Introduction
Notes from the Division Chair
Spotlight On . . . Joanne Cantor
On Teaching the Large Lecture Class. (Part 2 of 2.) By Michael Porter.
From the Membership: Comments, Calls, and More
Plan ahead for November's Conference: Consider offering a short course
 

Introduction
 

This issue of the Mass Comm Division's Electronic Newsletter was prepared in June 1997 by Rebecca Ann Lind, 1997 Publications Committee. The electronic newsletter supplements the traditional hard-copy newsletter, which you'll still receive before and after the Convention each year. Make sure SCA headquarters has your correct e-mail address. (If you haven't received the other newsletters, you can find them on our web page, at http://www.comm.vt.edu/masscomm/.)

THE NON-CONTEST TO NAME THE NEWSLETTER: Thanks to all of you who contributed ideas for naming the newsletter. All of the submissions were distributed to the Division Officers, who voted on their top two favorite names. We've narrowed the list down to three finalists:

• MASSCOMM ELECTRO-NEWS

   

• THE GATEKEEPER

   

• THE TWO-STEP FLOW

The next step is for you to vote for your favorite name by emailing Rebecca Lind at Rebecca@uic.edu. PLEASE . . . be careful NOT to include this message (the newsletter) in your reply -- I'm not sure my mailbox can even handle your votes. Also, we're not considering any write-in votes at this point -- suggestions were requested in the previous newsletter and we're down to these three finalists. The next edition of the newsletter will proudly display its new name, and we'll let you know all about the person who submitted the winning entry.

IN THIS ISSUE: We continue to highlighting contributions from division members. Larry Mullen has written a "Spotlight On . . . " column on Joanne Cantor, and we conclude Michael Porter's list of "16 lessons learned from observing how others teach large lecture classes." Other Mass Comm Division members also have information to share.

If you have something to submit, please send it to Rebecca Ann Lind at rebecca@uic.edu. Let us know what you're up to, and let us know what other kinds of features you'd like to see in the electronic newsletter. Make sure I get all your contributions by September 10.

Notes from the Division Chair
 

As reported in the last electronic newsletter, five initiatives have been identified by the division for this year.

1. Create the electronic newsletter. This has been accomplished with Rebecca Lind as our first editor.

    

2. Continue to develop the Mass Communication Webpage. This is being accomplished with Mary Beth Oliver as our "web wizard."

    

3. Nominate someone for the NCA's second vice president's position. Though not accomplished this year, the division continues to be committed To helping to nominate people who are aware of the division's interests and needs.

    

4. Re-write the "job" descriptions for the officers of the division. This is in progress.

    

5. Develop closer ties with the National office in terms of its media literacy initiatives. The Task Force that was appointed (see the last electronic newsletter) has been working with others in the field to develop guidelines for the NCA Standards' criteria. Now that these guidelines have been developed, the next step is to look at the actual criteria. The hope is to have a report by the next NCA convention. Besides these 5 initiatives, there is discussion among the executive committee about increasing visibility of the division and its membership within the association. The division recognizes excellence in research through its yearly paper competition awards. An additional three awards are being discussed:

    

   1. An MCD Service award;

       

   2. An MCD Teaching award; and

       

   3. An Under-40 MCD Award.

   It is uncertain whether or not we will be able to offer one or more of these awards this year. Input from the division about these possible awards is welcomed.

Anyone who would like more information on any of these projects should e-mail me directly at Wchrist@Trinity.edu.

Spotlight On . . . Joanne Cantor
 

By Larry Mullen, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Joanne Cantor is Professor in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She studies the effects of the mass media on various age groups with special emphasis on children's emotional reactions to television. Her research covers topics that examine children's fright reactions to television, their attraction to violent programming, and the positive effects of children's television. She has also dealt with media consumption and eating disorders, and televised portrayals of the elderly. Some of her earliest research looked at humor and music appreciation.

She received her Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1974. Her M.A. is from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and her B.A. is from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where she majored in French literature. Before her career in communications, Joanne spent some time in Paris working as a secretary for the casting director for 20th Century Fox France. It wasn't until she read a newspaper article about Marshall McLuhan and the emerging field of mass communication that she applied to the Annenberg School for graduate studies.

