Bellisario College of Communications

Faculty, graduate students ready for national convention

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A dozen faculty members and graduate students from the College of Communications have roles as moderators, presenters or paper authors at the National Communication Association (NCA) Convention scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 20, through Sunday, Nov. 23, in Chicago.

Topics for presentations and research by the Penn State contingent reflect its breadth and diversity. For example, papers to be presented include topics such as broadband and unemployment, commodifying public education, electronic medical records and humor as international political commentary.

A quartet of faculty members from the College of Communications lead the Penn State group. They are Distinguished Professor Mary Beth Oliver, who serves as co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory; Krishna Jayakar, an associate professor in the Department of Telecommunications; Matt McAllister, a professor in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies who serves as chair of the graduate program; and Michelle Rodino-Colocino, an associate professor in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies. Rodino-Colocino serves as an officer in the Critical and Cultural Studies Division of NCA.  

The College of Communications will also be represented at NCA’s Graduate Program Open House from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Chicago Hilton.

The convention is the 100th annual meeting for NCA. The group advances communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific and aesthetic inquiry. 

NCA serves the scholars, teachers and practitioners who are its members by enabling and supporting their professional interests in research and teaching. Dedicated to fostering and promoting free and ethical communication, NCA promotes the widespread appreciation of the importance of communication in public and private life, the application of competent communication to improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use of knowledge about communication to solve human problems.

Last Updated June 2, 2021