COMS News | March 2024
Happy March COMS Mustangs!
This newsletter is designed to keep majors, minors, faculty, and staff up-to-date so you can learn about news, career advice, events, networking opportunities, well-wishes, and inspirational stories surrounding your peers and COMS community.
Announcements
COMS Club
Get involved in COMS Club! Meetings take place Tuesdays from 11:10 am - 12:00 pm in Building 10 Room 221. Connect with COMS Club on Instagram @calpolycomsclub. An upcoming calendar of events for COMS club will be forthcoming, so follow their social media to stay up to date!
LPH Philanthropy: Lumina Alliance
It's time for the Lambda Pi Eta yearly philanthropy event! This year they are doing a supply drive for Lumina Alliance, a local organization whose mission is to empower those impacted by sexual and intimate partner violence through innovative advocacy, healing, and prevention programs. The event will take place at California Fresh Market (771 Foothill Boulevard) (date and time TBA). To participate, you can donate cash or items from the supply list at the booth. We would love to see our COMS community members supporting this amazing cause!
Senior Project: Vanishing Voices, Exploring Womens' Silence
COMS major Trinity Kirn is organizing an important event for her senior project. This event will feature three short readings from Rebecca Solnit's The Mother of All Questions and Recollections of My Nonexistence. This event will follow the format of Performance of Literature and snacks will be available. Come support your peer by attending on Wednesday, March 6th from 6:30-8:00 pm in Building 10, Room 124 (Erhart Agriculture). For more information, email tkirn@calpoly.edu.
Senior Project: COMS Networking Events
COMS major Kristina Yan and her collaborative group is organizing three upcoming Communication & Career Networking events for COMS majors. Check out the 3 events below and support your peers by attending! For more information, RSVP at the link.
- Resume & Cover Letter Workshop (Thursday, March 14 @11:10am-12pm)
- Interview Tips & Elevator Pitch Workshop (Thursday, April 11 @11:10am-12pm)
- Career Networking Event (Thursday, April 18th @5-7pm)
Cal Poly Research Competition
Big congrats to our students who represented the COMS Department at the annual Cal Poly Research and Creative Activity Competition, which took place February 23-24 this year. We're so proud of your work!
- Kendall Baebler is a COMS major who presented a study titled “He’s the Man: Traits of Toxic Masculinity in New Girl,” which is a content analysis she conducted in her COMS 384 Media Effects class. In Kendall’s research, she applied Social Cognitive Theory to explore potential attitude and behavioral effects that may occur after audience members observe representations of toxic masculinity in a popular media example.
- Brenden Jacoby is a COMS major who presented a study titled "Who Benefits? Charting How Global North States’ Utilize Technology in Asylum," which applied a case study approach. Brenden’s research shows that while technological tools like facial recognition, telecourt, and translation apps are typically deployed under a banner of helping migrants, he argues that the integration of such technological tools generates new complications for asylum seekers.
Events & Opportunities
Call for Artists - Utility Box Art Program
Applications are now being accepted for the Cal Poly Utility Box Art Project - a campus beautification initiative transforming utility boxes into works of public art to enhance the vibrancy of the campus and showcase local talent. All students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to submit an application (due: March 1st) via email to: af@calpoly.edu. Selected artists will be notified in March/April and will receive a $250 VISA gift card to cover necessary materials. Utility Box Art Project guidelines and applications can be found here.
Media Production Assistant Course
The CSU Entertainment Alliance & Pipelines presents “BTS: Production Assistant 101”! During this event, you will have the opportunity to gain insight into the experiences of what it’s really like to be a Production Assistant (PA). Come learn why being a PA is a great and important stepping stone into the entertainment and creative industry! The event takes place Friday, March 1, 12 - 1pm PST. Visit the event link to register and attend.
Media Administrative Job at Starz
Starz, a Lions Gate Entertainment Company, is hiring for an Administrative Assistant in Santa Monica! The Administrative Assistant will handle the day-to-day administrative duties including managing communications, calendars, and creative work. Although the position requires a Bachelor's degree, it looks like it could work to just have relevant work experience instead. Students who are close to graduating may be able to apply to be considered for the position. To find out more about the position, visit the information link.
Slayage Research Conference
The twentieth anniversary Slayage conference will take place on the Cal Poly campus this Summer, July 18-21, 2024. This conference is dedicated to the scholarly study of creators and creative works in the "fuzzy set" surrounding Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is sponsored by the Association for the Study of Buffy+. This conference may be of interest to faculty and students in a wide variety of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Submit a proposal to have your work featured at the conference! Multidisciplinary approaches (literature, philosophy, political science, history, communications, film and television studies, women’s studies, religion, linguistics, music, cultural studies, art, and others) are all welcome. The proposal submission deadline is March 15, 2024. Find out more at the program website.
Learn By Doing Award Nominations
The Learn by Doing Scholar Awards recognize outstanding faculty contributions to Cal Poly’s signature pedagogy. These awards emphasize the impact of Cal Poly’s distinctive educational approach. Successful applications will provide compelling evidence of the impact of Learn by Doing through curriculum-related instructional and research/creative activities, as well as demonstrate an academically rigorous and student-centered approach to learning. The Library Dean’s Advisory Council established the Learn by Doing Scholar Awards in 2014, and they continue to be supported by generous donors. Apply by March 8 at the application portal page.
Faculty News
Dr. Lorraine Jackson's co-authored research is scheduled to be presented at the 75th annual Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) Conference in St. Louis, MO, March 19-21. Dr. Jackson's project is titled: Storytelling for Promoting Flavored Tobacco Sales Ban Support.
Professor Lisa Kawamura is scheduled to speak at the The Women of Color Symposium in San Luis Obispo on March 1, 2024 as the closing speaker. This event is organized by the Diversity Coalition in San Luis Obispo County.
Dr. Megan Lambertz-Berndt's research is scheduled to be presented at the 2024 International Association for Communication and Sport in Los Angeles March 15th on Carli Lloyd’s sports evangelist reporting during the 2023 World Cup in a panel titled “‘Catching up’ and ‘falling behind’: Lessons learned from FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup.”
Recent Publications
Congrats to our COMS faculty who have been sharing their research activities and scholarly endeavors with the wider academic community! This month we're highlighting the following recently published articles written by your professors:
- Dr. David Askay co-authored a recent article published by Business Horizons titled Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Management: A Partnership Between Human and AI.
- Dr. Megan Lambertz-Berndt authored a recent article published by Communication Teacher titled Reinventing the Realistic Job Preview: A needed pivot toward equity-based language.
Sharing is Caring
Do you have an announcement to share with COMS majors, minors, faculty, and staff? Email Dr. Brie to find out how to share it! Follow COMS on Social Media: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn