The International Communication Association announced communication professor and associate dean Sandra Ball-Rokeach as a new ICA Fellow, one of the top honors in the field. Ball-Rokeach is associate dean for faculty affairs and principal investigator of USC Annenberg's Metamorphosis project, which tracks the evolution of intergroup relations between new Latino and African American residents in South Los Angeles.
"She has pursued various research studies on how media influence the values and behaviors of their audiences, social groups and societies," communication professor Peter Monge said when her name was presented by the ICA Fellows to the Board of Directors. "In short, she has been a prolific scholar in our field. Sandra's current research examines urban communication flows and the manner in which urban citizens use networks and mass media to connect themselves to their communities, both local and global. This work on communication infrastructure reconceptualizes the traditional view of social structure into a new perspective emphasizing the role of communication structure. The hallmark of these studies, as with all of her research, is that it is theoretically rich and empirically carefully conducted."
Monge, who is a past president of the ICA, and School of Communication director Larry Gross are also ICA Fellows.
Selection criteria:
"Fellow status in the International Communication Association is primarily a recognition of distinguished scholarly contributions to the broad field of communication. The primary consideration for nomination to Fellow status is a documented record of scholarly achievement. Secondary consideration is given to such criteria as service to the International Communication Association and socially or professionally significant service to other publics such as business, government, education, etc."
