Campus On The Common

Social movements and activism today receive as much coverage in the news cycle as ever. But with the short attention span of the modern media ecosystem, how do activists and organizers today create and promote the meaningful stories behind their work? Dr. Gino Canella is a researcher, educator, and filmmaker who studies how collaborative media production has the potential to foster meaningful relationships among people fighting for justice. He joins us today to discuss the role of storytelling and collaboration in the success of social movements and share his experiences working alongside community organizers.

Today's media landscape is a digital environment always in motion, presenting new opportunities and challenges for storytellers of all kinds. So what does that mean for broadcast journalism in 2023? And how do young journalists succeed in the industry and tell meaningful stories? In this episode, Larry Potash—Chicago's longest-serving morning anchor and creator of the docuseries Backstory— provides his insight into the state of broadcast journalism today and what it takes to tell a good story. He will also give advice to the next generation of reporters, news anchors, and documentations on the important skills needed to thrive in modern media production.

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team has won four FIFA World Cups since its inception, while the men’s team has yet to make it to the finals. So, why do women have less to show for it on payday? In this episode, Dr. Mary Anne Taylor joins us to discuss the recent settlement between US Women's professional soccer and their players regarding the gender pay gaps in women's soccer. The Communication Studies professor offers actionable advice on how we can support women’s sports in all its forms. ABOUT OUR GUEST: An Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies, Dr. Taylor is a rhetoric and gender scholar with a primary research emphasis on challenging dominant discourses of democracy and civility. Her work is published in the Journal of Women and Language, American Behavioral Scientist, and several edited collections and invited manuscripts, ranging from an essay on exploring false feminism, to gendered journalism in The New York Times. Currently, Dr. Taylor has a co-authored manuscript in review with Communication Quarterly, which investigates critical rhetorical approaches to health communication. She has also presented her work at national, international, and regional conferences on the rhetoric(s) of gender, race, and sexuality in sports and politics. Dr. Taylor joined Emerson College from the Department of Management at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to teaching Strategic Communication, she was also contracted with the Texas MBA + Leadership Program and Executive Education & Ethics Center. Dr. Taylor remains affiliated with the McCombs MBA Leadership program and consults on gender and communication in organizational leadership, career management, job placement, storytelling, and networking.

On an interpersonal level, do you communicate in a positive or negative manner? Do you unknowingly project power or weakness, impatience or encouragement? Are your words edgy or empathetic? In this episode, we speak with Professor Philip Glenn about his research into the field of positive communication. He explains the movement towards non-violent communication and teaches us what role humor, laughter, and levity can play in developing interpersonal connections. So let’s get serious about laughter, as we learn more about the world of positive communications. ABOUT OUR GUEST... Professor of Communication Studies Phillip Glenn teaches Conflict and Negotiation, Positive Communication, and Professional Communication. He conducts scholarly research analyzing interaction, especially conflict, negotiation, and mediation; employment interviews; and laughter in everyday talk. Glenn's recent book is the co-edited Studies of Laughter in Interaction (Bloomsbury, 2013). He serves on the editorial board of Research on Language and Social Interaction. He has advanced training in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and in conflict coaching from the Boss Whispering Institute. He is a volunteer mediator and trainer with Metropolitan Mediation Services in Brookline. Glenn served as Interim Dean of the School of Communication from 2012 to 2016 and served multiple terms as a department chair. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Program on Negotiation in 2008 and held Fulbright Scholar appointments in the Czech Republic (1995) and the Republic of Moldova (2005).

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is an iconic tune, but what can it teach us about the importance of copyright for artists and other creatives? In this episode, we talk with Dr. Bhamati Viswanathan, a copyright lawyer, and affiliate professor here at Emerson College, about what you need to know to protect your intellectual property. Whether it’s copyright, patent, or trademark, securing your IP is the only way to make sure that you can make a living while doing what you love. Together, we’ll learn why some amount of legalese is an important part of every artist's vocabulary. ABOUT OUR GUEST... Dr. Bhamati Viswanathan teaches, advises and writes about the intersection of creative economies, arts and culture, and copyright law. An affiliate faculty member at Emerson Bhamati teaches Business of Creative Enterprise courses on the intersection of intellectual property law and creativity, business fundamentals, the creative economy, creative collaboration and leadership, and cultural appropriation. She has recently written a book entitled Cultivating Copyright: How Creative Industries Can Harness Intellectual Property to Survive the Digital Age (Routledge/Taylor & Francis Press: 2019). Her next book will examine intellectual property law, arts and culture, and philosophy in the age of artificial intelligence. Bhamati holds a Doctorate of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) and a Masters in Law (LL.M.) from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She also holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Michigan Law School. She received her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree, cum laude, from Williams College. Bhamati is Trustee and Chair of the New England Chapter of the Copyright Society of the USA. She is Co-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section: Emerging Technologies Committee. She is a Faculty Advisor of the Copyright Alliance Academic Advisory Board. She is Education Advisor to the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts/Massachusetts Arts and Business Council. Bhamati is also Trustee of the Williams College Asian and Asian American Alumni Network. Bhamati is a competitive figure skater, violinist, and published poet/translator. She resides in Boston.

