UWCOM Shines at NCA 2020

The 106th National Communication Association NCA Annual Convention was held virtually from November 19-22, 2020. In addition to presenting papers and leading panels, Department of Communication faculty and students have earned much-deserved recognition for their academic explorations and scholarship. Read below for more details:

  • Top 4 Student Papers in the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine: new COM faculty member, Amanda Friz, for Pleasure Which Exceeds Language: Interrogating the Rhetorical Practices of Ordering, Naming, and Visualizing Women’s Pleasure in OMGYes
  • Top 4 Papers in the Argumentation and Forensics Division: Cimmiaron Alvarez for Who to Tell: Communication Privacy Management and Self-Disclosure of Sexual Victimization within the Collegiate Forensics Community
  • Top 4 Papers in the Interpersonal Communication Division: Kristina Scharp, Devon Geary, Brooke Wolfe, Maggie Fesenmaier, and Tiffany Wang (University of Montevallo) for “Every morning, you have to say to yourself that today’s the best day, and then today everything will happen.”: Understanding Resilience Processes and Constraints in the Context of Migration
  • In the Family Communication Division Top Four Competitive Papers (Top Paper Overall and Top 4 Paper): Kristina Scharp, Russell Hansen, Kyle Kubler, and Tiffany Wang (University of Montevallo) for “What kind of a horrible human being of a mother could not have her kids?”: Making Meaning of Parental Alienation
  • Top 4 Student Papers in the International and Intercultural Communication Division: Seonah Kim for Heterogeneous Whiteness: Glocalized Examination of White Ethnic Representations in Korean Media
  • Top Papers in the Kenneth Burke Society: Kate Rich for Equipment as Living: Robotic Rhetorical Homology in Humans
  • James L. Golden Award Session:
    Top paper (Outstanding Student Essay in Rhetoric Award): Kate Rich for Uncanny Demonstration: Holographic Cyborg Politics in Hologramas Por La Libertad
    Laureate paper: Erin Keoppen for Local Chronotopes in Vandana Shiva’s Anti-Shiva’s Anti-GMO Rhetoric
  • Top Papers in Economics, Communication, and Society: Kyle Kubler for Attention? In this economy? Fitness influencers and the strategic alignment of brands and fans
  • Emerging Scholar in Nonverbal Communication Award: Ben Compton
  • Honorable Mention in the Environment Communication Division: Collin Syfert for his dissertation, Expert Advocacy: The Public Address of Scientists in a Post-Truth Society
  • Honorable mention for the Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology and Medicine (ARSTM) Article Award: Pamela Pietrucci and Leah Ceccarelli, “Scientist Citizens: Rhetoric and Responsibility in L’Aquila,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 22.1 (2019): 95-128.

The Department proudly congratulates all the faculty and students for their outstanding contributions to the academic community!