CCSE Conference 2021: Full Schedule

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10:30am EDT

Media, Policy, and Messaging

As congressional hearings become more visible, video clips from these events receive a great deal of attention. But can they be viewed as a type of rhetorical genre? While they have been studied in many ways by political scientists and communication scholars, our authors explore a new approach to analyzing their rhetoric. How issues are framed in the media is a common approach, but to understand how a single, significant individual, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) could frame the coverage of health care through his positions and speeches takes us in a new direction in framing studies.

Moderator: Terri Towner, Oakland University, Professor

Congressional Hearings as Public Spectacle
Joshua Guitar, Young Harris College, Department of Communication Studies
Sheri Bleam, Adrian College, Department of Communication Arts and Sciences

Contributing Researchers:
Jenna Thomas, Young Harris College, Research Assistant
Madeline Studebaker, Young Harris College, Research Assistant
Matthew George, Youn Harris College, Research Assistant

Same Messenger, New Message: Senator Ted Kennedy and the Framing of Health Reform
Jennifer Hopper, Southern Connecticut State University, Political Science

Moderators

Terri Towner

Political Science Department, Oakland University

Terri L. Towner is a Professor of Political Science at Oakland University in Michigan. Her research focuses mainly on the role of social media in campaigns and elections, centering on digital platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram. She recently co-edited the book The Internet... Read More →

Speakers

Sheri Bleam

Retired, Center for Communication Arts, Adrian College

After completing a B.A. in Communication Arts from Wright State University, Sheri earned her M.A. in Rhetoric at Central Michigan University and her Ph.D. in Communication and Rhetorical Processes at Wayne State University.  She then served in the Adrian College professoriate for... Read More →

Joshua Guitar

Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Kean University

After completing a B.A. in Communication at Adrian College, Joshua Guitar earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Joshua currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Communication at Kean University in Union, NJ where he teaches... Read More →

Jennifer Hopper

Political Science, Southern Connecticut State University

Jennifer Hopper is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southern Connecticut State University where she regularly teaches courses in American Government, the U.S. Presidency, Congress and the Legislative Process, and Media & Politics. She is the author of Presidential... Read More →

Non-Presenting Authors

Jenna Thomas

Research Assistant, Young Harris College

Jenna Thomas is a senior Communication Studies major at Young Harris College located in Young Harris, Georgia. Jenna primarily researches political ideologies and mediated campaigns through critical and rhetorical methods. Recently inducted into the Lambda Pi Eta honor society as... Read More →

Madeline Studebaker

Research Assistant, Young Harris College

Madeline Studebaker is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies with a double minor in English and Spanish at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia. As an undergraduate research assistant in the Communication Studies Department, Madeline has enjoyed... Read More →

Matthew George

Research Assistant, Young Harris College

Matthew George is a junior Communication Studies and Spanish double major at Young Harris College. Matthew is a tutor for Communication Studies and Spanish, and also works as a Resident Assistant for campus housing. With many aspirations, Matthew plans on working as an intern for... Read More →

Monday October 18, 2021 10:30am - 11:45am EDT

Panel

1:30pm EDT

Television, Technology, and Historical Political Narratives

Three historians use the C-SPAN Video Library to study the recent impact of television on modern Democratic political conventions, the primary campaigns of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and in fundamentally changing the nature of newsrooms. These papers serve to demonstrate how history, television, and archives interconnect and can be used to develop new perspectives in research.

Moderator: Brian Rosenwald, University of Pennsylvania, Partnership for Effective Public Administration and Leadership Ethics

Indecision 2000: Changing Journalistic Practices in the Age of Cable News
Kathryn Cramer Brownell, Purdue University, Department of History

Television, Chaos, and Reform: The ‘68 and ‘72 Democratic Conventions
Heather Hendershot, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Comparative Media Studies/Writing

The Jesse Jackson Phenomenon Revisited: C-SPAN, Television and the Democratic Primaries of 1984 and 1988
Allison Perlman, University of California, Irvine, History, Film and Media Studies

Moderators

Brian Rosenwald

Partnership for Effective Public Administration and Leadership Ethics, University of Pennsylvania

Brian Rosenwald is a scholar in residence at the Partnership for Effective Public Administration and Leadership Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, an instructor at Penn, and author of Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United... Read More →

Speakers

Kathryn Brownell

Associate Professor & University Faculty Scholar, Purdue University

Kathryn Cramer Brownell is associate professor of history and author of 24/7Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of American from Watergate to Fox News (Princeton University Press, 2023) and Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Political Life (UNC Press, 2014).