It was at the Annenberg School that she met her most influential mentor, Dolf Zillmann. When he moved to the Indiana University, she went there as well to do her doctoral studies. It was Zillmann who inspired Joanne's passion for experimental research. Her enthusiasm for research is manifested through her academic writing and teaching.

Joanne's research program is very strong and consistently appears in print. Articles of her research can be found in various journals almost every year dating back to 1972. She is widely considered the foremost expert in the area of television and children's fears. Her work is not only of an academic nature--it also has practical, real-world implications. Currently, she is conducting third-year research on television ratings for the National Television Violence Study, an independent violence monitoring project sponsored by the National Cable Television Association. Her work on the NTVS explores how ratings and advisories are used on television as well as how children respond to them. She is also working with the National PTA on the issue of what parents want in a television rating system. She has appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee on the issue of the new television rating system. Her research is at the center of the debate over the adequacy of the new ratings system and the extent to which it will make the V-chip useful to parents and families. She has been seen on many national news shows talking about this issue and has been quoted in most major newspapers on the topic. Recently, she appeared on an episode of Leeza (a talk show on NBC) which was a "town meeting" about the new rating system. She is working on a book for parents tentatively titled, Mommy I'm Scared: How TV and Movies Frighten Your Child and What You Can Do About It. This book aims to help parents see television through their child's eyes so that they can better predict the types of programs and movies that will produce long-term anxiety reactions. The book summarizes her 15 years of research on television and children's fears and communicates principles of child development that are helpful in understanding how children respond to television at different ages. She is also conducting research for the children's educational series, Get Real! This is a magazine show produced by Wisconsin Public Television but seen on 90 commercial and public stations across 13 states. It targets 8- to 12-year-olds and focuses on kids from diverse backgrounds succeeding in a variety of interesting areas. Her research shows that the program promotes self-esteem as well as making kids, especially girls, think science is fun and a worthwhile career option. Her research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, and the H.F. Guggenheim Foundation. She has presented several invited papers including recent ones for the Ernest Becker Foundation Conference on the "Love of Violence," the Annenberg School for Communication's conference on Children's Television, and the University of California at Santa Barbara Conference on Regulating Television Violence, to name a few.

Joanne is also on the editorial board of several prominent journals in the field of communication. She regularly teaches a course on Radio-TV-Film and Society, which concentrates on the psychological effects of mass media. She also intermittently teaches an advanced course on television and youth, an introductory course on the quantitative research methods of communication study, and a variety of seminars and special topics courses related to media effects. In her courses, Joanne gets her students involved in research projects to teach them basic research skills and the intricacies of communication theory. She is much sought after for guest lecturing and has presented many lectures to community groups, high schools, and universities nationwide.

While on sabbatical this year she has had the opportunity to do more "normal" things like helping out at her son's school and doing volunteer work. She is married to Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Bob Larsen. Their son Alex is 8. Joanne says that Alex is her single biggest credibility boost when it comes to being questioned by the media about children and television. Joanne and her husband enjoy sailing on Lake Monona where they race competitively on their C-Scow. She is a soccer mom and a coach-pitch baseball mom. The whole family are big fans of the Super Bowl Champions, the Green Bay Packers. Joanne is the youngest of three children. Before retiring, her father was an attorney and building contractor. Her mother returned to graduate school to get her master's degree in social work when Joanne was in high school. Both her sister and brother have graduate degrees, but Joanne is the first in her family to earn a Ph.D. and work in a university setting.

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SPOTLIGHT ON . . . is a feature by Larry Mullen, who will profile one of our Division members in each issue of the newsletter. Who do you think we should turn the spotlight on next? Send your suggestions to Larry at mullen.nevada.edu.

On Teaching the Large Lecture Class. (Part 2 of 2.) By Michael Porter.
 

(Part One of "16 Lessons Learned" appeared in March. You can find that newsletter on the Division's web page, created by Mary Beth Oliver, at http://www.comm.vt.edu/masscomm/.)

