USC Annenberg faculty and student researchers will be a major part of the annual conference of the International Communication Association, which runs from June 19–23 in Dresden, Germany. Twenty-five Annenberg facultembers and 22 doctoral and master’s candidates will present papers, chair discussions and serve as respondents during the annual gathering of over 1,800 of the world’s foremost communication academics. The theme of the conference, "Networking Communication Research," has elicited paper submissions from USC Annenberg researchers in subjects as diverse as global telecommunications networks and video games.
Communication professor and Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society Manuel Castells will deliver the conference’s opening plenary address, entitled "Communication, Power, and Counterpower in the Network Society." The speech will examine communication research and public dialogue in the context of the United Nations. In addition, he will chair a session on "Globalization in a Network Society."
Other paper presentations include:
Annenberg Center executive director and communication professor Jonathan Aronson will be a respondent in two sessions, "Regulating Communication Networks" and "Explorations of Cyberspace."
Communication professor Sandra Ball-Rokeach will chair a session titled "The Context of Everyday Life in New and Old Immigrant Communities."
Associate communication professor Francois Bar will present a paper he co-authored (with Peter Monge and Seungyoon Lee) entitled "The Emergence of Clusters in Global Telecommunications Networks," part of a session on "International Networks of Communication and Information Technologies."
Vicki Beck, director of entertainment education at the Norman Lear Center, will present two papers she co-authored in a session titled "Effects of Entertainment-Education on Knowledge, Risk Perception, and Behavior." The first paper is titled "Informing the Public About Bioterrorism Threats Through the Popular TV Show ‘24’" and was co-authored with Michael Cody, Sheila Murphy, Holley Wilkin, Mandy Berkowitz and Grace Huang. The second paper is titled "The Effects of a Telenovela Storyline on Breast Cancer Knowledge and Behaviors Among Hispanic/Latino Audiences" and was co-authored with Holley Wilkin, Thomas Valente, Sheila Murphy, Michael Cody, and Grace Huang.
Assistant professor Craig Carroll will be a respondent in a session on "Public Relations and Framing."
Communication professor Michael Cody will present three papers; "Informing the Public About Bioterrorism Threats Through the Popular TV Show ’24,’" (co-authored with Vicki Beck, Sheila Murphy, Holley Wilkin, Mandy Berkowitz and Grace Huang), "The Effects of a Telenovela Storyline on Breast Cancer Knowledge and Behaviors Among Hispanic/Latino Audiences," (co-authored with Vicki Beck, Holley Wilkin, Thomas Valente, Sheila Murphy and Grace Huang), and "An Analysis of Health Content in Popular Primetime Programs," (co-authored with Sheila Murphy, Grace Huang and Heather Hether). In addition, Cody will chair two sessions, "Entertainment Education in Germany: Theoretical Approach and First Applications," where he will also act as a respondent, as well as "Content Studies: AIDS, Mental Illness, Genetic Susceptibility, and Personal Ads."
Communication professor Janet Fulk will present a paper she co-authored with Peter Monge titled "Expanding the Individual Level Components of Group Transactive Memory Systems." The paper is part of a session on "Understanding Work Groups through Multivel Analysis."
Director of communication and communication professor Larry Gross will be a respondent in a session on "Creating ‘Safe’ Gay and Bisexual Media Spaces for Men." In addition, he will chair a session called "Remembering George Gerbner."
Assistant communication professor Kwan Min Lee will present a paper he co-authored with Wei Peng and Julian Klein entitled "Will Role Playing Video Games Influence How You Judge? Favoritism Towards Similar Roles and Social Judgments Towards Criminality." The paper is part of a session on "Anthropomorphism in Computer and Video Game Use." In addition, he will chair a session on "Patterns of Mobile Phone Use."
Communication professor Peter Monge will present three papers, as well as chair a session on "Networking: New Insights into Corporate Communication." The papers are titled: "The Emergence of Clusters in Global Telecommunications Networks," (co-authored with Seungyoon Lee), "The Evolution of Communicating and Organizing," and "Expanding the Individual Level Components of Group Transactive Memory Systems," (co-authored with Janet Fulk). In addition, he will participate in a special themed session on "The Network Society and Evolving Communication Theory."
Associate professor Sheila Murphy will present three papers; The first paper is titled "Informing the Public About Bioterrorism Threats Through the Popular TV Show ‘24’" and was co-authored with Michael Cody, Vicki Beck, Holley Wilkin, Mandy Berkowitz and Grace Huang. The second paper is titled "The Effects of a Telenovela Storyline on Breast Cancer Knowledge and Behaviors Among Hispanic/Latino Audiences" and was co-authored with Holley Wilkin, Thomas Valente, Sheila Vicki Beck, Michael Cody and Grace Huang. The third paper is titled "An Analysis of Health Content in Popular Primetime Programs" and was co-authored by Heather Hether, Michael Cody and Grace Huang.
Associate professor Patricia Riley will present a paper she co-authored with Rebecca Heino of Georgetown University titled "The World Trade Organization: The Challenges of Globalization and Communication Technology." The paper will be presented in a session on "Globalizations in a Network Society." In addition, she will be a respondent for a session on "Communication Processes in the Nonprofit and Governmental Sectors."
Research associate professor Ute Ritterfeld will be a respondent for a session on "Media Choice as an Action: New Insights." In addition, she will present three papers: "Media Use of Preschool Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI): A Diary-Based Comparison with a Normal Sample," (co-authored with Peter Vorderer), "Don't Add Another Discipline, Think Across the Hyphen!" and "Event-Related, High-Resolution Content Analysis of First-Person-Shooter Games," co-authored with Rene Weber of Michigan State University, Katharina-Maria Behr of the University of Zurich, and Klaus Mathiak of Aachen University in German.
Associate professor Douglas Thomas will participate in a session called "Do Games Cause Real-World Aggression?"
Communication professor Peter Vorderer will present five of his papers, including the co-authored "Why is Virtual Fighting Fun? Motivational Predictors of Exposure to Violent Video Games," part of the session concerning "The Future of Media Entertainment Theory: Interdisciplinary Viewpoints." In addition, he will participate in a session titled "Do Games Cause Real-World Aggression?" as well as being a respondent for a session on "Responding to People in the Media: Recent Results from German Research on Parasocial Interaction and Relationships." He will also chair two different sessions, "The Future of Media Entertainment Theory: Interdisciplinary Viewpoints" and "Integrative Models of Media Entertainment."
Other USC Annenberg faculty who will be presenting papers, chairing sessions and acting as respondents include: Amanda Berkowitz, Carmen Gonzalez, Jeffrey Hall, Bettina M. Richards Heiss, Heather Hether, Grace Huang, Mark Latonero, Robert McCann and Lynn Carol Miller.
Many 2006 graduates and current Annenberg students will also be attending, including: Amelia Arsenault, Omri Ceren, Christopher Chavez, Arul Chib, Carmen Gonzalez, Carlos Gustavo Godoy, Craig Hayden, Vikki Sarah Katz, Julian Klein, Euiyeon Lee, Seungyoon Lee, Hongmei Li, Ying Li, Merlyna Lim, Michael Lisken, Zoltan Majdik, Matt Matsaganis, Lauren Movius, Wei Peng, Shawn Powers, Araba B. Sey, Kimberlie Joy Stephens, Lu Tang, Cara Wallis and Holley Wilkin.
