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Science communication student publishes op-ed in LA Times
Elizabeth Tobin is a doctoral candidate in the UW School of Oceanography and a former student of Artist in Residence Usha Lee McFarling’s, having taken her science communication class last winter quarter. Her research focuses on improving the prediction of harmful algal blooms. Tobin recently had an editorial she wrote on science communication published in the LA Times concerning misleading science terminology, such as “red tide” and “global warming.”
Tobin writes, “I worry that throughout the sciences we are using inaccurate terminology to describe serious environmental issues. Though catchy names do grab public attention, they are often misleading and likely to feed troublesome misconceptions in a public unfamiliar with the complexity of the issues.”
On Tobin’s work, McFarling comments, “It's really excellent work and I'm so proud of her achievement.”
Read Tobin’s editorial here >>
Posted: April 3, 2012
Students report on UW softball
Husky Fever is upon us this softball season, and UW Communication students are on top of it. In a special project produced by students from Jerry Brewer’s Com 460 sports reporting class, the website www.UWHuskyFever.com covers the ins and outs of the UW Softball team for the 2012 season.
According to the website, “The name Husky Fever plays off one of the program’s five core covenants. They are: Selflessness, Accountability, Toughness, Confidence Through Preparation — and Husky Fever. This fever is all about respecting the program’s tradition and winning habits and showing team spirit daily through various routines. As you read the stories on this site, you’ll feel that fever.”
Brewer, sports columnist for The Seattle Times, was recently named Washington’s top sportswriter. He said he’s very proud of the work his students have done. “They did a wonderful job and many of them are interested in keeping it updated for the rest of the year,” said Brewer. “They really have embraced the responsibility.”
Read more about Husky Fever >>
Posted: March 27, 2012
Libbing reflects on Peace Corp service
Jessi Libbing (BA Journalism, 2009) arrived home late last year after serving more than two years as an English teacher in Qazax, Azerbaijan. Her blog "Peace, Love, and Azerbaijan" chronicles the sometimes difficult, but constantly rewarding adventure abroad. In a recent interview with Heraldnet.com's Amy Daybert, Libbing talks about bringing American culture to Azerbaijani children and the lessons she learned from them.
Read Libbing's interview about her trip >>
Posted: March 6, 2012
Fiore-Silfvast innovates on information
Last December, Communication graduate student Brittany Fiore-Silfvast won a Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation for her proposal, “The Informationalization of Healthcare: Shifting Subjectivities, Organizational Forms, and Ways of Knowing in the U.S. and India.” Last year, she traveled to India where she worked alongside an international non-governmental organization (NGO) and a local healthcare and research organization based in India.
Fiore-Silfvast spent time in three of the India-based organization’s rural clinics, which are far removed from the main roads and cities (due to privacy reasons, both the healthcare organization and the NGO cannot be named).
Read more about Fiore-Silfvast's innovative research >>
Posted: February 27, 2012
Call to undergraduates to apply for research scholarships on Borderlands
Beyond the geopolitical, borderlands are real and imagined spaces that can be experienced in social, political, and spiritual ways. UW undergraduates from arts, humanities, or social science majors are encouraged to apply for scholarships being offered by The Summer Institute in the Arts & Humanities to study borderlands.
The Institute selects and supports twenty undergraduates with curiousity about borders of race, place, community, and political formations to engage in intensive research projects under the guidance of four interdisciplinary instructors. Selected students are named Mary Gates Scholars and receive a Mary Gates Research Scholarship of $4000.
Applications are due Friday, March 16 by 5 p.m.
To learn more and apply, visit the Undergraduate Research Program's website or email urp@uw.edu >>
Posted: February 24, 2012
Intern learns to love life in Sierra Leone
BY DAVID KRUEGER
Foreign Intrigue Intern
I thought the most fun you could have in your life was calling your mom one February afternoon and telling her you’re moving to Africa for the summer. Then I got there.
When I told my mom that I had been selected to report and work for Awoko newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone, I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. My mother was so anxious she could hardly contain her… we’ll call it excitement. “Why?” she asked.
Being a smart-aleck 21-year-old, I answered the best I could. “Why not?” Now, having spent 84 days in Sierra Leone, and another three-months-plus reflecting on my trip (sorry this is so late by the way), I have the perfect answer. Because it’s the best place in the world.
Read more about Krueger's travels in Sierra Leone >>
Posted: January 24, 2012
Olympia interns prepare for whirlwind reporting
For the past 39 years, Communication undergrads have been sent to work as interns covering the Olympia Legislature. This year is no different as seven students, under the tutelage of Senior Lecturer Mike Henderson, are currently in Olympia reporting for a number of media companies.
