Faculty and graduate students in the NDSU Department of Communication were active participants at the 2008 National Communication Association Convention in San Diego.
Judy C. Pearson and Robert S. Littlefield, both professors, were recognized as authors of top papers. Pearson collaborated with Jeffrey Child from Kent State University, Jessica Angelos from Illinois State University and NDSU graduate students Liliana Herakova and Julie L. Semlak on a top paper titled “Competent Public Speaking: Assessing Skill Development in the Basic Course.”
Littlefield also collaborated with Tim Sellnow and graduate students Kathleen Vidoloff and Elizabeth Webb, all from the University of Kentucky, on a top paper in the Argumentation and Forensics Division titled “Public Communication in Response to Terrorist Hoaxes: Risk Communication as Interacting Arguments."
NDSU doctoral students Jean Ostrom-Blonigen and Susan E. Bornsen; Mike Allen from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and Sheri L. Erickson from Minnesota State University Moorhead co-wrote a top paper titled “Acknowledging the Paucity of Leadership Training Assessment across the Disciplines.”
NDSU doctoral student Kimberly Cowden and Littlefield won the top poster award for their research on risk and crisis message testing with multicultural publics at the Pre-Conference Forum on Emergency Pre-Event Communication co-sponsored by the National Communication Association and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.
Pearson presented seven additional papers and Littlefield presented four additional papers. Other faculty who presented papers were Stephenson J. Beck, Ann Burnett, Zoltan P. Majdik, Mark Meister, Carrie Anne Platt and Amber N. W. Raile.
Other graduate students presenting papers at the conference included Najla Ghazi Amundson, Peter Balega, Kimberly Beauchamp, Robert Becker, Anna Carmon, Becky DeGreeff, Kirsten Ellingson, Katherine Gronewold, Amorette Hinderaker, Cindy Larson-Casselton, Amy Miller, Jennifer Reierson, Julie L. Semlak, Nadene Vevea, Kai Western and Kelly Wolf.
For more information about the papers presented by graduate students, go to the communication department Web site at www.ndsu.edu/communication.
Dec. 9, 2008