Dr. Kristina Scharp – Tuesday, April 18th, 2024

Talk Description

This talk address the communicative processes of remaking, resistance, and resilience and the ways these processes can help people better disrupt and manage the inequities they experience and resulting marginalization with which they must cope. Based on her research about family estrangement, complicated health diagnoses, and disenfranchised college students, she also illustrates how communication scholarship can inform a new theory, inspire a new research method, and translate to the public.

Bio 

Kristina M. Scharp (Ph.D, University of Iowa) is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University and a Director of the Family Communication and Relationships Lab. She researches the process of marginalization and the ways people cope with the major disruptions to their lives. She has over 90 publications in outlets such as the Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, and Communication Research as well as three co-authored textbooks. In the last few years, she was awarded the International Communication Association’s Early Career Award, NCA Family Communication Division’s Distinguished Article Award, and the Leslie A. Baxter Early Career Award in Family Communication. Her work on family estrangement, in particular, has garnered attention from numerous media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NPR.

Dr. Travis L. Dixon – Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024

Talk Description 

Professor Dixon will discuss the influence of media stereotyping on psychological and social phenomena. His work will focus on the changing news environment that has accelerated many of the adverse effects of these stereotypes. The talk will help illuminate how digital media may blunt and accelerate these effects.

Bio 

Professor Dixon received his PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Professor Dixon is a media effects scholar specializing in investigating the prevalence of stereotypes in the mass media and the impact of stereotypical imagery on audience members. In addition to the dozens of articles Dr. Dixon has published in leading Communication journals, he has received multiple top paper awards from the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association. Dr. Dixon also serves on the editorial boards of some of the leading journals in his field, including Communication Monographs, Communication Research, Human Communication Research, Howard Journal of Communications, Media Psychology, and the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. Much of Dr. Dixon’s work examines racial stereotyping in television news. His more recent investigations scrutinize the content and effects of stereotypes and counter-stereotypes in major news events, social media, and musical contexts. He is the David L. Swanson Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication, and he has partnered with community groups attempting to address racial inequity.

Dr. Jeffrey A. Hall – Thursday, March 21st, 2024

Talk Description 

Social media is bad for you, right? Perhaps it is beneficial for some people at some times and detrimental for others at other times? This presentation will examine the research consensus and public opinion consensus regarding the harms of social media. It will advance two concepts – irony and context – to help explain contradictions and confusion in both research and popular opinion. A contemporary approach that embraces these contradictions will be advanced to explain when and why social media can contribute to digital thriving.

Bio 

Jeffrey A. Hall (Ph.D, University of Southern California) is a Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas and is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. He is the director of the relationships and technology lab at the University of Kansas: https://randtlab.ku.edu. In 2023, he was the recipient of the University Scholarly Achievement Award for social sciences and professional programs at the University of Kansas. His book, Relating Through Technology (Cambridge University Press), was featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN, and won two Top Book Awards from the National Communication Association (Gerald R. Miller, Human Communication & Technology). He is the former Chair of the Human Communication and Technology Division of the National Communication Association and the current Chair of the Interpersonal Communication Division at the International Communication Association. He has written on building friendships, navigating digital media, and forming meaningful connections for the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of over 80 articles and the recipient of several major research awards, including an early-career award from the National Communication Association. His forthcoming book with Dr. Andy Merolla, Moments to Connect, will be published by Yale University Press.

Dr. Matthew Worwood – Tuesday, February 20th, 2024

Talk Description 

This interactive presentation will provide a brief introduction to generative AI before embarking on a journey to explore prevalent themes within the domain of generative artificial intelligence and its potential impact on creative industries in 2033 and beyond. Through the use of real-world examples and by applying our knowledge of co-creativity with generative AI, the presentation will highlight some of the essential thinking skills required for those interested in pursuing creative fields in the future.

