UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Communication Studies

Top Ten Ethics Bowl Finish for UP

Staff and faculty portraitsThe University of Portland recently competed in the Northwest Region’s Ethics Bowl at Seattle Pacific University. Despite facing two teams which were eventually regional semi-finalists, the UP team finished in the Top Ten for the region—an impressive achievement in the University’s first year of competition at that level.

Congratulations are in order to this year’s team members: Lisa Holm, organizational communication; Lakshmi Diener, communication studies; Elizabeth Hartley, biology; Karina Agbisit,  environmental policy and ethics; and Anna Murphy, business administration and Spanish. The team was directed by Bohn Lattin and Brian Simmons, communication studies, and was assisted by Richard Askay, philosophy. For more information contact Simmons at 8025 or simmonsb@up.edu.

Conversation on Prisons, Nov. 21

University of Portland, upVail Fletcher and her communication studies students received a competitive Oregon Humanities Conversation Starter Project grant to host a program titled, “Beyond Bars: Rethinking Our Reliance on Prisons” on Thursday, November 21, 7-9 p.m., in the Bauccio Commons. It will be an interactive conversation focused on considering the following questions: What role do prisons serve in our country? Is it possible to envision a world where people are safe and secure, and where there is accountability, without prisons? Does our prison system, in some cases, actually cause rather than reduce crime? The event is sponsored in part by the Garaventa Center, the Department of Social Justice, the Department of Political Science, and the Department of Communication Studies. The event will be immediately followed by a dessert reception. All community members are welcome. Please contact Fletcher at fletcher@up.edu with any questions and/or if you plan on bringing your class.

Speech & Debate Team Results

simmons copyThe University of Portland’s Speech and Debate Union competed last weekend at the 41st annual Smelt Classic at Lower Columbia College, according to Brian Simmons, communication studies. Congratulations are due to the following students on their impressive accomplishments at that speech and debate tournament:

  • Anna Murphy, Spanish and business administration, advanced to the final round of debate winning 2nd place; won an award for being the 4th best individual debate speaker; and advanced to the final round of Impromptu Speaking winning 5th place.
  • Lakshmi Biswas-Diener, communication studies, advanced to the final round of debate winning 3rd place; and won an award for being 6th best individual debate speaker.
  • Arthur Hammer, business administration, advanced to the final round of Editorial Commentary winning 1st place; won an award for being 10th best individual debate speaker.
  • Elizabeth Hartley, biology, advanced to the final round of Extemporaneous Speaking winning 5th place.
  • Grace Holmes, environmental ethics and policy, won an award for being the 9th best individual debate speaker.

For more information contact Simmons at 8025 or simmonsb@up.edu.

Speech and Debate Union

Staff and faculty portraitsUnder the direction of Bohn Lattin and Brian Simmons, communication studies, the University of Portland’s Speech and Debate Union recently participated in the annual Steve Hunt Classic Speech and Debate Tournament at Lewis and Clark College. Freshman Karina Agbisit, environmental policy, won third place out of 30 competitors in the event “Novice Impromptu Speaking.” Junior Elizabeth Hartley, biology, won fourth place out of 23 competitors in “Novice Extemporaneous Speaking.” Sophomore Amanda Murphy, business and Spanish double major, advanced to the quarterfinals (top 8) of 28 competitors in the Junior division of debate and earned the tournament’s Top Speaker award in her division. For more information contact Simmons at simmons@up.edu or Lattin at lattin@up.edu.

Speech/Debate Nationals

The University of Portland Speech and Debate Union sent four representatives to the Pi Kappa Delta National Speech and Debate Tournament in St. Louis, MO over spring break. Congratulations to sophomore Katie Wilson, who competed against debaters from 89 schools across the country and finished the tournament as a quarterfinalist (top 8 in the nation) and was deemed to be among the top 10 percent of all debate speakers in the nation. For more information contact Brian Simmons (simmons@up.edu) and Bohn Lattin (lattin@up.edu).

John Orr Lecture, New Location

John Orr will present a lecture, “Scenes of Reading, Sites of Contest: Listening to Henry Adams’s Marginalia,” as part of the Communi­cation Studies Colloquium Series, on Wednesday, March 27, from noon to 1 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 206 (moved from Buckley Center room 102). His talk is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Light snacks will be served and attendees are invited to bring their lunches. For more information contact C. Vail Fletcher, communication studies, at 503-943-7351 or fletcher@up.edu.

John Orr Lecture, March 27

John Orr will present a lecture, “Scenes of Reading, Sites of Contest: Listening to Henry Adams’s Marginalia,” as part of the Communi­cation Studies Colloquium Series, on Wednesday, March 27, from noon to 1 p.m., in Buckley Center room 102. His talk is free and open faculty, staff, students, and the public.

Orr’s scholarly interests reside in late 19th and early 20th-century American literature and culture, including ongoing work on Henry Adams, several women writers of the era and, most recently, the early Native American writer, Mourning Dove. His talk will describe his work combing through Henry Adams’s personal library at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, in search of marginal comments Adams wrote in his books. Light snacks will be served and attendees are invited to bring their lunches. For more information contact C. Vail Fletcher, communication studies, at 503-943-7351 or fletcher@up.edu.

Speech and Debate Team

The University’s Speech and Debate Union competed against 15 regional colleges and universities under the direction of Bohn Lattin and Brian Simmons, communication studies, at Oregon State University’s ninth annual Earl Wells Speakeasy Memorial Tournament held in Corvallis on February 23-24. Katie Husk and Katie Wilson placed in the top 10 of the 85 Open Division debaters. Caleb Patterson placed in the top 6 of the 35 competitors in the Novice Division of the Extempor­aneous Speaking event.

Elayne Shapiro Lecture

Elayne ShapiroElayne Shapiro, communication studies, will present “Conflict in the Bible: the Communication-Conflict 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 7351 or fletcher@up.edu.