The Hope Conference, known officially as The NCA Institute for Faculty Development, was held in July as a virtual event hosted by the University of Nevada, Reno. More than 40 faculty members representing 33 universities from across the country participated in the annual conference, which is designed for undergraduate Communication faculty who want to build pedagogical skills and advance collaborative research as well as develop new course area expertise.
This year’s conference featured six sections led by university experts, including:
- “(Re)theorizing Communication Studies from African Perspectives” – Godried Asante, San Diego State University
- “Using Arts-Based Research (ABR) as Critical Interpersonal and Family Communication (CIFC) Research and Pedagogy” – Sandra L. Faulkner, Bowling Green State University
- “Deterritorializing Frontiers: Expanding Notions of Physical, Emotional, and Geopolitical Borders” – Ana Gómez Parga, Nazareth College
- “Teaching Persuasion in a Post-Truth World and an Era of Divisive Politics” – Stephen K. Hunt, Illinois State University
- “Creating Transformational Space in Classroom and Research through the Study of Intimacy/Love, Relational Justice, and Forgiveness/Reconciliation” – Douglas L. Kelley, Arizona State University
- “Pedagogy of the Oppressed in the Contemporary Communication Classroom” - Sandy Pensoneau-Conway, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Jimmie Manning and Nhi Le, both from the University of Nevada, Reno, served as the primary organizer and technological director, respectively, for the event, while West Virginia University’s Scott Myers served as the 2022 Scholar-in-Residence.