Department of Communication

Department News

February 2019 Events

The Communication Department Presents

Dr. Sharrell D. Luckett, University of Cincinnati

YoungGiftedandFat: Turning Critical Autoethnography into Performance

Wednesday, Feb 6th 5:00-6:00 pm

Garey Hall: Communication Department Studio

December 2018 Events

The Department of Communication
2018 Harron Family Endowed Chair in Communication
Annual Lecture

Heidi Campbell, Ph.D.

Title: Rethinking Religious Authority in Digital Culture: Digital Creatives as Religion's New Interpreters

Wednesday, Dec. 5
5:00 PM
Garey Hall, Rm 10A

November 2018 Events

RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

Join Us for a Special Presentation and Q&A
with Director Rich Moore!

Where: Mendall Hall 101
When: Thursday Nov 8th, 2:30PM

October 2018 Events

Flying Words Project - ASL Poetry Dynamic Duo!

Where: Communication Department Studio, Garey Hall

When: Friday October 26

ASL Poetry Workshop, 1:30-3:00 PM - please contact Dr. Heidi Rose, heidi.rose@villanova.edu to sign up
ASL Poetry Performance, 7:00 PM - Free and open to the public, ACS approved

Co-sponsors: GIS, Honors, Theatre, English

Newly declared Communication major?
Thinking of majoring in COM?

Come to the COM Major Info Session
Faculty and current majors will answer questions about how to maximize your opportunities in the major and make the most of advising.

When: Monday, Oct. 8, 5:00-6:00 PM. Snacks will be served!

Where: Garey Rm 10A (Aka the Garey Cafe)

Questions? Contact Dr. Rose, heidi.rose@villanova.edu

Artist: Dr. Jim Ferris, Professor, Ability Center Endowed Chair of Disability Studies, University of Toledo

Title: "Was Your Mama White? Excavating Hidden History" A Solo Performance

When: Monday, Oct. 1, 5:00 PM

Where: Communication Department Studio, Garey Hall

Description: What do you do when you learn you’re not who you think you are? And why does Uncle Joe want me to just shut up? This performance digs into one family’s past to challenge whiteness and the lattice of assumptions making up cultural identity. Learn a little more about who you are—and who you might be.

September 2018 Events

The Communication Department Presents:

Screening of the 2017-18 Social Justice Documentary Films

Sankofa and The Mayor of Graterford

When: Mon 9/24 - 7:00 PM

Where: Connelly Cinema

ATTENTION ALL COMMUNICATION MAJORS:

Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communication Honor Society, will be hosting a Call-Out Meeting on Wednesday, September 19th at 6:00 pm in Garey 101B. We will discuss the character of Lambda Pi Eta as a national organization; explain what kind of events we host, your benefits in becoming a member, and the membership requirements.

Two of the basic requirements necessary for induction include the following: completion of 12 credits of communication coursework by the end of the 2018 fall semester and a Communication GPA of a 3.25. If you are studying abroad but meet these requirements, you can still be inducted!

We hope to see you next Wednesday to meet the members of Lambda Pi Eta and to find out why it is such a great organization!

Pizza will be served :)

If you have any questions, or cannot make it to the meeting but would like to be on the email list of possible inductees, please email the president Maddie Suszka at msuszka@villanova.edu.

2018 April Events

Tony Ponturo, Leadership Through Branding and Example

Wednesday, April 11, 5:00pm Communication Department Studio, Garey Hall

Tony Ponturo is a respected voice in sports media and marketing:

CEO Ponturo Management Group, LLC and Managing Partner in the Kirmser Ponturo Group, LLC, a company that produces and promotes projects at the crossroads of sports and entertainment.

Regular guest on Lou Dobbs Tonight, Fox Business, Bloomberg News, CNBC.

Annually ranked in the top 20 most powerful people in sports and ranked #14 among Businessweek's list of most prominent executives.

Two-time TONY AWARD winner with MEMPHIS and WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

Inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010 and Sports Business Journals Hall of Fame, Champions, 2009.

Ed Mabrey presents: The Human Experience

The WFI & Department of Communication invite you to two incredible Poetry Events with Slam Poet Ed Mabrey!

The performance is Friday, April 13th at 5pm. A workshop titled “Using Your Art as Activism” will be held Saturday, April 14th 12:00-2:00pm

Come by the Communication Department Studio in Garey Hall for the experience!

