capitalist extractivist tactics and in turn complicate the efficacy of social justice efforts.

Picture Time!

On September 11, 2024, faculty participated in a Q&A in Navigating the Communication Major and Beyond (COMM 1111). The course, which is taught by Professor Sahara Byrne and Undergraduate Program Coordinator Kristie Milliman, introduces first-year and sophomore students to our major and focuses on transitioning to college life, developing academic identity, and making meaning of the college experience. 

Pictured from left are Kristie (moderator), Assistant Professor Danny Parker, Professor Jeff Niederdeppe, Senior Lecturer Christopher Byrne, and Professor Lee Humphreys.

Following the Q&A, Assistant Professor Danny Parker spoke with students about her academic experiences, including that as a first-generation student.

On September 13, 2024, the Department of Communication hosted the annual New CALS Faculty Reception. During the event, Associate Professor Claire Wardle presented to the CALS leadership.