How can you bring an unknown brand out of obscurity? How do you bring awareness to a cause that needs our attention? In this episode, it’s all about small budgets and big impacts as we dive into "guerilla public relations." We're sitting down with David Richard, who is the CEO of his own PR firm and a faculty member here at Emerson College, to learn why this public relations strategy makes sense as well as how to use it. We’ll discuss what guerilla PR is, where it fits in the broader scheme of public relations, and how you can devise a successful guerilla PR campaign of your own. ABOUT OUR GUEST... David Gerzof Richard is an entrepreneur and public relations executive and senior affiliated professor at Emerson College. At Emerson, David develops programs that connect the College's Communication Studies Department with brands and innovators outside the school. He regularly experiments with, and explores a variety of communication strategies, mediums, tools and technologies as they relate to brands, campaigns, and society. David teaches courses in guerilla public relations, sports PR, political communication, speech writing, thought leadership and global public relations. Under David's supervision, his "real-world" course work has seen the development and execution of student run PR campaigns for innovative brands like: RunKeeper, TaskRabbit, Art Lifting and Pill Pack. In 2007, David established the social media marketing Course at Emerson College, a first-of-its-kind class, which was profiled in the Wall Street Journal. His sports communication courses are known to have drop-in lecturers who include the likes of Chad OchoCinco, Rob Gronkowski, and Julian Edleman. Outside of Emerson College, David is the Founder and CEO of the Boston tech PR firm, BIGfish PR, an award-winning tech PR agency headquartered on Newbury Street, which represents publicly traded companies, sovereign nations, professional athletes and white-hot start-ups, including Amazon's Ring video door bell, MIT Technology Review and the nation of Iceland. In addition to running BIGfish, he is a limited partner at GreatPoint Ventures, a lecturer at Harvard University, a mentor at TechStars and a curator for Summit Series in Boston.

President Jimmy Carter’s wife Rosalynn famously said, “Don’t worry about the polls. But if you do, don't admit it.” Unfortunately, in today's heated political landscape and 24-hour news cycle, the former First Lady’s advice simply doesn't hold water. So in this episode, we welcome Isabel Hollaway ’19, the assistant director at Emerson Polling, to help us pull back the curtain on the study of public opinon — to understand what it is, how it works, and why it’s important. ABOUT OUR GUEST... Isabel Holloway is the program assistant for Emerson College Polling, where she previously worked as a student staffer before graduating from Emerson College with a B.S. in Political Communication in 2019. In this role, Holloway has contributed to Emerson Polling's growing recognition as one of the must trusted public opinion research organizations in the U.S., according to FiveThirtyEight, and earning citations in media outlets across the country. Holloway has coordinated projects with clients including Nexstar Media, the Association of Marshall Scholars, and All In Together, as well as participated in survey design and data analysis of Emerson surveys. In her research efforts at Emerson, Holloway is currently studying the impact of mode of data collection between IVR, online, and SMS surveys in Emerson’s 2020 electoral polling.

How can academic researchers convey insight and meaning about the world of child adoption? Auto-ethnography, focus groups, and photo-voice (a combination of images and recorded narratives) are qualitative research tools that can provide meaningful context and insight into personal experiences. In this episode, Dr. Robin Danzak, discusses how she combines these tools in order to explore the spectrum of adoption from the perspective of those whose lives it has touched. ABOUT OUR GUEST... As a member of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Robin teaches courses in language and literacy. Her research focuses on bilingual writing of adolescents and adults, examining connections between language, culture, and identity. Currently, she is also investigating the impact of global/local service learning on student learning and intercultural competence, and co-writing an autoethnography of adoption. Robin taught Spanish in Florida public schools for several years. Prior to that, she lived in Chile for five years. In 2014, she spent a semester in Italy as a Fulbright Scholar. In teaching, Robin is passionate about community-engaged and project-based learning. At her previous university, she led global health programs and recently coordinated a collaborative student exchange with a university in Guatemala. Outside of work, Robin spends her time trail running, hiking, and attempting to experience all the cultural-historical sites of Boston. A member of Emerson's faculty since 2019, Robin earned her B.A. from New College of Florida, an M.A. from Chile's Universidad de Concepción, and her Ph.D. from the University of South Florida.

