CAS News

Communication Studies

Communications Professor Renee Heath Leaves for Boston

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From THE BEACON
Will Lyons, staff writer

Bringing all members of the community together for civil discourse is one of the many skills for which Renee Heath will be remembered. After eight years as a communication studies professor at UP, Heath is moving to Boston to be with her family as her husband takes a new job.

Heath won UP’s Outstanding Teaching award in 2011 and created the Teaching Our Leaders Civil Discourse (TOLCS) club. “First I’ll miss the students and people in the UP Community,” Heath said. “We have such a warm culture here.”

Renee Heath with the TOLCS club

Heath touched and shaped the lives of many students. “She made me fall in love with my education all over again,” senior Andriana Alexis said. “I’m sad to see her go but I’m happy for her and her family.” For communication studies department chair Jeff Kerssen-Griep, Heath brought an incredible energy to the faculty. “She had the gift of turning ideas into practices, products and relationships,” Kerssen-Griep said. “I’ll miss her as a colleague and friend.”

Heath is on sabbatical this semester as she finishes working on a book with fellow professors Jennette Lovejoy, Courtney Vail Fletcher and Bill Barnes about the Occupy movement. The transition out of the University will prove trying for Heath, who grew up in Portland. “The University of Portland is a special place,” Heath said. “Not all schools are so dynamic.”

For Heath, one of the most transformative events that happened while she was working at UP was the shouting matches at Town Hall meetings over healthcare during the summer of 2010. “I remember thinking, surely there must be a better way to have public discourse,” Heath said. Heath developed TOLCS to create a fair way to mediate discussion over controversial topics and to develop professional facilitation skills. The club had over 60 members it’s first semester. “Once students participated [in TOLCS] I didn’t have trouble getting them to come back,” Heath said. “Having [TOLCS] come to fruition is amazing.” The club began to provide a critical action role in many of the University’s biggest events. Besides the healthcare summit, TOLCS held discussions at the Food for Thought Conference, Focus the Nation and Water Rights Conference.

Today the club has over 60 active members, and according to recent alumna Hilary White, the skills learned in TOLCS translate well into the real world. “In interviews, I feel better at responding to questions,” White said. “TOLCS also helps in everyday things like finding common ground among friends.” With Heath’s departure, Fletcher will be taking over as faculty advisor for TOLCS, a club that continues to have an active membership. Through TOLCS and the passion she shared for civil discourse, Heath’s legacy will live on. “Thanks to everyone who’s touched me,” Heath said. “I’m on to new adventures, but Portland will always be a part of who I am.”

Intel hires UP Alumna for Regional Communications Manager

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Intel Corporation recently hired Chelsea Hossaini as the northwest region communications manager in Hillsboro.

“Intel’s largest and most comprehensive site in the world is in Hillsboro, and local media representatives are important partners as we provide up-to-date information on the construction of Intel’s new development fabrication facility called D1X,” said Jill Eiland, Intel northwest region corporate affairs manager.  “We are pleased to add a young professional to our seasoned team who brings relevant experience and new energy to the work we do as the largest private employer in Oregon.”

Hossaini’s background combines public relations, marketing, community relations and event management. She graduated maxima cum laude from the University of Portland with a bachelor of arts in communication studies with an emphasis on media studies.

As Communications Manager, Hossaini serves as the primary point of contact for site media relations, external communications, and the promotion of national programs and events.

Elayne Shapiro Lecture

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Wednesday, February 27, 12:00 – 1:00pm in BC 163

Elayne Shapiro, communication studies, will present“Conflict in the Bible: the CommunicationConflict Lens” as part of the Spring 2013 Communication Studies Colloquium Series on Wednesday, February 27, noon to 1 p.m., in Buckley Center room 163. Her talk is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public.

In addition to her teaching and administrative duties, Shapiro conducts research in computer mediated communication and health communication. Her research appears in several book chapters, the Journal of the Northwest Communication Association, the Journal of American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the Journal of College Teaching, and the Journal of Religious Education. Orbis Press recently published Reading the Bible: Transforming Conflict, coauthored with Sr. Carol Dempsey, theology. Light snacks will be served, and all are welcome to bring their lunch.

For more information contact C. Vail Fletcher, communication studies, at ext. 7351 or fletcher@up.edu.

Beacon Receives National Recognition

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By: Nancy Copic, Assistant Director of Student Media & Adviser to The Beacon

From THE BEACON BLOG

When I saw the email subject line “Gold Circle Winners Announced,” my reflex was to steel myself for disappointment. My expectations could not have been lower.

Gold Circle Awards are national awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association based at the graduated school of the Columbia School of Journalism in N.Y. There are so many better-funded, impressively-staffed college journalism programs and student media programs out there, I believed The Beacon could maybe score an honorable mention. At best.