Bio 

Matthew Worwood is a professor at the University of Connecticut and Director of Digital Media CT (digitalmediact.com). He specializes in Design Thinking and the process of co-creativity, utilizing generative AI tools and Digital Media. Matthew is also the co-host of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, has published various writings on creativity, and is the producer of three low-budget documentary films that explore creativity topics in education. You can follow Matthew Worwood on LinkedIn, where he regularly posts on the topic of Design Thinking and Generative AI.

Dr. Crystal Park  – Tuesday, November 28th, 2023

Talk Description

This talk will first discuss how spirituality can be conceptualized, and then utilize a meaning-making framework to explore the various ways spirituality is related to health. Research findings from the presenter’s studies, including those of cancer survivors and people living with heart failure, will illustrate these linkages.

Bio 

Crystal Park is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at UCONN. Her research focuses on multiple aspects of coping, including the roles of religious/spiritual resources, the phenomenon of perceived stress-related growth, and the making of meaning in the context of traumatic events and life-threatening illnesses, including cancer survivorship and heart failure. Her yoga-related research focuses on the mechanisms through which yoga may affect health and wellbeing and reduce stress, particularly through its fostering of healthier emotion regulation. She is currently the co-principal investigator of an NIH-funded study on the mechanisms of action and of an NIH-funded research network, Mind-Body Measures and Mechanisms of Emotional Wellbeing. She maintains an active research lab, the Spirituality, Meaning, and Health Lab, which is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, and directs the Health Psychology Certificate Program. 

Dr. Michelle A. Holling – Tuesday, October 17th, 2023

Talk Description 

This presentation explores how a rhetorical ecological approach can aid scholars in examining the rhetorical dynamics of coalition building. This approach is based on conducting rhetorical fieldwork with the grassroots community-based Friends of Friendship Park, as well as at Friendship Park, a binational park situated on the San Diego-Tijuana border. Through her research (and that of her co-author Diane Keeling), Dr. Holling advances a rhetorical ecology understanding of “coalition” that is shaped by a diversity of enclaves, memories, and inventional resources.” 

Bio 

Dr. Holling is Professor of Rhetoric at California State University, San Marcos. Her scholarly, teaching, and service commitments are guided by matters of voice, marginality, and identity that anchor in a concern for and dedication to social justice. She is an award-winning scholar who specializes in Chicana/o-Latina/o rhetoric, with additional areas of expertise including race, rhetoric, and violence; testimonio and gendered violence; and women of color in academia, as well as intersectional microaggressions. She has co-edited “Race(ing) Intercultural Communication: Racial Logics in a Colorblind Era” with Dr. Dreama Moon and “Latina/o Discourse in Vernacular Spaces: Somos de Una Voz?” with Dr. Bernadette Calafell.

Professionally, she founded the Communication, Identities, and Difference interest group in the Western States Communication Association (WSCA). She is also a past-president of WSCA and the Organization for Research on Women and Communication. Her leadership also includes being chair of the Communication Department and director of the Ethnic Studies Program. She also serves on several journal editorial boards, the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Women’s Studies in Communication, and Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, among others. Currently, she serves on the board of directors for the GriffinHarte Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting civil conversations in communities, conducting research, and providing education.

Dr. John Besley  – Thursday, March 23rd, 2023

Talk Description

Dr. John C. Besley will share key ideas from his recently released book, Strategic Science Communication (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022, with Anthony Dudo). This book seeks to help bridge the gap between science communication research and practice. For science and risk communicators, he’ll highlight the strategic value of drawing on research into behavior change and trust to help (a) identify concrete, audience-specific behavioral goals, as well as (b) specific cognitive and affective communication objectives aimed at achieving those goals. He will also discuss the importance of delaying decisions about tactics until after choices about objectives. For communication researchers, he’ll also discuss the potential value of conducting more research that either helps communicators make smarter choices or helps communication strategists understand how communicators choose goals, objectives, and tactics. 

The presentation will draw on Dr. Besley’s extensive research into understanding how scientists think about science communication, as well as efforts to outline how social science theory might be used to help scientists think more strategically about their communication choices. This work involves surveys of over 30,000 scientists, interviews with more than 150 scientists and other stakeholders from across the scientific community, and participation in a range of projects aimed at enhancing science communication training and strategic thinking. 