Heather Hendershot

Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Heather Hendershot is a professor of film and media at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a former editor of Cinema Journal, the official publication of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, and she has held fellowships at NYU, Princeton, Stanford, and Harvard; Hendershot... Read More →

Allison Perlman

History, Film and Media Studies, University of California, Irvine

Allison Perlman is an associate professor of history and film and media studies at the University of California, Irvine. She is the author of Public Interests: Media Advocacy and Struggles over US Television (Rutgers UP, 2016). She is currently working on two projects related... Read More →

Monday October 18, 2021 1:30pm - 3:00pm EDT

Panel

3:15pm EDT

Undergraduate Research Competition Winners

Meet the winners of the CCSE Undergraduate Research Competition; Purdue Class of 2021 alum, Anya Welborn, and Purdue undergraduate student, Garon Young, and see their award-winning 5-minute presentations using the C-SPAN Video Library.

Framing & Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial
Anya Welborn, George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs

Identification and C-SPAN
Garon Young, Purdue University, School of Mechanical Engineering

Moderators

Andrea Langrish

Managing Director, Purdue University - Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement

Andrea Langrish is the Managing Director for the Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement at Purdue University. Having earned her undergraduate in journalism, Andrea holds a Master of Education from the University of Texas, El Paso. As an educator with a background in business... Read More →

Speakers

Anya Welborn

Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

Anya Welborn is a graduate student at George Washington University seeking a Master's of Arts in Security Policy Studies. She graduated in May 2021 from Purdue with highest distinction with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Political Science. She was also named the Outstanding... Read More →

Garon Young

School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University

Garon is a sophomore currently studying Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. He’s the son of two Purdue alums, Jason and Galyn Young, and is originally from the South Bend area in northern Indiana. Garon attended Saint Joseph High School where he was president of the National... Read More →

Monday October 18, 2021 3:15pm - 3:45pm EDT

Panel

9:00am EDT

Political Research and Video Content Analysis

These papers take both a longitudinal and single-event approach to political phenomena including behavior in televised presidential debates, analysis of farm policy, and the visual symbols in the second Trump impeachment trial. From violations of traditional “debate space” to visuals including video exhibits in the once staid Senate, to the evolution of farm policy, we see change across very different political arenas.

Detecting Nonverbal Aggression in Presidential Debate: A Longitudinal Computer Vision Analysis of Candidate Behavior, 1976-2020
Erik P. Bucy, Texas Tech University, College of Media and Communication
Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin, Madison, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Non-Presenting Authors
Porismita Borah, Washington State University, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
Sang Jung Kim, University of Wisconsin, Madison, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
William A. Sethares, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Zhongkai Sun, Amazon, Alexa AI

U.S. Congress’ Moral Sentiments Toward Farmers and Farming From 2012-2021
Jacob A. Miller, Kansas State University, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work

Visualizing the Incitement of Insurrection: A Content Analysis of Visual Symbols used in Donald J. Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial
Stephanie Wideman, University of Indianapolis, Department of Communication
Laura M. Wilson, University of Indianapolis, History and Political Science

Non-Presenting Author:
Whitney Tipton, University of Indianapolis, Department of Communication

Moderators

Alison Novak

College of Communication & Creative Arts, Rowan University

Alison N. Novak is an associate professor at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. She received her Ph.D. in Communication, Culture and Media from Drexel University. Her work examines political engagement, discursive construction of policy, and digital media. She is the author of three... Read More →

Speakers

Erik P. Bucy

Marshall and Sharleen Formby Regents Professor of Strategic Communication, Texas Tech University

