Scholars to present latest research at ICA Conference in Chicago

Research into mobile 2.0, Internet use and abuse, communication strategies of organ donors, and health information management and game studies will be just a few of the topics explored by USC Annenberg researchers at the 59th annual conference of the International Communication Association, held May 21-25 in Chicago.

In all, 14 USC Annenberg faculty members, including Dean Ernest J. Wilson III, and more than 30 students and research fellows will share research through paper presentations, chair discussions and respondent talks during the annual gathering of the world’s leading communication scholars.

The following Annenberg faculty will take part:

/images/news/tn/banetweiser_sarah_45x45.jpgCommunication professor Sarah Banet-Weiser will present “Affective Audiences: Analysing Media Users, Consumers and Fans” on Wednesday from noon until 7:30 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Banet-Weiser will give an individual presentation on Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. titled "Home is Where the Brand is: Children’s Television in a Postnetwork Era" as part of a session called "The Consequences of Postnetwork Television Beyond Prime Time."

/images/news/tn/bar_45p.jpgCommunication professor François Bar will present “Mobile Voices: A Mobile, Open Source, Popular Communication Platform for First-Generation Immigrants in Los Angeles” in a session titled “Mobile2.0: Beyond Voice?” on Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Other authors include Melissa Brough, Sasha Costanza-Chock, Carmen Gonzalez, Cara Wallis, and Amanda Garces. Bar will also chair the session.

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Michael Cody , who edits ICA's Journal of Communication in addition to his duties as communication professor, is a co-author (along with adjunct professor Paula Woodley; Hollywood, Health & Society project director Sandra de Castro Buffington; and doctoral candidates Charlotte Lapsansky, Janel S. Schuh and Lauren B. Movius, who is the presenting author) "Evaluating a Bone Marrow Storyline on 'The Bold and the Beautiful': The Impact of Identification, Transportation, and Motivation on Knowledge and Action" in a session titled "Communication and Organ Donation" on Friday from 9 to 10:15 a.m.

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Communication professor Kwan Min Lee is a co-author of “Promoting Exercise Self-Efficacy With an Exergame: The Effect of Seeing Oneself Onscreen Among Individuals With High vs. Low Body Image Dissatisfaction,” which will be presented in a session titled “Physical and Emotional Health Online" on Sunday from 3 to 4:15 p.m.

/images/news/tn/gross_larry_45x45.jpgSchool of Communication director Larry Gross will chair/moderate "ICA Mini-Plenary: Alternative Modes of Academic Work" on Saturday from noon until 1:15 p.m.

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Communication professor Margaret L. McLaughlin and her co-authors, doctoral students Lauren B. Frank, Jae Eun Chung, Shuya Pan, Joe Jin Phua, Nupur Sen and Hua Wang, will present “Modes of Online Health Information Acquisition” in a session on health information management on Friday from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.

/images/news/tn/monge_peter_45x45.jpgCommunication professor Peter Monge is co-author of “The Coevolution of Multiplex Networks in Organizational Communities,” which will be presented in a session titled “Current Research on Organizational Networks" on Friday from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. Communication professor Janet Fulk will chair the session.

/images/news/tn/murphy_sheila_45x45.jpgCommunication professor Sheila Murphy and her co-authors, adjunct communication professor Woodley and doctoral candidates Frank and Meghan Brigid Moran, will present "Involved, Transported, or Emotional? Exploring the Determinants of Change in Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior in Entertainment Education” in a seminar on high-density persuasive messages on Saturday from 3 to 4:15 p.m.

/images/news/tn/riley_patti_45x45.jpgPatricia Riley , director of the Global Communication master's degree program and a communication professor, and her co-author, doctoral candidate Nicole B. Usher, will present “Organizational Culture and Capacity for Change in Public Service News Organizations” in a session titled “Journalists on Journalism" on Friday from 3 to 4:15 p.m.

/images/news/tn/swerling_45x45.jpgDirector of public relations studies and the USC Annenberg Strategic Communication & PR Center Jerry Swerling will present "International Research Collaboration: Opportunities and Obstacles – Learnings from the United States" in a session titled “Identifying Trends and Practices in Public Relations: International Research Insights and Methodological Challenges” on Saturday from 3 to 4:15 p.m. Associate professor of public relations Jian (Jay) Wang will present “Researching corporate communications trends in China” in the same session.

/images/news/tn/thomas_douglas_45x45.jpgCommunication professor Douglas Thomas will present "Moral Economies of Play" in a session titled "Keyword 'Play': Taking Computer Games and Game Play Seriously” on Saturday from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.

/images/news/tn/williams_dmitri_45p.jpgCommunication professor Dmitri Williams is co-author of “Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being Among MMO Players,” which will be presented in a session titled “Internet Use & Abuse" on Friday from 9 to 10:15 a.m. He is also co-author (with doctoral candidates Rabindra A. Ratan, Cuihua Shen and Li Xiong) of "As Real as Real? Macroeconomic Behavior in a Large-Scale Virtual World," to be presented in a session titled "Examining Group Play" on Friday from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.; "Good Clean Fun? A Content Analysis of Profanity in Video Games and its Prevalence Across Game Systems and Ratings," which will appear in a poster session on Sunday from noon to 1:15 p.m.; and "Schmoozing and Smiting: Trust, Social Institutions and Communication Patterns in an MMOG" (with doctoral candidates Ratan, Shen and Jae Eun Chung) in a session on social interactions in virtual groups on Monday from 9 to 10:15 a.m. Williams will present "Looking for Gender (LFG): Roles and Behaviors Among Online Gamers" in a game studies high-density paper session on Monday from noon to 1:15 p.m.

/images/news/tn/wilson45x45.jpgDean Ernest J. Wilson III will present “Digital Media, Modern Democracy, and Our Truncated National Debate” in a session titled "...And Communications for All:" A Policy Agenda for the New Administration” on Sunday from 3 to 4:15 p.m.

USC Annenberg doctorate, post doctorate and master's students who will take part in other presentations include: George Allen, Melissa M. Brough, Joyee Shairee Chatterjee, Nancy Chen, Carmen Gonzalez, Jessica Janine Gould, Sin-Hwa Kang, Vikki Sara Katz, Jingfang Liu, Lori Kido Lopez, Jingbo Meng, Lauren B. Movius, Yujung Nam, Luciano Nocera, Katherine Ognyanova, Shuya Pan, Shawn Powers, Steven F. Rafferty, Janel S. Schuh, Courtney Margaret Schultz, Nien Tsu, Nicole B. Usher, Onas Villanueva, and Hua Wang. Annenberg alumni Seungyoon Lee and Cara J. Wallis (Ph.D. 2008) will also participate.

Seungyoon Lee, a 2008 Annenberg doctoral graduate, will receive the 2009 Charles W. Redding Dissertation of the Year award from ICA's Organizational Communication Division.

Her dissertation was entitled The Coevolution of Multimodal, Multiplex, and Multilevel Organizational Networks in development Communities. The members of her dissertation committee were Francois Bar, Peter Monge (Chair), and Tom Valente (Public Health). Seungyoon is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University.

2009 ICA Conference
International Communication Association