Not that I don’t swell with pride over the work of the students journalists at The Beacon. I obviously had enough faith to enter The Beacon’s work. It’s just that, well, our little Beacon, we’re not really in the major leagues. Are we? The email revealed the surprising (to me, at least) answer: Yes, at least in 6  awards categories. Six awards and three certificates of merit (honorable mention). Did I mention these are national awards?

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Mock Trial Team Shines

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From UPBEAT

The University of Portland Mock Trial Team took part in its first competition over the weekend of November 10-11, according to team coach Aaron Johnson, political science. The team competed at the Anteater Invitational Tournament hosted by UC Irvine in Los Angeles.

A total of 22 teams were competing, including former national champion UCLA and currently no. 1 ranked UC Irvine. UP students won 3 of the 4 rounds they competed in, and only lost to UC Irvine by 4 points, a very small margin. Overall, the UP team placed 6th out of 22.

Team members are Brenna Twohy, Brendan Bewley, Calvin Tuhy, Jordan Jones, Emma England, Charity Taylor, and Nic Barradas. Twohy was awarded ‘Team MVP’ for her performance as an attorney.

For more information contact Johnson at johnsocu@up.edu.

Rebecca Chavez: Hightower Scholarship Recipient

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Rebecca Chavez, this year’s recipient of Molly Hightower scholarship, has “taken advantage of all that UP has to offer”

Rebecca Chavez, a University of Portland senior, barely recalls a time when service was not part of her life.Recipient of this year’s Molly Hightower Endowed Scholarship, Chavez was under the age of 10 when she regularly volunteered with her family at a home for developmental disabled adults. Her job included transporting the home’s residents via wheelchair to Sunday Mass.

“It was often noisy in those Masses,” she said. “But I realized they were praising God just like anyone else.”

“I have been doing service since I could walk,” she added. “My mother is an immigrant, and my father was born to immigrant parents, so my siblings and I grew up with understandings of social justice.”
Chavez, born and raised in Santa Clara, near San Francisco, is majoring in Spanish and social work and minoring in communication studies. She is the third recipient of the Molly Hightower Scholarship. The scholarship was established by the Class of 2010 in memory of Hightower, who died in the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti while volunteering with special-needs orphans. [Read more…] about Rebecca Chavez: Hightower Scholarship Recipient

Debate Success

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From UPBEAT

Bohn Lattin and Brian Simmons, communication studies, wrote in to let us know of the University of Portland Speech and Debate Union’s recent success at the Steve Hunt Classic Speech and Debate Tournament held at Lewis & Clark College. Our students achieved as follows:

  • Elizabeth Hartley advanced to the
    Quarterfinal Round (Top 8) of the Junior Division of IPDA Debate
  • John Russell advanced to the Quarterfinal Round (Top 8) of the Junior Division of IPDA Debate
  • KatieWilson placed 6th in the Junior Division of Extemporaneous Speaking
  • Arthur (Bo) Hammer placed 6th in the Novice Division of Impromptu Speaking
  • Alaina Bever placed 6th in the Novice Division of Informative Speaking

A&S Colleagues

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On Monday, October 1, CAS Dean Michael Andrews hosted the first “A&S Colleagues” gathering.  The gathering will meet once each semester.  The format is simple:  First, a 20-minute presentation from each of two invited speakers on a subject involving current research or a personal or professional interest, followed by an informal social gathering with wine and cheese.  For this first A&S Colleagues gathering, Vail Fletcher (Communication Studies) talked about “Work/Life Balance, Organizational Bullying, and Identity Conflicts” and Michael Connolly (Performing and Fine Arts) discussed, “Overcoming Distractions: Restarting Scholarship and Creative Work After Taking Time Away.”  Informal conversation over wine and cheese followed.

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Collaboration on “Intergenerational Conflict”

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Renee Heath, Communication Studies

Dr. Renee Guarriello Heath (Communication Studies – CST) shares news of a just-published research article entitled Generational Perspectives in the Workplace: Interpreting the Discourses That Constitute Women’s Struggle to Balance Work and Life.  Co-authored with CST M.A. graduate Linda Williams Favero, Heath said this national report adds evidence and insight for “anyone who has ever encountered the concepts of ‘paying your dues’ or needing to put in ‘face-time’ at work.  Those who have experienced intergenerational or gendered conflict over these ideas may be especially interested.” 

The study investigated how and why professional women may clash about managing work-life balance due to being socialized within different generations.  Using interpretive focus group findings, the study explored “paying one’s dues” and “face-time” as two prime discourses women use to unpack and interpret their thoughts, feelings, and actions about that key workplace tension.  “Organizational communication research is very interested in the idea of how we use communication to produce and reproduce what work/life balance means.  Ultimately the idea of work/life balance is negotiated through communication at and around work” says Renee.  This study deconstructs these women’s interpretations and offers a hopeful starting point for conversations that can help bridge perspectives regarding work/life balance.     [Read more…] about Collaboration on “Intergenerational Conflict”