USC Annenberg faculty will participate in discussions, give presentations and receive the Equity & Diversity Award at this year's Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in Chicago. Geneva Overholser, Director of USC Annenberg's School of Journalism, will be part of a panel discussing journalism schools as news providers on Aug. 8. On Aug. 9, Overholser will introduce three professors who will present their research. Associate Director of the School for Journalism Bill Celis, who won the 2011 USC Provost's Prize for Teaching with Technology, will share his experiences. Students in his education and urban affairs class used iPads to create text, slideshows and audio pieces while covering Watts, South Los Angeles and other LA neighborhoods. Jerry Swerling, director of PR Studies and the Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center (SCPRC), and public relations professor Kjerstin Thorson, research director of the SCPRC, will present the conclusions of the Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) Study. GAP measured trends and emerging best practices in many important aspects of the PR field. Journalism professor Willa Seidenberg will discuss USC Annenberg's three community news outlets: Intersections South LA, Alhambra Source and Boyle Heights Beat. Each publication is a collaboration between professional and student journalists and caters to the communities near USC's campus they cover. Overholser will also lead a discussion on Aug. 11 about curriculum changes, program growth and better student recruitment and retention. The panelists will include USC Annenberg faculty members Laura Castañeda, Robert Hernandez and Celis. Some of the previously mentioned faculty will be involved with other discussions or presentations during the 5-day conference, and some of their fellow USC Annenberg faculty will also participate. Féliz Gutiérrez will be part of a discussion about minority participation in AEJMC; Larry Gross will be a panelist for a reflection on the next 100 years of media and communications research; Anne Balsamo will be part of a conversation about the future of media in technology; and Nikki Usher talk about contributions from newsroom ethnography in the digital age. Associate Director of SCPRC Burghardt Tenderich, Thorson, Swerling and graduate students Niku Ward and Brenna Clairr O'Tierney will present their paper on predicting digital and social media adoption based on the characteristics of PR practitioners and the values of organizations. Check out the schedule of events involving USC Annenberg here.