April & May 2024 College News

Rebekah Fox (far right) presented her paper to the Eastern Communication Association Elizabeth K. Eger and her graduate students recieved a Top Paper Award in Applied Communication presentations on their individual emergency preparedness projects they have implemented in their schools and communities across Texas. Stephanie Dailey welcomed alum Kelli Ottmers to her COMM 4327 (Social Media in Organizations) class. Kelli is a Public Relations Specialist with Southwest Airlines, managing their social media presence. [3] Elizabeth K. Eger and her graduate student co-authors, Rex Long , Anca Tonciu , Allister McNally , Rowan Lampert , and Johnny Vasallo , received a Top Paper Award in Applied Communication at the Eastern Communication Association conference in Cambridge, MA. The paper was entitled, “Communicating challenges and imagining new futures through rural community resiliency collaboration: A pilot study adapting COPEWELL with Texas library directors and community stakeholders.” Elizabeth published, “LGBTQ+ peer advocates’ health communication praxis for college student health outreach and intersectional needs” with Melinda Villagran and Marsha Burney in the journal Health Communication . Rural Health Information Hub wrote a case study on Elizabeth’s applied communication research with the Translational Health Research Center using community collaboration to adapt a COPEWELL resiliency model with rural Texas librarians. Elizabeth was also named an Austin Pets Alive! Gold Volunteer for her service on the Adoptline volunteer team. [4] Rebekah Fox presented the paper "'We need to do something about Richard': Examining the rhetoric in free speech battles in Texas" to the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The paper was co-authored with Ann Burnette . She also presented the paper "Shining a spotlight on Texas free speech issues" to the annual convention of the Southern States Communication Association in Frisco, Texas. The paper was co-authored with Ann Burnette . [5] Roseann M. Mandziuk made two research presentations at the Southern States Communication Association Convention in Frisco, Texas. The first was entitled “What Lurks in the soil: Excavating the rhetorical roots of white supremacist women.” The second presentation was “Bodies of evidence: The persistent presence of criminal archives.”Roseann also participated in a discussion panel, “Conferencing 101: Navigating SSCA, From Spectator to Participant” and represented the Communication Studies department at the Undergraduate Honors Conference breakfast and Graduate Program Open House. Marek Muller published “Fantastical speeches: Performing fanfiction to model protest communication” in Communication Teacher . Their book chapter, “Violence begets violence: Cross-species exploitation in the slaughterhouse” was released in the edited collection Building Resistance Against Multispecies Exploitation: Stories from the Frontlines of Labor and Animal Rights . Marek was accepted to participate in the Research Network Forum at the Rhetoric Society of America’s 2024 Conference where they will rework “You Can’t Sue an Imaginary Cow! Relitigating Devin Nunes v. Twitter as Digital Carnivalesque” with a network of likeminded scholars. Marek offered a continuing education seminar to the group Our Honor, a nonprofit veterinary advocacy group. The presentation was entitled “Treated Like Animals: Unpacking the (Ab)Use of Human and Nonhuman Animals in the Slaughterhouse.” Manu Pokharel published "Using narratives to correct politically charged health misinformation and address affective belief echoes" in the Journal of Public Health . Manu also directed an undergraduate honors thesis for Maddie Swanson , a student in the Department of Psychology. The thesis was titled "Should I Stay or Should I Go: The Psychological Impacts of In-clinic and At-home Genetic Testing on Participants." STUDENT ACCOLADES Allister McNally presented their research poster, "Jim Sinclair & the 1993 convention on autism: Autistic embodied language versus curation of the body and mind" to the Eastern Communication Association conference in Cambridge. Anca Tonciu presented her research poster, "Elemental: Intercultural conflict and 'third act breakup' in movies" to the Eastern Communication Association conference in Cambridge, MA. [6] Communication Studies Graduate Association (CSGA) is a departmental organization dedicated to unifying the graduate students in Communication Studies at Texas State University. As part of TXST graduate student appreciation week, CSGA sponsored a Clothing Giveaway based on departmental donations. FORENSIC TEAM SHINES AT NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS The LBJ Debate Society and The Elton Abernathy Forensics Society, Texas State’s competitive speech team, are members of the American Forensics Association (AFA), the National Forensics Association (NFA) and Pi Kappa Delta (PKD). The team is coached by faculty members Wayne Kraemer and Jeremy Hutchins . The team recently competed at two national tournaments, the Pi Kappa Delta National Biennial Tournament and the American Forensic Association- National Speech Tournament (AFA-NST). Taylor Tate and Ro Adams represented Texas State in Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the 2024 Pi Kappa Delta National Biennial Tournament in March. Pi Kappa Delta is one of the oldest forensic organizations in the United States. Ro Adams was named the tournament’s 8th best speaker and finished as the National JV Lincoln-Douglas Debate Champion, while Taylor Tate finished as the national runner-up in the varsity division and was also named second best speaker in the tournament. Jeremy Hutchins, Associate Director of Forensics, said that he was "impressed by the performances of these young, hard-working competitors." He added that it "bodes well for the future of speech and debate at Texas State." Texas State now boasts a national team debate championship in CEDA debate and one national runner-up in British Parliamentary Debate. Five members of the LBJ Forensics team competed in the American Forensic Association-National Speech Tournament (AFA-NST). The team finished 4th in the nation at the NFA National Championship in the President's Divsion III category. Hanna Prince , Callum Ritter , and Vanessa Trevino advanced to the national quarterfinals in Duo Dramatic Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation respectively, while Santiago Malpica Calleja did the same in Impromptu Speaking. Wayne Kraemer , expressed pride in the young team’s performances, appreciating their year-long practice and rehearsal efforts. Tyler Cole assisted as coach. Allister McNally and Anca Tonciu presented their research posters at the Eastern Communication Association conference 5 6 4 10 | April & May 2024 | College News College of Fine Arts and Communication | 11