Azusa Uchikura: Northwest News Network
Erin Flemming: TVW
Raechel Lynne Dawson: Skagit Valley Herald
Stephanie Kim: The Seattle Times
Lexie Krell: The News Tribune and The Olympian
Maida Suljevic: Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Scott Panitz: Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Read more about the 2012 Olympia interns >>
Posted: January 13, 2012
NSF awards doctoral student research grant
Graduate student Brittany Fiore-Silfvast has been awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation for her proposal, “The Informationalization of Healthcare: Shifting Subjectivities, Organizational Forms, and Ways of Knowing in the U.S. and India.”
The funding comes from the Science, Technology and Society program. Fiore-Silfvast is only the third person in UW’s history to have been awarded this grant. The grant will support Fiore-Silfvast’s field research in India following the design, development, testing and deployment of two mobile health technologies.
Posted: December 28, 2011
Issue 3 of Communication and International Relations available
Students in COM 321/POLS 330 have produced the latest issue of Communication and International Relations: Media as Global Change Agent. View their work >>
Videos by COM 360 students posted
Students in COM 360, Introduction to Multimedia Journalism, have posted their video presentations. Topics include the New York Times and the future of news, Slavery in Seattle, Carnaval at the Burke Museum, an interview with a resident adviser, the history of the Ave, the UW Farm, and The Crumpet Shop at Pike Place Market. View their work >>
A month of workshops, professional networking
What is your New Year's resolution? The Department of Communication resolves to prepare students for their future careers with Professional Development Month. During the month of January, communications professionals will be on hand for an internship fair, networking events, panels and workshops on improving your job-search skills, tips on how to land that dream job, and much more. Register online or drop by the Professional Development Month kickoff Jan. 9 to sign up >>
Posted: January 15, 2011
Journalism students eat up food course
For Katie Burke, a junior journalism major, reading the food section in the newspaper is something she looks forward to every week, so when she heard that the Department of Communication was offering a food writing course, she jumped on the chance to sign up. “Having the opportunity to work with who produces them and developing skills to learn about food writing was the selling point,” she said.
Now, at the closing of the quarter, Burke is happy that she took on the challenge. With Artist In Residence and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, Usha Lee McFarling, as the instructor, students have taken on numerous assignments, each with a unique focus. “From writing about changing taste buds, to doing an in-depth feature on a gardener,” Burke said.
Posted: December 12, 2011
Intern covers business news, riots in Chile
During summer 2011, four UW journalism students worked as intern reporters around the world thanks to the Foreign Intrigue Scholarship established by a UW Journalism alum. Lexie Krell wrote about her experiences:
There’s nothing quite like interviewing a Spanish-speaking economist without speaking fluent Spanish or understanding financial markets. Through the Foreign Intrigue reporting scholarship, this was the first day of my summer internship with Thomson Reuters in Santiago, Chile.
In 10 weeks, I gained hands-on experience covering business and financial news, student riots and a government cabinet reshuffle. Upon arriving in Chile, I learned how to navigate my way through the Spanish language both socially and professionally, though not without trial and error. Read more about Lexie Krell's internship in Chile >>
Posted: December 7, 2011
New internship requirements for majors
Autumn Quarter 2011 marks a change for Communication majors seeking internship credit. With the modified internship program now in effect, “students can be better assured of having an internship that is a true learning experience with communication industry exposure,” said Department of Communication Associate Professor Nancy Rivenburgh.
The Internship Program Guidelines have eliminated dreaded post-quarter reflection papers, “real-world experiences” spent at home in front of computers, and busy work with nothing to show at the end of the quarter. Read more >>
Posted: December 1, 2011
Issue 2 of Communication and International Relations available
Students in COM 321/POLS330 have produced the latest issue of Communication and International Relations: Media as International Actor.
This issue focuses on how the media can play the role of international actor. The media help facilitate communication between countries, whether that means sending messages between leaders, pressuring governments to act on an issue, inspiring humanitarian response to crises, enhancing national images, inciting hate, promoting peace, or advocating for an activist cause.
Whether Tweeting photos of abused protesters in Egypt, or using Facebook to organize coordinated bank protests around the world, people are now interacting with media in ways that are changing the international relations landscape.
Posted: November 30, 2011
Communication and International Relations released
Students in COM 321/POLS330 have produced the latest issue of Communication and International Relations: Media as National Citizen, for Better or Worse.
