Accomplishments: Department of Communication Studies

Erika Engstrom (Communication Studies) presented "Positive Disruption: Gender, Popular Communication, and the Growth Mindset" at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication held in Chicago in August. Her presentation addressed the use of disruption in teaching feminist concepts and making students aware…
Donovan Conley (Communication Studies), Janet Dufek (Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences), and Jennifer Rennels (Psychology) have been named Graduate Faculty Fellows for the 2017-18 academic year. The Graduate Faculty Fellows Program allows UNLV faculty and the Graduate College to work together on projects each academic year. The program…
Larissa Terán (Communication Studies), Jonathan Birds, Anna Caputo, Rich Easter, Rosa Rosas, and Mark Sakurada (all Public Policy and Leadership) received honors at the 8th annual Greenspun College of Urban Affairs' (GCUA) Graduate Research Symposium in April. The symposium offers graduate students in GCUA the opportunity to present their…
Jennifer Guthrie (Communication Studies) and Adrianne Kunkel of the University of Kansas were awarded the 2016 B. Aubrey Fisher Outstanding Journal Article Award from the Western States Communication Association for their article, "Survivor: Women's Stories of Navigation and Tensions in a Domestic Violence Shelter."
Erika Engstrom (Communication Studies) is the author of Feminism, Gender, and Politics in NBC's Parks and Recreation, which just has been published (Peter Lang, New York). This book analyzes the various ways the series presented feminism as a positive force, such as the satirical portrayal of patriarchy; alternative depictions of…
The UNLV Debate Team celebrated its second consecutive year advancing to the elimination rounds of the National Debate Tournament (NDT). The NDT is the most prestigious and challenging collegiate debate tournament in America. This year two individual UNLV teams advanced to the elimination rounds of the NDT — a first for the program…
Donovan Conley (Communication Studies) and some colleagues from the University of Colorado, Denver, Stephen Hartnett, Lisa Keranen, and Patrick Dodge, gave research talks to graduate students working in the areas of communication and cultural studies at Shenzhen University, China earlier this month. His talk was titled "Objects in Mirror are…
Erika Engstrom (Communication Studies) presented "'Let Us Plan Your Happily Ever After': Disney's Princess Brides in the Wedding Utopia" at the Midwest Popular and American Culture Association's annual conference in Indianapolis. This research explores the implications of Disney's fairy tale weddings and the place of the "princess bride" in a post…
Joseph Rhodes (Honors and Communication Studies), along with Nathan Crick (Texas A&M University), co-authored a lead essay in the journal Rhetoric Review. "Death and Eloquence" explores the relationship in Homer's Iliad between coming close to death and delivering eloquent speeches. Crick and Rhodes argue that only those Homeric heroes capable…
David Schwartz (Center for Gaming Research) and 10 graduates of the Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies or School of Communications won awards in this year's Nevada Press Association contest. Schwartz's awards came for his work in Vegas Seven magazine. He was recognized in the Best Local Column category for his bi-weekly "Green Felt…
Sanford I. Berman Debate Forum, UNLV's debate team, won accolades at its first debate tournament of the 2014-15 season. Four teams represented UNLV at the tournament hosted by the University of Missouri, Kansas City in September. A total of 114 teams from across the nation competed. Sara Beth Brooks and Dan Stanfield finished the preliminary…
Erika Engstrom (Communication Studies) is co-author of "Television, Religion, and 'Supernatural': Hunting Monsters, Findings Gods" (Lexington, 2014) with Joseph M. Valenzano III of the University of Dayton and formerly of UNLV. Their book examines the text of the CW network television series Supernatural, a program based in the horror genre that…