10. Let the textbook do its job. Do not duplicate information the textbook can provide. What we should be doing in class is to present information not available in other forms, explaining and clarifying difficult concepts, modeling, problem solving, inspiring, challenging, and motivating our students.

     

11. Create energy shifts; or, Don't do the same thing all the time. The initial goal of my observations was to find some examples of how to use class time for instructional activities besides lecturing. I wanted to learn new ways to engage the student in the learning process. An energy shift is any change in activity, a shift in the flow of events. These energy shifts take a variety of forms, including group discussion, writing, giving students time to consolidate or review their notes. Even telling a few good jokes, asking for class reactions, would also work. Most experienced teachers naturally engage in energy shifts. I need to design energy shifts for my classes, so they occur from preparation and not from serendipity.

     

12. Tell more stories, use more examples. The use of relevant examples is critical to good teaching. In every class I observed, I always noted this: "I want more stories, more examples."

     

13. Ask questions. Discussion is the most common strategy for promoting active learning and it can be done in a large lecture hall, although we must be willing to allow for class silence as they formulate a response. Don't answer the questions for them, or they'll realize they don't have to answer your questions after all.

     

14. Let them ask you questions. Several times I wanted to ask questions -- to clarify or verify something said, but I was rarely asked if I had any questions. I felt left out of the learning cycle. I was treated as if my role was only to absorb the material presented. Letting them ask you questions can help to alleviate some frustration.

     

15. Show your respect for your students. Let your students know that you respect them. Interact with them as much as possible, before class, for example. Do not belittle them, or treat them with sarcasm. Do not fear your students. Although they are an unnamed mass, it is a mass of individuals. It is not you vs. them; it is you and them working together. Think of them not as strangers but as individuals, as possible friends of your siblings, your children.

     

16. Be true to yourself. You cannot assume a persona that isn't you. Phoniness never sells. A good lecturer must be honest enough to acknowledge one's strengths and weaknesses in terms of lecturing strategies, skills, and techniques. Assess your abilities: build on your strengths, work at enhancing your weaknesses. Relax. Enjoy the experience.

Conclusion: These lessons are reminders of what I want to do in my own classroom as a way of improving my role as a facilitator of learning for my students. I want to thank those who let me sit in on their classes and learn from them; they are the master teachers. We have much to learn form each other, if we only would ask.

From the Membership: Comments, Calls, and More
 

Journal of Communication Inquiry: CALL FOR PAPERS (Imminent Deadline)

JCI has presented the scholarly community with interdisciplinary inquiry into communication and mass communication phenomena within critical, cultural, and historical perspectives for 23 years. We are announcing a special issue: After Cultural Studies: Crossroads of Materials & Rhetorics...or, What Do We Do When Cultural Studies Has Failed?

Have the possibilities for cultural studies been taken as far as they can be taken? Has it been taken places it doesn't belong, losing theoretical coherence at each new context? Does the institutionalization of Cultural Studies limit its ability to achieve its own ends? How is radical contextualization represented? What is implied by the globalization of cultural studies? Where does cultural studies put Political Economy? Ideology? Discourse? Rhetoric? Does the success of cultural studies indicate its failure, co-optation, and ultimate demise?

For this special issue, we seek a discussion of the theoretical condition of cultural studies as a force in (mass) communication scholarship and teaching. Some theoretical lines would be expected to explore contingent situations, reflective practices, and methodological problematics. The issue is particularly concerned with questioning the relationship between material explanations of culture and discursive/rhetorical understandings of culture. We are also interested in how these issues relate between research and teaching.

We hope to see pieces that represent multiple positions on these questions. In order to offer the greatest range of these possibilities, we are looking for position papers of around 4000 - 5000 words. All submissions will be peer reviewed.

Inquiries are welcome. The deadline for receiving the articles is TUESDAY, JULY 1, 1997. Questions, proposals, and inquiries should be addressed (email encouraged) to: Ralph Beliveau, Editor, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Iowa Center for Communication Study - 205 CCUniv. of Iowa - Iowa City, IA 52242. phone: (319) 335-5821 fax: (319) 335-5210, email: beliveau@uiowa.edu. To find out more about JCI, go to: http://www.uiowa.edu/~journal/

Western Journal of Communication: CALL FOR PAPERS

In Volume 61 (1997) WJC published a series of essays on the issue of "voice." In those essays, communication scholars grappled with theoretical, personal, social, political, and pedagogical issues surrounding the human expression of experience and knowledge.