The issue explores one of the most fundamental roles the media play in the context of international affairs: that of being a national citizen. View their work >>
Posted: November 8, 2011
Student work: Slideshows by COM 360 students
Students in COM 360, Introduction to Multimedia Journalism, have posted their audio slideshow presentations. Topics include feature profiles, Occupy Seattle, Yogurtland, the UW rowing team, and the UW Visitors Center. View their work >>
Foreign Intrigue intern hired at Cambodia Daily
Over the summer, the Department of Communication’s Foreign Intrigue Reporting Internship sent Janelle Kohnert (BA, 2011) to intern for The Cambodia Daily. Today, she reports back to us that her stay in Cambodia won’t be ending anytime soon, as she has been hired on to work full-time. “I love working at the paper here, and I know I still have a lot to learn about the country and people here,” she said. “A year just seems like a more appropriate time span to familiarize myself with a place as complex as Cambodia.” Read more >>
Posted: September 29, 2011
Ph.D. student paper receives ICA award
First-year Ph.D. student Shin Lee received a Top 2 Student Paper award from International Communication Association’s Communication and Technology Division for "The End of the Traditional Gatekeeper? The Function of Popular News Online in Intermedia Agenda-Setting."
Posted: September 19, 2011
Students examine race, culture in Barbados
During summer quarter, 19 students spent more than three weeks studying abroad in Barbados. Led by Ralina Joseph, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, Andrea Griggs of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity, and Susan Harewood of UW Bothell’s Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, they examined how Blackness is represented in U.S. and Caribbean media.
Students in the program experienced what it’s like to live in a place that is generally known as a tourist destination, but has a deep history rooted in African and British culture.
Students gained perspective on how culture, tourism, power, and race play out in a country different from their own. Joseph said, "This switch in race-frame really lays the groundwork to reconceptualize the way in which we see our own race-based positions functioning in the U.S., and to conceptualize ourselves as part of larger diasporas."
Read more about the student presentations >>
Posted: August 19, 2011
Communication major crowned Miss Seafair 2011
Communication junior Veronica Quintero was crowned Miss Seafair 2011 on July 30 in a coronation ceremony in Seattle. Quintero, representing Hispanic Seafair, won the pageant before the Seafair Torchlight Parade. She’s the 62nd winner of the honor, but the first representative of Hispanic Seafair to win the pageant.
Quintero, also majoring in Spanish, is a peer mentor and newsletter editor with the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity's College Assistance Migrant Program. She is enrolled in the UW Honors Program and works as a Fortaleza Latina Research Project bilingual interviewer with Sea Mar Community Health Centers.
Posted: August 5, 2011
Follow Foreign Intrigue interns' blogs
During the summer, four journalism students are interning abroad as Foreign Intrigue scholarship recipients: Imogen Janelle Kohnert in Cambodia, Alexis Krell in Latin America, David Krueger in Sierra Leone and Nicholas Visser in Jordan.
Two of the students are writing blogs during the summer. In his blog, Visser writes of his adventures, traveling from America to Paris to Istanbul.
Read more about the interns' travel adventures >>
Posted: July 28, 2011
Doctoral candidate studies stress, hate speech
“If you look at the statistics for hate speech, what it does to people is terrible,” said John Crowley, doctoral candidate.
Under the wing of his dissertation chair, Professor Mac Parks, and with the help of the Peter Clarke Graduate Research Fund, Crowley is studying how a coping technique can help people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) after they experience hate speech.
Crowley is looking at cortisol and alpha amylase levels in saliva to determine how a writing exercise can affect stress levels.
Posted: July 12, 2011
MCDM graduates win award at conference
If two years ago, Katherine Turner and Carlos Javier Sanchez had been told that they would speak at an international scientific conference, they wouldn’t have believed it. "I never would've guessed," Turner said.
Now, Turner and Sanchez are graduates of the MCDM program and recipients of an outstanding student presentation award for their presentation at the 2011 Aquatic Sciences Limnology and Oceanography conference. It was just over a year ago that they began collaborating on work with the UW Oceanography Department's Enlighten '10 mission that has earned them this honor.
Posted: June 14, 2011
Department celebrates 2010-11 graduates
During the Department of Communication Graduation Celebration, 366 students walked across the stage on June 9, received warmly by family and friends watching them in the Quad. Graduates from Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011 and Summer 2011 participated in the ceremony.
Department Chair David Domke presented Donal Carbaugh (Ph.D. 1984) the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Carbaugh, a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, gave the keynote address.
