NCA Inside & Out

In May and June, Communication Matters delved into a variety of interesting topics. On May 14, Joy Connolly, President of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), discussed ACLS, a nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations, including NCA. ACLS’s mission is to advance humanistic studies in all fields of learning in the humanities and the social sciences and to maintain and strengthen relations among the national societies devoted to such studies. 

On May 28, Robert B. Townsend, Director of the Humanities Indicators Project and Director of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Washington Office, discussed the latest Humanities Indicators and some of the trends in the humanities, especially in Communication. Among other things, the data indicate that Communication departments are awarding more degrees than other humanities departments. 

On June 11, Megan K. Schraedley, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media at West Chester University, and Marianne LeGreco, Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, discussed “Food (in)security communication: a Journal of Applied Communication Research forum addressing current challenges and future possibilities.” The forum article is currently free to access. 

On June 25, Shaunak Sastry, Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Cincinnati, and Srividya “Srivi” Ramasubramanian, Professor of Communication, Presidential Impact Fellow, Affiliated Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, and Director of Difficult Dialogues on Campus Race Relations at Texas A&M University, discussed a special issue of NCA’s Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, “The subcontinent speaks: Intercultural communication perspectives from/on South Asia.” The articles in the issue are currently free to access.  

New episodes of Communication Matters are released every other Thursday. Upcoming episodes of Communication Matters will feature a variety of interesting guests, including:

• July 9: Robin Means Coleman, Professor of Communication and Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity at Texas A&M University, joins the podcast to discuss Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present, a book that was made into an award-winning documentary film in 2019. The episode will delve into issues of race in American horror films.
• July 15: In a special bonus episode, Amanda Nell Edgar, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Memphis, and Andre E. Johnson, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Memphis, authors of the book The Struggle over Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter, which examines the personal experiences of Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter activists in Memphis, Tennessee.
• July 20: In a special bonus episode, Vanessa Beasley, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Associate Provost and Dean of Residential Faculty at Vanderbilt University; Marnel Niles Goins, Professor of Communication, Interim Dean of Academic Affairs, and Associate Dean in the School of Design, Arts, and Humanities at Marymount University; and Shawn Wahl, Professor of Communication and Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Missouri State University, will discuss lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• July 23: Mary Gould, Director of the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison, an organization that works to promote high-quality higher education programs in prison by supporting both practitioners and students, discusses the Alliance’s work, the importance of promoting postsecondary education in prison, and the relevance of Communication research and teaching to expanding higher education programs in prisons.
• July 27: In a special bonus episode, Rachel Alicia Griffin, Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Utah, and Jonathan P. Rossing, Associate Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at Gonzaga University, will discuss a special issue of Review of Communication focusing on the film, Black Panther.
• August 6: E. Michele Ramsey, co-author of Major Decisions: College, Career, and the Case for the Humanities, which argues that the humanities are valuable for preparing students for careers and life, will join the podcast to discuss the book and the value of the humanities in today’s high-tech world.
• August 20: Dianne Bystrom, Director Emerita of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University; Belinda Stillion Southard, Graduate Coordinator and Faculty Member at the University of Georgia; Ella Stillion Southard, one of the developers of Women in Politics; and Kristan Poirot, Associate Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University, will discuss a special issue of the Quarterly Journal of Speech on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
• September 3: Leah Litman, Assistant Professor in the University of Michigan Law School, will discuss the essay, “Muted Justice,” a publicly accessible essay published on SSRN. The essay examines how much time each of the Supreme Court justices was given to ask questions during May’s oral arguments, which were made over the phone because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

You can find Communication Matters by entering “Communication Matters” in the search bar of your favorite podcast app. Subscribe and listen today!