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…

Ted Greenhalgh (Environmental and Public Affairs) presented "When Hollywood Goes Green, Does It Matter?" at the Midwest Popular and American Culture Association annual conference in Indianapolis. The paper examines movie portrayals of environmental themes, including climate change and sustainability.  

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…

Vicky Albert (Social Work) was invited to present her co-authored paper with Ron Haskins (Brookings) on the "Responsiveness of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program during the Great Recession" at the London School of Economics in May 2015. She also will be presenting some of the empirical research she performed on her own in this…

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…

Erika Engstrom (Communication Studies) is co-author of 'Mad Men' and Working Women: Feminist Perspectives on Historical Power, Resistance, and Otherness (Peter Lang, New York). She and co-authors Tracy Lucht of Iowa State University, Jane Marcellus of Middle Tennessee State University, and Kimberly Wilmot Voss of the University of Central Florida…

Erika Engstrom (Communication Studies) wrote an article, "'Knope We Can!': Primetime Feminist Strategies in NBC's Parks and Recreation," which appeared in the November issue of Media Report to Women.

Julian Kilker (Journalism & Media Studies) and Augie Grant, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of South Carolina, cohosted "Beyond Convergence," a conference sponsored by the two journalism schools. More than 50 scholars from across the nation shared their research in the field of technology and…

Karunaratne Hangawatte (Criminal Justice), Sri Lanka's ambassador to France and permanent delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), unanimously was elected vice president of the 37th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris in November. Leading the delegation of Sri Lanka to the biennial…

Kathy Lauckner (Environmental and Public Affairs) spoke at the Lead and Healthy Housing Midwest Conference in Peoria, Ill., in October. She addressed the nuances of a healthy homes investigation and a lead hazard assessment. She also has been invited to join a workforce coalition group associated with the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and…

Sara VanderHaagen (Communication Studies) wrote an essay, "The 'Agential Spiral': Reading Public Memory Through Paul Ricoeur," that recently appeared in the interdisciplinary journal Philosophy and Rhetoric. The essay adapts philosopher Paul Ricoeur's idea of "threefold mimesis" into a tool for analyzing public memory from a rhetorical perspective.

Erika Engstrom (Communication Studies) presented "Making Feminism Mainstream: Amy Poehler and NBC's Parks and Recreation" at the 25th annual Far West and American Culture Association conference in Las Vegas in February.