Bio 

Dr. Besley is among the most cited and published science communication/public engagement scholars in the world with more than 100 peer reviewed articles and other reports, as well as funding from a range of governmental (NSF, USDA, etc.) and foundation sources (Kavli, Rita Allen, Chan/Zuckerberg, etc.). He earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University (2006) , is the associate editor for risk communication for the journal Risk Analysis, and is on the editorial boards of Science Communication, Environmental Communication, Public Understanding of Science, the Journal of Science Communication, and the Journal of Risk Research. 

Dr. Francisco R. Ortega – Thursday, March 2nd, 2023

Talk Description 

Forest bathing is the practice of immersing oneself in a natural environment through sensory experiences for stress relief and mental resource restoration. Forest bathing offers numerous positive effects that can improve people’s mental health; however, many individuals who are in the most need of stress reduction benefits often lack access to nature, such as those in hospitals, nursing homes, and large cities. Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to increase accessibility to the benefits of nature by delivering immersive nature simulations that provide similar benefits. To create an effective virtual nature environment (VNE), research is needed on the components of a natural environment that make forest bathing effective. Additionally, a key issue with creating VNEs is making them deployable on accessible, everyday VR headsets, such as the Oculus Quest 2. This talk will discuss the results from an initial experiment showing the potential of biomass, or living green nature, as an essential component for the restorative effect. The talk will also cover a follow-up experiment on the importance of biomass realism, or the fidelity of the plant life, on restorative effects, as less complex assets may be more feasible for deploying on everyday VR devices. 

Bio 

Francisco R. Ortega is an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University (CSU) and Director of the Natural User Interaction lab (NUILAB). Dr. Ortega earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science (CS) with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and 3D User Interfaces (3DUI) from Florida International University (FIU), under the guidance of Dr. Naphtali Rishe and Dr. Armando Barreto. He also held the position of Post-Doc and Visiting Assistant Professor position at Florida International University between February 2015 and July 2018. His research has focused on multimodal and unimodal interaction (gesture-centric), which includes gesture recognition and elicitation (e.g., a form of participatory design). His main research area focuses on improving user interaction by (a) multimodal elicitation, (b) developing interactive techniques, and (c) improving augmented reality visualization techniques. The primary domains for interaction include immersive analytics, assembly, Navy use cases, and collaborative environments using augmented reality headsets.

His research has resulted in over 76 peer-reviewed publications, including books, journals, conferences, workshops, and magazine articles, in venues such as IEEE TVCG, ACM PACMHCI, ACM ISS, ACM SUI, and IEEE 3DUI, among others. He is the first author of Interaction Design for 3D User Interfaces: The World of Modern Input Devices for Research, Applications, and Game Development book by CRC Press.  Dr. Ortega has experience with multiple government-funded projects. For example, Dr. Ortega was a co-PI for the DARPA Communicating with Computers project. He is currently a PI for a 3-year effort for ONR titled Perceptual/Cognitive Aspects of Augmented Reality: Experimental Research and a Computational Model.

He was recently awarded a new ONR grant titled Assessing Cognitive Load and Managing Extraneous Load to Optimize Training. The National Science Foundation has also funded him and is a sub-awardee for an ONR project from Virtual Reality Rehab. Since his initial tenure-track appointment at CSU from August 2018 to August 2022, Dr. Ortega has brought over 3.3 million dollars in external funding (2.8 million dollars as principal investigator.) Recently, Dr. Ortega has been recommended for the financing of the NSF CAREER starting in 2023. Ultimately, Dr. Ortega is dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion, and his goal is to increase the representation of underrepresented minorities in the field of computer science.  

