February 25, 2013

Six Comm Studies students set to present research at conference

North Texas students

Six Communication Studies students from Eastern Illinois University have been selected to present their research at a student research conference in Texas.

Jenna Mitchell, a senior from Downers Grove North, was awarded top student paper for the "New Voices, New Perspectives" Student Conference, which will be held March 1st and 2nd at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.  Jenna's paper focuses on American Exceptionalism and Ethnocentrism in Post 9/11 Political Rhetoric.

Also chosen to present individual papers at the conference were Kelly Ann Hennessy, a junior from Naperville (Waubonsie Valley) and Ethan Kruger, a senior from Aurora (West Aurora).  Hennessy's paper focuses on White Guilt in relation to Whiteness and White Privilege.  Kruger's papers are about Race in Neo-Noir Film and the Rhetoric of Whaling. 

In addition to the three individual papers that will be presented, three other E.I.U. Communication Studies majors will join Mitchell, Hennessy, and Kruger on a pair of panel discussions.  Participating in the panel discussions are Kaci Abolt, a senior from Charleston, Takieshyanna Banks, a senior from Chicago (Proviso West), and Amanda Feder, a graduate student from Arlington Heights (Buffalo Grove).

The students were mentored by Communication Studies professors Dr. T. M. Linda Scholz and Dr. Marita Gronnvoll.