Information on Ed Mabrey:

The only Four-Time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion

Three-Time Southern Fried Regional Poetry Slam Champion

The most wins of any Slamming Poet

2018 March Events

NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism: Collaboration at the Crossroads of Gender, Race & Tech

Thursday, March 22, 4-6pm

Communication Dept. Studio, Garey Hall

Join us for a demo talk by Ashley Baccus-Clark, a Brooklyn-based Molecular & Cellular Biologist and multidisciplinary artist who uses new media and storytelling to explore themes of deep learning, cognition, memory, race, trauma, and systems of belief. She is the Director of Research at Hyphen-Labs, an international team of women of color creating at the intersection of technology, art, science, and the future. Through their NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism project, Hyphen-Labs strives to create meaningful and engaging ways to explore emotional, human-centered and speculative design, placing collective needs and experience at the center of evolving narratives.

2018 February Events

Journalism on the Cutting Edge: New Tech Frontiers from the Washington Post

February 15th, 4-6pm

Seth Blanchard is a Senior Editorial Developer at the Washington Post working in the engineering and graphics departments. The goal of his work is to tell stories using emerging technology. In the past year he has used Photogrammetry and Augmented Reality to drive narratives by providing new and engaging visual perspectives for Post readers.

Sexual Assault in the Age of #metoo: Zohar Kfir and Testimony

February 1st 4-6pm

Testimony is an interactive documentary for virtual reality that shares the stories of five survivors of sexual assault and their journey to healing. As a platform Testimony allows the public to witness those who have been silenced and bring awareness to an epidemic that affects us all - our friends, our family, our children.

World Conflict Photography Exhibition

February 3-9 2018

North American Exhibition opening of WZFreelance World Conflict Photography. Experience the work of award winning journalists covering conflicts Worldwide. Join us at the Communication Studio in Garey Hall Villanova University.

Sponsored by the WFI, the Communication Department hosted the North American premiere of the World Conflict Photography Exhibition, created by the War Zone Freelance Project, Feb. 3-9

Presidential Citation from the National Communication Association

The Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society received a 2018 Presidential Citation from the National Communication Association in recognition of the WFI's commitment to facilitating NCA's vision of equity and inclusion.

Leslie Irene Coger Award for Distinguished Performance

Dr. Heidi Rose received the 2018 Leslie Irene Coger Award for Distinguished Performance from the National Communication Association.

Heidi M. Rose is the Chair of the Department of Communication at Villanova University. Dr. Rose has amassed many accomplishments in a twenty-plus year career as a Performance Studies scholar. Rose has consistently crafted performances aimed at illuminating how power impacts bodies, cultures, families, and theatre itself. At Villanova University, Rose’s impressive corpus of student-centered performances include pieces related to the AIDS crisis (i.e., Living with AIDS, 1994 – 2001), race relations (i.e., Dreaming the Beloved Community: Race, Relationships, and Reality, 1997 – 2002), and Villanova student experiences (i.e., Every Decision Counts, 2009 – 2013). Dr. Rose has published extensively, served as the editor of Text and Performance Quarterly, and received seven performance-related grants (among many other achievements). Rose’s most impressive work has come in the form of the Words and Music trilogy—a series of three auto/biographical plays (Mirror Image, Good Enough, and Twin) interrogating culture and family. In each, Dr. Rose animates family members through voice and body, demonstrating the possibilities of solo performance. Rose has performed from Words and Music at eight U.S. universities to date. As multiple eminent scholars attest, Heidi M. Rose’s body of work is distinguished in its excellent scripting, aesthetic quality, and focus on putting the performer’s body center stage. The breadth and quality of this work indeed situate Rose as an outstanding performer who will continue to carry the legacy of Leslie Irene Coger into the future.

Senior Communication major Milan Genovese & Dr. William Cowen

Public Relations Awards

Congratulations to senior Communication major Milan Genovese for receiving the Anne Sceia Klein Award for Professional Promise in Public Relations! The award honors a college junior or senior who is a member of a PRSSA chapter affiliated with Philadelphia PRSA and has demonstrated dedication to the field of public relations. Milan was honored at the 50th Annual PRSA Philadelphia Pepperpot Awards, where she was lauded for her two terms as Villanova’s PRSSA chapter president, five internship experiences, and commitment to academic excellence. Dr. Bill Cowen, director of Villanova’s Public Relations Program, supported Milan’s nomination, and was also in attendance to showcase items from the PRSA time capsule he curated while chairing the Philadelphia PRSA chapter awards in 1999. Great work Milan!

