Communication department a strong force at WSCA

Lisa Keranen (left), Sonja Foss (center), and Stephen John Hartnett (right)

Faculty and eight graduate students from the Communication Department made a strong showing at the annual meeting of the Western States Communication Association (WSCA) in Albuquerque, NM, February 17-21.

Among the highlights:

Associate Chair Brian L. Ott became the organization's President-Elect. Dr. Ott will plan the 2013 conference in Reno, NV. His convention theme is "Going Global: Communication in the Network Era."

Chair Stephen John Hartnett received the inaugural 2012 WSCA Distinguished Teaching Award in recognition of more than two and a half decades of excellence in teaching. In the words of one of his nominators, "He is a dedicated, enthusiastic, and innovative teacher whose pedagogical practices inspire students to merge their intellectual, political, and creative energies in ways that produce active citizens."

WSCA recognized the lifetime research accomplishments of Professor Sonja K. Foss during a special panel honoring her selection as the 2011 WSCA Scholar. As the immediate past president of WSCA observed, Dr. Foss has "changed the way members of WSCA—and communication scholars more broadly—think about communication." She is "not only among the first generation of voices to contribute to scholarship on visual and feminist rhetorics, but she is also one of the most influential."

In addition, CLAS Associate Dean Brenda J. Allen was featured as part of a WSCA Master Teacher panel, and MA alumna Elizabeth Brunner, now a PhD student at the University of Utah, received a top debut paper award for an essay she wrote as part of her MA coursework at UCD.

All told, UCD Communication Department members gave more than sixteen papers or presentations during the conference.