Popular Communication

The Popular Communication division had a successful and enjoyable set of presentations at the San Francisco conference, along with a cosponsored reception and a cosponsored preconference. Plans are already underway for ICA preconferences in Montreal that will be of interest to those who study popular communication.

Please be sure that your division membership is up to date by August. That’s when our membership numbers matter: the more members, the more papers we can accept for conference presentation (and hence the more likely that your presentation proposal will be among them). Division membership now entitles you to an online subscription to the journal Popular Communication: International Journal of Media & Culture, and is a good way to keep up with scholars who share your interests. Check the ICA webpage under "Membership" and "Join Us" to check your membership status: http://icahdq.org.

Congratulations to our Top Paper Award recipients:

Faculty:

"Our Own Skins for Wallpaper: Celebrity Signifiers in the Tonight Show Monologues" – Christopher White, Sam Houston State U

"Television Pre-Viewing and the Meaning of Hype" – Jonathan Gray, Fordham U

"Globalization, or the Logic of Cultural Hybridization: The Case of the Korean Wave" – Woongjae Ryoo, Honam U

Student:

"Performing the Nation: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Idol Shows from the UK, US, Canada, and Israel" – Oren Livio et al, U of Pennsylvania

In the Fall, we will be holding elections for the positions of Vice Chair/Chair Elect, Secretary, Webmaster, and Graduate Student Representative. If you are interested in learning about these positions, or would like to nominate someone, please contact the division Chair: Lynn Schofield Clark (lynn.clark@du.edu) or the division Vice Chair: Cornel Sandvoss (c.sandvoss@surrey.ak.uk).

If you would like to share your professional news or announcements with division members, please contact division Secretary Isabel Molina-Guzman (imolina@ad.uiuc.edu) by August 31 for its inclusion in the Fall newsletter.

Lynn Schofield Clark, Chair
lynn.clark@du.edu

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Ethnicity and Race in Communication (ERIC)

Conference Round-up
With more than 200 members and 20 conference sessions at the 2007 ICA Conference, the Ethnicity and Race In Communication (ERIC) Interest Group continued to establish its presence.

The panel varied in topic and scope, ranging from "Racializing Technology: From Cyberspace to the Human Genome Project" to "Mediated Whiteness: Disrupting and Consolidating Power and Privilege in Contemporary Television and Film." The average panel attendance was 20 people. The 2007 program was planned by ERIC chair Kumarini Silva (Northeastern U).

"This year's program is a true testament to the intellectual rigor and interdisciplinary diversity of ERIC scholarship," said Isabel Molina, outgoing ERIC chair.

For the first time, ERIC, with the support of U of Leeds Institute of Communications Studies, sponsored its own reception. More than 30 people attended the wine and cheese reception, which immediately followed the well attended "Scholar to Scholar Mentoring Forum" featuring Jacqueline Bobo (U of California Santa Barbara); Rosa Linda Fregoso (U of California, Santa Cruz), Radhika E. Parameswaran (Indiana U), Karen Ross (Coventry U) and Angharad N. Valdivia (U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign).

Thanks to the generosity of Northeastern University Department of Communication Studies, Suffolk University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Speech Communication and College of Communication, ERIC awarded three top paper prizes and four student travel awards:

ERIC's top three papers are:

• Matthew S. Eastin (Ohio State U), Osei Appiah (Ohio State U), and Vincent Cicchirillo (Ohio State U): "I am the Man in the Mirror! Identification and the influence of cultural stereotyping on post game play" (Top Paper)
• David Moscowitz (Butler U): "Spectacle and Style: Blackface and the Jewish Body in La Haine" (Second Top Paper)
• Peter A. Chow-White (Simon Fraser U): "The Informationalization of Race: Communication Technologies and the Human Genome in the Information Age" (Third Top Paper).

ERIC's top three interactive papers are:

• Lynn Gregory (U of Vermont), Daniel Baker (U of Vermont), Tina Carroll McCorkindale (California State Polytechnic U, Pomona): "The Message of 'The Poverty of Philosophy': Rap-Inspired Critical Communication in Nonminority Classrooms" (Top paper).
• Fernanda Gutierrez (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey/ITESM), Andrea Irigoyen (ITESM), Daniela Gutierrez (ITESM), (ITESM), Carlos Brito (ITESM): "Chilango Magazine: Defining Chilango Identity" (Second Top paper);
• Katherine T. Frith (Nanyang Technological U): "From Multiculturalism to Homogeneity: A Visual History of Women's Images in Her World Magazine Advertising 1960-2000" (Third Top Paper).

The student travel award recipients are: 

• Jillian M. Baez (U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign): "Performing Citizenship, Consuming Audiences: Reflections on Bridging Audience Studies, Cultural Citizenship, and Latina/o Studies"
• Elaine Baumgartel (U of New Mexico): "Whiteness By Any Other Name: Engaging the Racial Hegemonies, Past and Present"
• Cecilia Maribel Rivas (U of California San Diego): "'We Will Export Voices': Globalization and the Training of the Voice in Call Centers"
• Sudeshna Roy (Washington State U): "A Critical Discourse Analysis of Representation of Asian Indian Folktales in U.S. Children's Literature"

The Ballots Are In… And ERIC Would Like to Welcome Its New Officers
Myria Georgiou (Leeds U) was elected Vice Chair in ERIC's 2006 election. Also on the ballot were Travis Dixon (U of Illinois) and Michael Lacy (Monmouth U).

Dr. Georgiou joins Kumarini Silva (ERIC Chair) as the 2007-2009 officers. Dr. Georgiou and Dr. Silva will share program planning duties for the 2008 Conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Because the ERIC Interest Group bylaws mandate staggered election, the group's next election for Vice Chair will be held in 2009. Only members of the Interest Group are eligible to vote. If you think you might be interested in running for election, please email ERIC Chair, Kumarini Silva, at k.silva@neu.edu.