In Volume 62 (1998) of WJC we will continue this conversation by inviting papers on the topic of "spaces." While space has traditionally been viewed as an important context of face-to-face communication, scholars in a variety of disciplines have recently called for broader explorations of the epistemology of space. They have noted that identity and knowledge are profoundly spatial (as well as temporal), and that this condition structures meaningful embodiment and performance. They have argued that scholars need to begin to explore how communication is influenced by the cultural and historical mediation of phenomena such as boundaries, position, motion, occupation, and inhabitation.

To address this relatively unexplored terrain in communication studies, WJC invites essays which advance understanding by addressing the moral, political, and pedagogical aspects of space. Potential topics might include(but are not limited to) professional and disciplinary practices of spatialization (such as cartography); technologically-mediated worlds (such as cyber-space); the social significance of borders and boundaries (for example, for immigrants); gendered and ethnic experiences of space (such as the home); the phenomenology and enactment of relational spaces (such as isolation); and the use of space as template, scheme and metaphor in social life (as in hierarchial organization).

Essays should be original submissions of 10-25 double-spaced pages, including endnotes and references (either APA or MLA, 4th edition), and should otherwise meet WJC publication guidelines. Deadline for submissions is 1 October 1997. Essays may be submitted either in paper (four copies) or electronic form (as an attached file in WP for Windows 6.0 or higher or MS Word 6.0 or higher) to the WJC Editor: Leah R. Vande Berg, Communication Studies Department, California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, CA 95819-5070. Email to: VANDEBERGLR@CSUS.EDU

Eastern Communication Association: CALL FOR PAPERS

The Mass Communication Interest Group of ECA invites submissions of papers and program proposals for the 1998 ECA annual Convention at the Sheraton Saratoga Springs Hotel and Conference Center, April 23-26, 1998.

This year's theme, "Communication teaching, research and practice: Continuing the tradition -- advancing the boundaries," encourages us to explore our traditions as well as those of related disciplines and to reach out to scholars in other fields and in areas of communication practice.

Papers, panels, and programs that address this theme or that make positive contributions to the study of mass communication are welcome. Paper submissions should include four copies of the completed paper (the author's name should only appear on the title page), a detachable title page with the title of the paper and the author's affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number,& fax number,(Label it "Debut" if the author has never presented at a conference) and a one-page abstract. Program and panel submissions should include four copies of a thematic title for the program, names of chair, respondent(s), and all participants with affiliations, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, & fax numbers for all involved, titles and abstracts of each paper or presentation, a 70 word description for the final conference program, and a brief rationale for inclusion of the program (including relevance to the conference theme, if applicable).

Deadline for receipt of submissions is October 15, 1997.

Send submissions & inquiries to Prof. Lewis Freeman, Dept. of Communications,Suffolk Community College, 533 College Rd., Islip Arts #1B, Selden, NY 11784-2899. e-mail: LF9@columbia. edu. Fax: 516-451-4635. Phone: 516-451-4147.

RIT Conference on Communication, Technology, and Cultural Values: CALL FOR PARTICIPATION.

The RIT July 10-13 Conference on "Communication, Technology, and Cultural Values" will feature as keynoter Tapio Varis,Ph.D. University of Tampere, Finland, "Communication, Media, and Culture in Contemporary Europe." Plenaries will be provided by K.S. Sitaram, "The Art and Science of Propaganda: The Use of Communication in War and Peace," and Ray T. Donahue, Nagoya Gakuin University, Japan, "Media's Mirrors of Otherness: A Cross Cultural Perspective." More than 50 competitively selected papers, many dealing with mass communication, have been selected for presentation at the conference.