Dr. Alexandra Paxton – Tuesday, November 29th, 2022  

Talk Description

Most of us intuitively recognize the flow and connectedness of social interaction, but that fundamental reality can be overlooked in scholarly research. In my talk, I will discuss the view of interpersonal communication as a complex dynamical system. Dynamical systems theory provides an avenue for scholars to embrace the messy reality of communication, both theoretically and analytically. By viewing communication as a complex dynamical system, we can quantify the ways in which communication changes according to context (including goals, physical spaces, and relationships) and over time (and across timescales), along with the emergent properties of the communication system (including the ties between communicating individuals’ behavior, cognition, and emotion). To illustrate this idea, I will present a series of studies in dynamical systems perspective in real-world and experimental settings. 

Bio 

Dr Paxton’s work focuses on improving our understanding of communication and interaction with a data-rich and complex-systems approach, particularly in how context changes behavior. Her research interests include: Communication and social interaction as a complex dynamical system (including movement, language, attention, and emotion), data-rich and dynamics-focused research methods and analyses, naturally occurring datasets and “big data” for psychological theory-building, and ethics of human-derived data. 

Hilary Kraus, MSI – Tuesday, October 25th, 2022  

Bio 

Hilary Kraus, MSI, is the Research Services Librarian at the University of Connecticut and the subject specialist for the fields of Psychological Sciences and Kinesiology.  She has served as a health sciences and science librarian at Loyola University Chicago and DePaul University, and most recently as Nursing & Health Librarian at UMass Dartmouth.  Hilary holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from Northwestern University and an MS in Information Science from the University of Michigan.  A Chicago native, she relocated to New England in 2008.  In her spare time, she is an avid reader and crafter. 

Dr. Hyunjin Kang – Tuesday, April 12th, 2022 

Talk Description

The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing how we interact and communicate with everyday technologies. Current smart technologies capable of producing information and directly communicating with users are deployed for various communication contexts. Indeed, the rise of machine agency is a notable fundamental change that AI has brought to our experience with communication technology. However, fulfilling autonomy is one of the basic needs for humans, suggesting that the rise of machine agency leads to an essential agency tension among the users; the key sources of such psychological tensions are the loss of agency and privacy. Dr. Kang discusses how users negotiate agency when interacting with AI-based technology, and the impacts of AI vs. human agency on the persuasiveness of the technology and users’ privacy management decisions. The presentation will include research findings and implications from recently completed studies in IoT and algorithm-based social media (i.e., TikTok) contexts using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. 

Bio 

Hyunjin Kang (PhD, Penn State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Her research focuses on the psychological effects of interactive communication technologies on communication processes and user behaviors. Her work has been published in many communication and HCI journals, including New Media and Society, Media Psychology, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, and Computers in Human Behaviors. She is a recipient (PI) of Meta (Facebook) Research award. Her research project on social media users’ expectations and experiences with digital privacy will be funded by Meta Research. 

Dr. John Crowley – Tuesday, April 5th, 2022 

Bio 

My research, teaching, and service focus on understanding how to help individuals, especially those within marginalized or historically underrepresented communities build resilience to cope with the stress associated with difficult and discriminatory life experiences. My research has focused on disclosure, forgiveness, and social support. Examination of the reciprocal relationships between interpersonal communication and biology, however, is the foundation of all of my work. I am a member of a small cohort of communication scholars working to pioneer the study of the physiology of interpersonal communication, particularly in the use of biosocial models to understand the effects of coping for recipients of hurtful and discriminatory communication (both covert and overt), and am actively training graduate students in the use of these methods. 

My work has appeared in flagship communication journals (e.g., Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs) and in top journals specializing in health (e.g., Health Communication) and relationships (e.g., Personal Relationships). I am also the 2020 recipient of the Early Career Award from the interpersonal communication division of the National Communication Association. 

Our current research projects are funded by both the Villanova University’s Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society (WFI) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) from the National Institute of Health (NIH). Lastly, I am the proud recipient of the Center for the Study of Diversity at the University of Delaware’s 2020 Faculty Diversity Fellowship grant. 