Crisis Communication Collision: Where Core Concepts Meet Contemporary Channels - September 20, 2018

The Villanova Communication Alumni Network (VCAN) was proud to present its first professional development event of the season at Meredith Corporation in New York. We were so impressed by the engaging, dynamic panel discussion on Crisis Communication featuring our accomplished alumni in the field, and moderated by VCAN Founder, Dr. Bill Cowen.

Special thanks to our hosts at Meredith Corporation:

Susan Parkes-Cirignano ’86 CLAS, Senior Vice President of Experiential, Partnerships and Corporate Marketing
Cece Ryan CLAS ’88, Publisher of People Magazine
Keynote Speaker Rosa M. Gatti ’72 CLAS, former Senior Vice President of Communications Counsel and Corporate Outreach at ESPN

Special thanks to our panelists:

Claudia Russo ’04 CLAS, Director, Corporate Communications, Fox Television Stations
Clare Cullinane ’03 CLAS, Head of Industry, Food and Beverage, Google
Amy Pellicane ’03 CLAS, Executive Director, Consumer Engagement Marketing, Clinique
Katarina Mayers ’11 CLAS, Press Secretary and Director of Digital Media for the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment for the City of New York

Heidi Rose and Bill Cowen are Communication professors.

Heidi Rose, PhD, and Bill Cowen, EdD, Serve as Expert Judges at Three Minute Thesis Competition

Heidi Rose, PhD, chair of the Communication Department, and Bill Cowen, EdD, assistant professor of Communications and coordinator of the Public Relations specialization, recently served as Communication expert judges for the Three Minute Thesis Competition at the IEEE International Microwave Symposium in June 2018. 3MT is a challenging contest where student researchers have up to three minutes, with just one accompanying visual, to convey clearly and creatively the relevance and uniqueness of their research project. This year's competition highlighted a diversity of projects and researchers from all over the globe.

Annual CNN/Turner Broadcasting Trip

Our annual CNN/Turner Broadcasting trek, co-sponsored by the Department of Communication and the Office of Undergraduate Students. Joe Dugan '87, Senior Vice President at Turner, sponsors the trip each year, and students have an opportunity to tour some studios and meet with VU alums who now work in various areas of the company, from production to marketing and client services.

2017 Creative Expression Award

Dr. Heidi Rose received the 2017 Creative Expression Award from the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender for her solo performance, Twin.

Cameron Quevedo 2017 Artist Academy Acceptance

Cameron Quevedo, visiting assistant professor, has been accepted into the 2017 Artist Academy (https://www.filmlinc.org/filmmaker-initiatives/artist-academy/), a yearly mentorship event sponsored by the New York Film Festival and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. His film, El tucán (The Toucan) has been selected to screen this month at the San Francisco Latino Film Festival, the 2017 Festival of Indigenous Peoples in Mexico City, and the DOQU Film Festival in Querétaro, Mexico. El tucan was also recently awarded “Best International Latino Documentary” at the 2017 Latino Film Market.

2017 Young Alumni Medallion Award

We are delighted to announce that Kelly J. Stoner ('08) and Elise Scioscia ('08, '10), graduates of the Communication program, were honored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with the 2017 Young Alumni Medallion Award on Oct 4, 2017. Kelly works as an Associate Conservation Scientist with the Wildlife Preservation Society, where she leads the bison program in its effort to restore wild, free-ranging bison to tribal lands in the American West. Elise is the Director of Public Policy for Women Against Abuse in Philadelphia. Congratulations on this well deserved honor!

The Chronicle of Higher Education

When Neo-Nazis and Antifascists Clash, This Professor Wants to Be in the Thick of It

Billie Murray, PhD

Philadelphia Inquirer

Defining who is ‘American’ by the language they speak

Susan Mackey-Kallis, PhD

The Christian Science Monitor

Race and the beauty counter: What a greater selection of hues says about culture

Shauna MacDonald, PhD

The San Francisco Chronicle

San Bruno explosion hangs over PG&E amid wildfire investigation

Derek Arnold, MA