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Thirteen faculty members in the School of Communications participated in the national convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) held Aug. 6-9, as well as a pre-conference event hosted the day before. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual AEJMC event was held virtually for the first time.

This year’s ���ϲ����� participants included Communications Dean Rochelle Ford and faculty members David Bockino, Vanessa Bravo, Lee Bush, Brooks Fuller, Daniel Haygood, Michele Lashley, Alex Luchsinger, Jane O’Boyle, Amanda Sturgill, Hal Vincent, Qian Xu and Shannon Zenner.

A team of Interactive Media students, led by Sturgill, won first place in the convention’s Best of Digital Competition, Category III – Website (Small School). Following a visit to the village of Longo Mai in Costa Rica, the ���ϲ����� group as part of its Interactive Project for the Public Good course. The region consists of mostly Salvadoran refugees who work as farmers, artisans and educators, and the website highlights the refugees’ history and their way of life. .

The award-winning iMedia students included Liza Bunce, Ashleigh Kimble,
Tabari Boykin, London Thompson, Kwame Amponsah,
Gaurav Vyas, Rachel Eggleston
and William Brown.

In faculty news, Assistant Professor Michele Lashley was one of 25 educators selected to be a presenter in this year’s AEJMC Great Ideas For Teaching (GIFT) initiative. Her proposal was titled “A Case Study: Using Design Thinking to Facilitate More Strategic Thinking in Communications Students.” Additionally, Lashley was elected as the chair of the newly created Communications Committee for the organization’s Advertising Division.

Other noteworthy ���ϲ����� contributions:

• David Bockino co-presented “Perpetual Dependency Syndrome: Journalism and Mass Communication Education in Pakistan” as part of the International Communication Division’s high density refereed research session.
• Vanessa Bravo moderated a Public Relations Division discussion titled “Understanding Public Relations and Public Diplomacy in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities in 2020.” Additionally, she was a panelist for a session titled “The Role of the Media in Puerto Rico’s Times of Crisis,” examining a variety of perspectives including journalism practice, media representation, social movements and tourism promotion.
• Lee Bush served as a panelist for a pre-conference workshop session titled “Student-run Integrated Media Agencies: Perspectives and Best Practices.” The panel shared suggestions and experiences from student-run integrated media agency advisers in starting, managing and growing the student-run agency.
• Rochelle Ford was a panelist for a roundtable session titled “Current Issues Anything but Normal: How Will Our ‘Return to Campus’ Look this Year.”
• Brooks Fuller co-presented “Decisions & Justifications: Untangling the Supreme Court’s Low-Value Approach to Sexually Explicit Speech” as part of the Law and Policy Division’s referred paper session.
• Daniel Haygood served as a moderator for a History Division referred paper session titled “The Press and Political Change.”
• Alex Luchsinger�����Ի���Jane O’Boyle co-presented “TV News and the Military: Exploring Media Frames of an American Institution” as part of the Electronic News Division’s referred paper session.
• Amanda Sturgill moderated two panels: “Teaching Best Practices: Teaching Difficult Topics in a Polarized Society” and “Pedagogy in a Pandemic: Keeping Your Classes and Yourself Together While Things Are Falling Apart.”
• Hal Vincent moderated the Advertising Division’s executive committee meeting and the division’s virtual members’ meeting. He also completed a successful term as the head of the Advertising Division, and is now serving as the chair of the division’s Past Heads Advisory Committee. Additionally, Vincent received the division’s 2020 Distinguished Service Award for his four years of service (two years as education chair, then vice-head and head).
• Qian Xu co-presented twice sharing “Are You Passing Along Something True or False? Dissemination
of GMO Messages on Social Media” and “Framing Effects of Information Veracity and Message Frames on Information Dissemination: Examining Zika Epidemic on Twitter” in separate scholar-to-scholar (poster) research sessions. Additionally, she served as a discussant for “User Interaction and User Immersion” in a third session.
• Shannon Zenner was a discussant in the Visual Communication Division’s referred paper session.