To add your own photo from the event, visit our Flickr group or tag your photos with "uwcomgrad11" >>
Posted: June 13, 2011
Four UW students win NJC scholarships
The Northwest Journalists of Color awarded scholarship to four UW students on June 7.
Three cash scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $1,500 (individual grants were not disclosed) were awarded by the NJC to: Joanna Nolasco, a UW junior studying journalism and political science; Katelin Chow, a UW junior studying journalism and Asian studies; Gina Cole, a senior at Western Washington University studying journalism and communications. The Founder’s Scholarship, honoring the founders of Seattle’s AAJA chapter, went to Peter Sessum, a UW senior majoring in journalism. The scholarship funds the winner’s trip to the national AAJA convention, taking place Aug. 10-13 in Detroit. Mary Jean Spadafora, a junior at the UW studying journalism, political science and geology, won the 911 Media Scholarship sponsored by 911 Media Center, which will cover course costs for classes at the center.
Posted: June 10, 2011
Students receive Kaplan journalism awards
Since the establishment of the Deborah Kaplan Memorial endowment, the Department of Communication has given awards to top students from the narrative journalism class. Each award winner receives $100 from the Deborah Kaplan Memorial endowment.
2011 Kaplan award winners
- People on the margins: Katy Westlund, "Lost Control"
- Strong writing style: Laurel Christiansen, "I am the Mountains"
- Human personality profile: Brian Fink, "My Tattoos"
- Demonstrating epiphany: Michelle Martinez, "Encounters with Death"
- Important public issue: Melanie Coleman, "Nanny in Chicago"
Posted: June 3, 2011
Vats, Knobloch win Mortar Board scholarships
The Mortar Board Alumni/Tolo Foundation has selected two Communication graduate students to receive scholarships in the 2011/2012 academic year. Anjali Vats has been selected as the Mortar Board Madeline Jones Campbell Scholar. Katie Knobloch will receive the Elizabeth Ayers Scholarship. The Foundation awards scholarships based on a combination of scholarship, leadership, and service to the campus and community. Read more >>
Posted: June 2, 2011
Students plan for summer classes, internships
What are your plans for summer? Are you staying in Seattle? Traveling? Working? Multimedia intern Chris Liang asks Communication students about their summer plans.
Students research environmental communication
This spring, students in Colin Lingle’s Communication and the Environment course have been questioning definitions, talking to key players, examining news content, and testing the power of social media surrounding a number of environmental issues. Now they want to tell you what they’ve learned. Please join them for a public conference Wednesday to hear their presentations.
Who: UW Undergraduates in COM/ENVIR 418
What: A public conference presenting research on key environmental issues in Seattle, our state, our region, and online
Where: Research Commons, Allen Library, UW Seattle Campus
When: Wednesday, June 1; 2-4 p.m.
Read more about their presentations here >>
Department awards undergraduate scholarships
The Department of Communication held its 2011 Celebration of Excellence on May 26. Undergraduates in the Communication Department received scholarships and recognition for excellence in public speaking, research and journalism. Learn more and see photos from the event >>
May 31: "Becoming a VP at HP" with Doug Cusik
What does it take to rise through the ranks in a fortune 500 company? Are you prepared for a winding career path? Alpha Kappa Psi and InternMatch are happy to bring Doug Cusik, the VP & GM of health and life sciences at Hewlett-Packard on May 31 in Paccar 292 from 6 to 8 p.m. to speak with students about lessons he has learned throughout his career.
Doug’s extensive background at Healthlink Inc. and IBM led him to his current position and his insight on professional transitions is priceless. Have you ever wondered how a fortune 500 VP spends his day? Doug will also talk about his interpretation of professionalism in his current and past job environments. Do not miss out on this awesome opportunity to network with an HP Vice President!
Posted: May 24, 2011
PhD grad wins Burd journalism research prize
Looking back on her undergraduate years, Kristin Gustafson (PhD, 2010), lecturer at the University of Washington Bothell, says she never planned to pursue a career in academia. But today, Gustafson is an award-winning academic: the recipient of the 2011 Gene Burd Urban Journalism Research Prize along with an Honorable Mention Award from the American Journalism Historians Association for the AJHA Margaret A. Blanchard Doctoral Dissertation Prize competition. Her dissertation examines two Seattle-based grassroots newspapers: The International Examiner and Seattle Gay News. Read more >>
Posted: May 16, 2011
Class reports on global health close to home
In 2008, the UW Department of Communication successfully sponsored “Covering Global Health,” a conference that drew the attention and interest of many journalists. This was when Jim Simon, the assistant managing editor of the Seattle Times, and Roger Simpson, a professor in the Department of Communication, decided to begin a class that would address the trends of local and global-health reporting. Students learn to tackle global-health reporting by approaching and reporting the health stories of local immigrant communities.
