COMMUNICATION STUDIES NEWS
Communication Studies Grads & Prof Honored During Commencement 2013!
Two com majors were honored on stage - Kristin Lo and J.J. Turbin. Lo, who served as Westmont College Student Association president, earned the Dave Dolan Award for contributing to the awareness and response to the social and spiritual needs of the community, the nation and the world.Turbin earned the Dean’s Award as the outstanding male graduate who demonstrated excellence in the classroom and made superior contributions to an athletic team. Turbin earned All-Golden State Athletic Conference honors playing center field for the Warriors baseball team. And Dr. Omedi Ochieng was honored with the 2013 Outstanding Teacher Award in the humanities. Read more about commencement here:
http://blogs.westmont.edu/2013/05/07/college-honors-students-faculty-at-commencement/
Announcing Mayterm 2014: From Berlin to Belfast - Reconciling Memory
- Visit Berlin, Dresden, Belfast, Londonderry/Derry, Rostrevor, Dublin, London, and Coventry
- Witness Political Murals, Memorials, Sites of Struggle, and Places of Reverence
- Walk the Streets of Bloody Sunday, Protest Marches, the Berlin Wall, the Bombing of Dresden
- Inhabit Architectural Spaces, Personal Stories, and Landscapes Marked by Struggle and Reconciliation
- Understand Historical Roots of Conflict, the Ongoing Challenges to Peace, and the Miracles of Dialogue
- Study Peace, Conflict, Memory, and Place via Communication Studies and Art History.
- Earn 8 Units of Credit (earn all 8 units in communication, or 4 toward com and 4 toward art)
- Fulfill GE Thinking Historically
For more information, please contact Dr. Deborah Dunn or Dr. Lisa DeBoer
He Leadeth Me Beside...The Roiling Waters
On April 16th, Visiting Professor Dr. Michael Graves described some of the ways his Quaker beliefs have steered his scholarly pursuits in rhetoric. Of particular interest was his discussion of the "inward light of Christ."
Com Majors Study Pilgrimage
Students studied the construction of sacred pilgrimage in Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and England, visiting sites from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to Kilmainham Gaol to Canterbury Cathedral. Along the way, we asked what makes a site truthful? How do sites come to be holy or sacred? Mostly, we learned that people and hospitality make any pilgrimage more holy.
Students Meet David Gergen
Several com majors heard political analyst David Gergen speak to a sold-out crowd at UCSB's Cambell Hall December 1, and then joined about 15 other Westmont students for a private session with Gergen afterwards. Gergen expressed his belief that the most "put-together" people are anchored by family, faith, and friends. 
Com Alums Start Graduate School
Several recent graduates are enrolled in programs this fall:
- Vanassa Hamra, the Draper Program in Humanities and Social Thought at New York University
- Kelsey Lahr, Conflict Resolution at Georgetown University
- Stephanie (Strasner) Stout at Whittier Law School
- Cameron Sublett in the doctoral program for Educational Leadership at UCSB; and
- Ben Watson in the dual JD/MA program in International and Comparative Law at American University, Washington College of Law.
Lauren Cano Amoro is mid-way through her Ph.D. program in communication at ASU, Kirby Ifland is finishing his law degree at Harvard, and Lisa (Brown) Raser is finishing her Ph.D. in communication at Southern Illinois.
Mayterm 2010 in Northern Ireland
Students traveled to Northern Ireland to study conflict and reconciliation -- the fourth such trip since 2002. In this photo, students gather on the steps of Stormont, the Northern Ireland Assembly building with Paul Maskey, Sinn Fein Representative for Belfast West. Students attended a hearing and were briefed by members of Sinn Fein, the DUP, and SDLP on current issues facing Northern Ireland's peace process and a devolved government.
Greg Spencer Publishes Book About the Quieter Virtues
“Many forces today argue against the practice of contentment,” Spencer says, “such as advertising, ‘helping’ the economy recover, an individual’s desire to control circumstances — and perhaps also personal uncertainty about contentment itself.”
In this, his fourth book, Spencer explores whether contentment is desirable or just another word for complacency. “Why should I be content when there are so many problems facing our world?” Spencer asks. “Is worry the same thing as discontentment — and isn’t worrying simply a normal part of everyday life?” The lecture will introduce the idea of “quieter virtues” and address the nature of contentment and its relationship to a media-saturated culture.
Alumni Gather in Chicago
Megan Moe, Lisa (Brown) Raser, Dave Tell, Lauren (Cano) Amoro, and Don Waisanen gathered at the National Communication Association convention in Chicago, November 2009.