Erik P. Bucy is the Marshall and Sharleen Formby Regents Professor of Strategic Communication in the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University. For the second half of 2018 he will be a visiting senior fellow in the Department of Government at the London School of... Read More →

Dhavan Shah

School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Dhavan V. Shah is the Louis A. & Mary E. Maier-Bascom Professor at the University of Wisconsin, where he is Director of the Mass Communication Research Center (MCRC) and Scientific Director in the Center for Health Enhancement System Studies (CHESS). Shah’s research focuses on the... Read More →

Jacob A. Miller

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University

Jacob Miller is a Ph.D. Student, Kansas State University and an NSF-funded NRT-R3 Research Trainee broadly interested in the relationship between social systems and sustainable agriculture and climate change's effects. He has been published in The Rhetoric of Fascism: Devices From... Read More →

Stephanie Wideman

Department of Communication, University of Indianapolis

Stephanie L. Wideman holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Rhetoric from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She received her M.A. degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Administration, and her B.A. in Communication with an emphasis in Public... Read More →

Laura Merrifield Wilson

History and Political Science, University of Indianapolis

Laura Merrifield Wilson is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Indianapolis, where she also serves as the Pre-Law Advisor and Co-Director of the Gender Center. Her specializations include gender politics, campaigns and elections, and state government... Read More →

Non-Presenting Authors

Porismita Borah

Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University

Porismita Borah is an Associate Professor at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication and a graduate faculty in the Prevention Science program at the Washington State University. Her research focuses on the interplay of emerging technology, politics, and health. Borah primarily... Read More →

Sang Jung Kim

School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Sang Jung Kim is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Sang studies the interaction between technology, politics, and social identity. She explores the identities of message creators and message receivers on social media... Read More →

Whitney Tipton

Department of Communication, University of Indianapolis

Whitney Tipton holds a Ph.D. in Communication and Information Science with an emphasis in Organizational Communication and a Master’s degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership. Since moving to Indiana, Whitney has been involved with voter registration and engagement efforts... Read More →

William A. Sethares

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison

William A. Sethares received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University,and is currently Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Prof Sethares has held visiting positions at the Australian... Read More →

Zhongkai Sun

Faculty, WISC

Zhongkai Sun is currently an Applied Scientist at Amazon Alexa AI. Before joining Amazon, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his main research is about multi-modal language analysis such as sentiment analysis and emotion recognition. Outside of work... Read More →

Tuesday October 19, 2021 9:00am - 10:30am EDT

Panel

1:30pm EDT

Gender, Media and Communication

As more women find careers in journalism, we see increased research into gendered norms and gendered language. How are people perceived when they use language considered to be masculine or feminine? Analyzing politicians’ rhetoric or the personal accounts of women journalists, we gain insights into perceptions of gender in news media and messaging in politics.

Moderator: Carly Schmitt, Indiana State University, Department of Political Science

Strong Men, Caring Women? How Gender Shapes Emotional Political Rhetoric
Jared McDonald, Stanford University, Political Psychology Research Group
Zachary A. Scott, Wake Forest University, Political Science and International Affairs

Cracking the glass ceiling in the newsroom: An examination of women journalists’ perspectives on gender in the media
Newly Paul, University of North Texas, Mayborn School of Journalism

Moderators

Carly Schmitt

Department of Political Science, Indiana State University

Dr. Carly Schmitt (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Indiana State University. Dr. Schmitt's research interests center on Congress and political polarization. Her current projects include... Read More →

Speakers

Jared McDonald

Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford University

Jared McDonald is a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Political Psychology Research Group (PPRG) at Stanford University. He previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte after completing his Ph.D. in government and politics at the... Read More →

Zachary A. Scott

Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest University

Zack Scott is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Wake Forest University. He received his Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland in 2020. His research interests include political communication, mass media, presidential... Read More →

Newly Paul

Mayborn School of Journalism, University of North Texas

Newly Paul is an assistant professor of journalism in the Mayborn School of Journalism at University of North Texas. She teaches various levels of undergraduate classes such as introduction to media writing, copyediting, principles of news, and minorities in media. She graduated with... Read More →

Tuesday October 19, 2021 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT

Panel