Posted: May 5, 2011
From Flickr to Skype, 'Digital Survival Guide' explains useful tools
Ever felt lost in the midst of conversations about the newest tech gadgets? Ever mistaken a kilobyte as some type of bizarre weight-loss diet (kilobite…)? The UW Department of Communication has a workshop that addresses the fundamentals that you need for survival in this Digital era.
Every quarter, the Common Language Project holds a “Digital Survival Guide” workshop in the media lab of the Communications Building. This survival kit provides a broad overview of a list of lifesaving technologies for any college student.
Posted: May 4, 2011
Intern goes from sportswriter to legislative reporter
Be polite, smile and listen. If you take one thing away from this essay — which is entirely possible — let it be that.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I came to Olympia. I'm a sportswriter. I'd been covering high school sports for four years. Since I was in high school. I loved my job at the Everett Herald, and found it very hard to leave to come to Olympia to write about politics. But I'm glad I did. Read more from Olympia intern David Krueger >>
Posted: March 17, 2011
PR students get tips from veteran journalist
Clay Holtzman, a writer for the Puget Sound Business Journal, had some advice for students in Associate Professor Kathleen Fearn-Banks’ Public Relations and Society class on March 1. Holtzman, a veteran journalist, is president of the Western Washington chapter of Society of Professional Journalists. His top piece of advice was to build and maintain relationships with reporters and learn what areas they cover.
Some of the worst pitching techniques, Holtzman said, include cold-calling and over-pitching journalists. Too often a media relations professional will come to him repeatedly, asking for him to write a story on a client; in journalism circles, this is called “topic fatigue.” Read more >>
Posted: March 4, 2011
Public Speaking Center fosters student success
Before starting COM 220, a course on public speaking offered by the Department of Communication, William Ray had four years of debate experience in high school. However, he found that public speaking was different from debate. Ray, a junior majoring in economics and math, had to “learn to be persuasive, rather than just logically overwhelming,” he said.
To move away from the debate tendencies of “cramming as many arguments into a speech as possible,” Ray visited the Public Speaking Center, housed in the Department’s Research Mentor Center. Over a period of ten weeks, Ray learned from the one-on-one attention he received during his practice sessions. Read more about the speaking center >>
PRSSA provides networking opportunities
When a company is looking for media attention, or when the public spotlight is suddenly pointed its way because of a problem, public relations professionals handle communications in a positive and professional manner. One way students at the UW can start to learn the art of public relations is by joining Public Relations Student Society of America.
PRSSA UW chapter President Elena Caldwell says the club has many benefits for Communication majors. “Networking is one of the biggest benefits of joining PRSSA," she says.
As a fundraiser, the club will run the press room this month at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show at the Washington State Convention Center from Feb. 23-27. Learn more about PRSSA >>
Professional development events build confidence
Professional Development Week 2011 included networking, panels and workshops to help students learn what to expect when they graduate. Learn about what apprehensions some of these students have and the advice they received.
Posted: February 2, 2011
Students hone radio skills on UW's Rainy Dawg
In 1998, the radio station KEXP moved its home from the University of Washington to offices in downtown Seattle. To fill the void left in its absence, Rainy Dawg Radio was born in the basement of the Husky Union Building. It was a radio station run by students, for students. Although not officially linked, Rainy Dawg attracts Communication students because it provides opportunities to produce content, network with people in the music industry, and be involved with a radio station right on campus. Senior communication major and General Manager Omar Shaukat has been involved with the station since his first quarter at UW almost four years ago. Read more >>
Posted: January 28, 2011
Students cover Legislature for state media
Olympia Legislative journalism interns are learning first-hand the challenge of reporting about the law-making process. The department supports interns by providing them with equipment while news organizations generally cover living expenses. But recent economic times have made it more difficult for organizations to pay the $2,500 fee. Read more >>
Posted: January 14, 2010
Apply for Foreign Intrigue Reporting Internship
The Department of Communication is accepting applications for the summer 2011 Foreign Intrigue Reporting Internship for journalism students. This is an exceptional opportunity for students to gain dynamic journalism experience and to learn about other cultures. Possible locations include: Cambodia, Syria, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and a site-TBD by Reuters in a large city in Latin America. Application materials are due by 5 p.m. on Jan. 21. Learn more and apply online >>
Posted: January 6, 2011
