Fun in Norfolk

I don't want everyone to have the idea that all we did Norfolk was work, present, work, present...We also took the time to have some fun. This is a photo of us having dinner at Hell's Kitchen. It was nice to relax for a bit.

The Entire SSCA Gang!

The conference was a huge success and our Columbia College Communication students shined. We have further strengthened our great reputation for excellent undergraduate scholarship in Communication Studies!

Here's the Picture from Lateshia's Panel

Lateshia's Presentation!

Here's a good pic from Lateshia's panel. The other students were from Furman,George Washington, and Georgia Southern.

Coley and Tom Frentz

Here's a good pic of Coley and Dr. Tom Frentz, Professor of Communication at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Frentz responded to Coley's paper. He's a former President of SSCA and a former adviser to Dr. Munsell.

Dr. Munsell Stirs Some Souls!

Lateshia got a good action shot of my presentation this morning. It was on speech hygiene and Elwood Murry's 1937 book about the speech personality. In a nutshell, Murray advocated for a certain kind of speech training that helped students along to mental health (and effective speech was therefore indicative of mental health) in order to solve social else through citizenship. It's a work in progress, but I got some great ideas from audience members.

We're Home!

We all made it back to Columbia in one piece. It was a great experience! I'm fix'en to post more pics...

All Done!

I think my presentation went well. I got some great feedback... The conference is over. We're going for some lunch and then driving back to Columbia. I'll upload more photos tonight.

My Turn!

Sunday morning. I present in 7 minutes. Better get down there!

Fantastic Job!

Lateshia did a fanstastic job with her presentation. She also did a fantastic job networking at the conference reception. She talked to representatives from UNC Chapel Hill, Auburn, Arkansas, Nebraska, to name just a few!

Yay! I am officially finished with my presentation and I feel great about it! I said a word that didn't exist ("implification"), but overall, I feel rather positive about it.

Dr. Munsell did pre-schmoozed for me to get potential grad schools to speak with me. I schmoozed my way into getting some business cards and e-mail addresses out of the deal. Yay, Munsell!

I'm not quite sure where I am headed, but I am feeling pretty positive about the doors that have been opened to me.

All I have to do is walk in!

Well, time is dwindling and I am becoming rather sleepy from today's events. After I try a Java Chip frappe from StarBucks, I think I shall call it a night.

'Til tomorrow... Lord willin'.

Does Google Blog Have a Spell Check?

Sorry for thy typo, Lateshia. I know your name!! Lateshia gives her presentation at 3:30pm. She's a bit nervous because there were about 200 or more folks at the awards lunch and they were all told to go check out her presentation! :-)

Latehsia Gets Her Award!

Lateshia got her plaque at the SSCA awards lunch today at 12:30. She already has faculty from grad programs across the southeast bombarding her with business cards! Here she is pictured with the other award winners.

Gay, Lesbian, Stitch 'N Bitch Segregationists!

This panel was presented by four talented students including the Rock Star, Coley Ray! Tom Frentz was the respondent. Overall, the students did an awesome job! Their presentations were exetemporaneous for the most part and I was eager to read their papers after hearing their presentations.

One of the presentations by Kelley Draper focused on the Rhetoric of Fear in the 1860s and 1972 (Successionists and Opponents to the ERA). I found it very interesting particularly the perspective of tying the racists comments to the anti-ERA comments and the common theme (she alleges) of fear.

Another paper, authored by Sarah Elizabeth Santa Cruz, focused on the exclusion of lesbianism and the victimization of the queer community in communication studies. Sarah Elizabeth's presentation was very animated and lively. I agreed with Dr. Frentz' assessment that less is more. While she did a great deal of research on a multitude of channels - military, education, athletics, I felt as if there wasn't enough meat to chew on. I would be interested in seeing her tackle maybe two areas like military and athletics and developing the exclusion of lesbianism a bit more. But, again, it was a great presentation and she made me want to read her paper!

Dumbledore is Gay, by Anna Wiederhold was a bit of crossroads for me. While I enjoyed the presentation, I wasn't quite sure what her point was. Was she saying that the author was ignoring the explicit labeling of Dumbledore to create normalcy of sexuality or just commenting on the idea that we view text almost exclusively from a heteronormative lens? Blah....who knows. It would be interesting to read her entire paper to answer that question she left us with...

On to the main act...Coley Ray! She rocked her presentation...In Dr. Tate's words, "She was brilliant". She gave a wonderful preview and signposts to tell us where we going! Very organized and extemporaneously given. Go Koala! I think she even influenced the last speaker, Kelley Draper, to start of with a preview and a few signposts but wasn't nearly as effective at keeping us on track as Coley was. Big kudos and a job well done!

Knit...Purl...Bind off...Finished!

I just completed my presentation and I feel Fantastic!! I was able to "knit" a picture of the group I studied by sharing interesting stories from the meetings and "bounded off" with my findings. To my colleagues, family, and friends: Thanks for all the support!

Presentation Time!

My presentation begins in fourteen minutes. The nerves are beginning to build up but I must shove them down and focus...I am well prepared.
In the words of Dr. Tate, "We will be brilliant!"
Here goes nothing...

Nerves!!!

I am nervous as the time for my presentation nears. I want to do my best because I feel like I have a lot riding on this moment in my life. To sink would be a failure. To swim will be a passage towards opportunities that I haven't considered before...

An extemporaneous delivery would be key for this presentation although Dr. Munsell says that it is not necessary. "It's about the ideas," he said. However, whenever I have a presentation or listen to someone speak in public, my mind always wonder to Dr. Tate. What would she think?

First stop... Madison

My presentation was on Friday at 6:00 pm. There were a total of three presenters. Wendy Hajjar, a faculty member at Xavier University, was the respondent. I agree with Hajjar's assessment that she felt I could have finished stronger. She felt that I was holding back. There were so many things that I could have pulled from both films - Dahan and Vivah. I would like to further develop the paper and perhaps develop the cultural criticism method a bit more.

Ready for Another Day!

The Awards Breakfast is in a few minutes! Lateshia will be the big star!

Anita Rocked!

Anita did a fabulous job presenting her paper. Her responded said is was grad school quality!

Arrived in Norfolk!

Arrived around 2:15pm or so. Anita presents at 6pm.

In Norfolk safe and sound

Arrived in Norfolk about 30 minutes ago. Got checked in, got registered for the conference at all that. Anita presents at 6pm.

Up Early and Fired Up!

We leave in about an hour and a half! Should be in Norfolk by early afternoon!

Fired Up!

Well, I still have a little packing left to do tonight before we begin our journey to Norfolk, VA bright and early in the morning but I am very excited about this wonderful opportunity! I keep tweaking my speech...it's as if it will never be quite right...
Well, ready or not!