Students and Faculty Present at State Communication Convention

Students and faculty pictured for communication association convention

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on October 1, 2019, No Comments

Students and faculty from East Stroudsburg University’s communication department presented their research at the 80th Pennsylvania Communication Association (PCA) convention at Penn State Berks campus on September 27-28, 2019.

PCA is one of the oldest academic state organizations in the communication field. PCA, formerly known as the Speech Communication Association of Pennsylvania, was founded in 1939. John Henry Frizzell of Pennsylvania State University was the first President. ESU Professor of Communication, Cem Zeytinoglu, Ph.D., served as the 2010-2011 president. Dr. Zeytinoglu has also served as the editor of the state journal, The Annual, for the past six years.

Margaret Mullan, Ph.D., assistant professor of communication, presented “Dialoguing Through Difference” as a part of the panel titled Teaching in Pennsylvania: Discussing Challenges and Triumphs. Zeytinoglu made a presentation, as a part of the PCA Past Presidents’ Panel, “The Undergraduate Curriculum in Communication: Foundations, Structure, and Goals.”

Brianna Carty, a senior majoring in communication from Bayside, N.Y; Emily Eder, a senior majoring in sport management from Warwick, N.Y.; Elizabeth Reeves, a graduate student studying communication from East Stroudsburg, Pa.; and Irvin Zuzic, a senior majoring in communication from Falkenberg, Sweden, presented research on a panel titled “Undergraduate Perspectives on Rhetoric: From Renaissance to Contemporary Era.”

“My participation in PCA was such an enriching experience where I was able to share and learn from scholars who dedicate their time to their research within communication studies,” said Carty.

Four students presented their research in two separate poster sessions. Their papers came from a communication graduate course on rhetoric focusing on civic advocacy. Tom Monahan, a graduate student studying communication from Middletown, N.Y, presented “Metaphors for Western Thought: Assessing the Rhetoric of One World ‘Freedom Tower’”; Laura Jean Null a graduate student studying communication from Philadelphia, Pa., presented “My Shot: Ideological and Interpretative Analysis of a Double Narrative”; Shane Hamar, a graduate student studying communication from Blakeslee, Pa., presented “Deconstructing Justice in Death Note”; and Angela Pender, a senior majoring in communication from Philadelphia, Pa., presented “Zooming into Music Videos: A Breakdown of Female Representation”.

ESU’s Master of Arts in communication began in June 2018 and currently has 19 students enrolled with several others in an accelerated program. Undergraduate students accepted into an accelerated pathway can take up to nine credits of graduate coursework that count towards both the Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in Communication.

ESU was one of seven institutions in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education to send representation to the conference. Other State System universities in attendance included Clarion, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Slippery Rock, and West Chester Universities.

For more information about the Pennsylvania Communication Association, contact Dr. Zeytinoglu at 570-422-3911, or visit www.pcasite.org.