The conference is open to all. The fee of $160 ($110 for full time students) includes conference materials, two luncheons, and two receptions. Optional activities are also available. Lodging at the Radisson Inn costs $74 per room/night, including continental breakfast, airport transportation, and transportation between RIT and the hotel. Call by June 10 for guaranteed rates, Radisson Inn Rochester,800-333-3333. For airport pick up, call 716-475-1919.

For info: Michael Prosser, Ph. 716-475-2804, fax 716-475-7732, email MHPGPT@RIT.EDU, Home Page: http://www.rit.edu/~gptckern/

DIVISION MEMBERS ARE ON THE MOVE!

• Paul Lopes, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Director of the Communications and Media Studies Program at Tufts University, was awarded an appointment as an Annenberg Scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of ennsylvania for Fall 1997.

   

• Doug Ferguson has been appointed Chair, Department of Telecommunications, Bowling Green State University. He replaces Bruce Klopfenstein who served as chair for 6 years.

   

• Thomas Skill (Ph.D. SUNY/Buffalo, 1984) has been appointed to a four year term as Assistant Provost for Academic Technology and Director of the Learning Village Enterprise at the University of Dayton. Skill will be responsible for developing and implementing policy for university-wide academic technology needs including academic computing, media services and the design, construction and application development of a fiber-optic computer network that will extend from the core campus to 350 student houses located in neighborhoods adjacent to the campus. Donald D. Yoder will replace Skill as Chair of the Department of Communication.

   

• Thimios Zaharopolous has accepted the position of Chair of the Department of Mass Media at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.

NEW PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER NOTES

• Joseph Turow has just published a new book: Breaking up America: Advertisers and the new media world (University of Chicago Press). The book is about the social implications of target marketing, and has received favorable reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Quarterly, Wired News and The Baltimore Sun. NPR's Talk of the Nation devoted an hour to the topic.

   

• Joseph Turow has just published the 2nd edition of his text, Media systems in society (Addison Wesley Longman).

   

• Fred L. Casmir of Pepperdine University has edited a volume "Ethics in international and intercultural communication" which will be published by Erlbaum this summer. Chapters on the mass media are included. The focus of the book is on ethics from the standoint of process oriented communication scholars, with an emphasis on engaging students rather than surveying or teaching ethics as a philosophical or abstract subject matter. Some of the authors are: Stanley Deetz, Getinet Belay, Deni Elliot, Linda Steiner, Robert Pratt, Bradford Hall, and Scott Olson.

   

• Ms Chan Ka Wah, Asst Prof of Hong Kong Baptist University has awarded a faculty research grant of USD9,000 to conduct a study on cultural values of newspaper advertising in Hong Kong, 1946-1966.

   

• The Mass Comm Interest Group of WSCA has changed its name to the Media Studies Interest Group. Alexis Olds, former Chair of the group, writes that this process was not without controversy, but the new name was approved. The current chair of the Group is Tom Reichert, North Texas State Univ., Denton.

-- What are you up to? What would you like to say? What would you like to know? Send your comments, suggestions, questions, and more to Rebecca Ann Lind at rebecca.uic.edu.

Plan ahead for November's Conference: Consider offering a short course
 

Division Vice Chair Mary Larson has noted that relatively few Mass Comm Division Members have submitted short course proposals recently. She encourages the membership to think about offering a short course at our November conference, and argues that a multimedia workshop would probably be well received.

So, to help you start thinking about this, even before the call for proposals has been released, here's some information from last year's call.

The deadline last year was February 1. Short courses last three hours. Directors of short courses must be SCA members. The proposal required statements addressing the need/target audience, course objectives, instructional approach, teaching effectiveness, expertise of course Director/Staff, maximum enrollment, preparatory reading, handouts, required material, and equipment. According to last year's guidelines, available equipment includes easel, flipchart and stand, transparency projector, 35 mm slide projector, 1/2" VHS player with 17" color monitor, and audio cassette recorder. Special requests for equipment were considered, but not guaranteed, and the fee for the course may be raised to cover extra costs.

If you have any questions about offering short courses during the 1997 Conference in Chicago, contact Michelle Randall at NCA's National Office. Her email address is mrandall@scassn.org.