Dr. Charisse L’Pree – Thursday, March 3rd, 2022  

Talk Description 

The relationship between communication technologies – or the tools that we use to communicate – and our psychology is inseparable. We come to understand ourselves through the way we communicate. Although these conversations are commonplace with respect to older communication technologies (e.g., written language, printing press), it is often dismissed when discussing more modern technologies, like consumer-market cameras, cable television, and video gaming. This talk will focus on how these technologies have fostered novel ways of communicating, interpersonally and intrapersonal, to better understand – and possible predict – the future of communication and human psychology. 

Bio 

Charisse L’Pree Corsbie-Massay is an Associate Professor of Communications at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She holds BS degrees in Brain and Cognitive Science and Comparative Media Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MA degree from the School of Cinematic Arts and a PhD in Social Psychology from University of Southern California. Charisse investigates how users think about themselves and others via media. Her work includes articles in Psychological Inquiry and AIDS and Behavior, as well as book chapters addressing serious games, race and gender methodology, and media use among marginalized populations. Her most recent book, Twentieth Century Media and the American Psyche (Routledge, 2021), describes how our relationships with media emulate interpersonal relationships through their ability to replicate intimacy, regularity, and reciprocity. At Syracuse University, she teaches classes on communication and diversity to professional media students, specifically how do media affect our understanding of different social categories and how do the social categories of media producers affect the media with which we all engage. Charisse was also awarded Teacher of the Year from the graduating class of 2017. Her upcoming book, Diversity and Satire: Laughing at Processes of Marginalization, is currently in press with Wiley. 

Dr. Stephen Stifano – Tuesday, December 7th, 2021  

Talk Description

Researchers often create multimedia stimuli to examine the behavior of individuals – but the quality, realism, and context of these stimuli can sometimes be lacking.  As a consequence, results hinging on a poor stimulus can lead researchers to make flawed conclusions with little real-world relevance.  In this talk, Dr. Stephen Stifano (Associate Professor in-Residence, Communication) will discuss important considerations when designing multimedia stimuli from both methodological and design perspectives.  Using examples from numerous stimuli he has created for a range of researchers, Dr. Stifano will discuss his process and priorities when designing a multimedia stimulus, and provide some tips for researchers to strengthen the stimuli they use in their own experiments. 

Bio 

Steve Stifano is an Associate Professor in-Residence at the University of Connecticut. He is an academic with a quantitative research background who also works as a designer, event producer, and independent filmmaker. His research considers the role of emotion in the creation and consumption of narrative media. Recently, he has been examining how emotional education can be used to improve the narratives of texting-and-driving and safer sex public service announcements. In addition, Dr. Stifano provides training for the department’s teaching assistants, lectures for and coordinates the introductory communication course, and has led the effort to revive digital media production courses in the department. 

Dr. Bernadette Gailliard – Thursday, November 4th, 2021 

Talk Description 

There continue to be calls for communication researchers to translate their scholarship into practice, yet there are few spaces that discuss the pathways available to scholars seeking to do this with their work. This talk will discuss insights and lessons learned as Dr. Gailliard navigates her career path from researcher to university administrator and entrepreneur. It will highlight critical decision points as well as potential opportunities for faculty and graduate students alike to blend academic pursuits with public practice. 

Bio 

Bernadette M. Gailliard, PhD is a scholar and research consultant whose work examines the experiences of underrepresented groups within organizations, focusing on identity issues and career socialization. Her current work examines the experiences of faculty of color in higher education. Dr. Gailliard uses this scholarship to inform her role as Director of Racial Equity and Early Career Support at Rutgers University where she has five years of experience developing and delivering professional development and evidence-based diversity trainings for professionals both inside and outside of the academy. 

As a consultant, Dr. Gailliard designs and leads high-level research projects to assess program and organizational impact across diverse constituencies. She also supports organizational leaders with the development and implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. This work both informs and is informed by her research and teaching in Intercultural Communication and Organizational Communication at Rutgers School of Communication and Information. 

Dr. Gailliard holds both Doctorate and Masters degrees in Organizational Communication from the University of California Santa Barbara and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from American University. Her published research can be found in Management Communication Quarterly, Annals of the International Communication Association (formerly Communication Yearbook), and Human Relations.