The Latinx community is a complex, diverse group of people who have had a massive, unquestionable influence on North American culture and society. Whether it is music, art, sports, or politics, you can’t tell the story of U.S. history without Latinx history. Yet, for far too long in this country, they have felt oppressed, forgotten, and treated as a monolith. So, in a moment where many social movements have enveloped the nation, how can one tell the intricate story of the Latinx experience in America? How can those stories be used to bridge communities and create significant, lasting change? ABOUT OUR GUEST... Lina Maria Giraldo is a Colombian-born, Boston-based artist focusing on interactive storytelling towards social change, with a diverse background ranging from digital educational tools, public art, screen based installations and computer-generated work. She explores the questions of identity as an immigrant, the impact of Mankind on our surroundings, and is constantly experimenting different ways of collective storytelling. As she explains, "For over 15 years my work has been focused on creating messages where I depict the fragility of our environment, immigration concerns and community equality." She has exhibited her work in galleries, shows, and public spaces throughout Massachusetts, New York, and her native Colombia. Her work has been covered in media including The Boston Globe, ABC News, The Artery, Artlink, WBUR, WGBH just to name a few. She's produced large-format online content for the Marquee at the Convention Center and was selected by the Mayor's office for the Fenway 30 second cinema as well as displaying work at IAC's 120 feet screen in NYC. Her notable achievements include being selected as one of the artists in Boston AIR 2.0 Residency for the City of Boston; recipient of the Creative City Grant; being part of the team that created the award winning educational website JFK50.org, while working as an interaction designer at ESI Design; recipient of a Hispanic Scholarship Foundation Grant for the creation of workshops for middle school children in conjunction with the Santa Fe Art Institute and the creation of an interactive video installation addressing the issues of undocumented immigrants and their dreams; production of videos of Madeleine Albright, Stephen King, Harry Belafonte and Nancy Pelosi for the JFK Library.

Injustice, discrimination and hate are issues that we face here in the US as well as throughout the world. While 2020 was a year that clearly reflected how much work still needs to be done. Affecting meaningful change is easier said than done. Emerging from all this hostility we are now seeing a new generation of activists that have heard the call to action in the fight against Hate. So who are these young leaders of social change? What are they doing to promote this global movement to bring about tolerance, equality, and justice? Team Harmony Foundation, is an organization “committed to educating, inspiring and engaging youth in the battle against hate in all its forms”. In today’s episode, we’ll talk about Team Harmony with three members of the Emerson community that have been instrumental in expanding Team Harmony’s connection to young change agents throughout the world Today’s guests include Emerson College Department of Communication studies Chairman Dr. Gregory Payne, Khary Higgins an Emerson College Senior, and Professor Cathryn Edelstein the director of the Non-profit Management Communication Minor. ABOUT TEAM HARMONY... The Team Harmony Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) committed to educating, inspiring and engaging youth in the battle against hate in all its forms. The primary goal of the Foundation will be to support year-round engagement, coalition building, and organizing efforts of students as they work to develop diverse coalitions and encourage collaboration across differences. We believe supporting coalition building amongst youth of all races, ethnicities, religions, socio-economic statuses, orientations, legal status will serve to build bridges and further enhance student efforts to organize and fight against injustice and discrimination. This effort can result in the establishment of a new majority, one committed to altering our civic discourse for a better and more just future! To best achieve this critical objective, The Foundation will organize and conduct a series of youth-based activities estimated to engage thousands of youth worldwide. Team Harmony has established an international Youth Advisory Council with students from throughout the United States and countries in five continents. These youth leaders are already at work organizing and planning content for the coming school year and beyond! The Foundation is also partnering with a diverse set of civil rights, community and educational organizations to provide networking, ongoing educational updates and capacity building training to youth groups throughout the year (see The Team Harmony Coalition in the Program Elements section for more detail on participating organizations).

In France, we’re seeing a continuous pattern of discrimination, fear, hatred, and violence associated with Islamophobia. What’s at the heart of the matter and is it possible to be both French and Muslim in France? COTC spoke with Dr. Carol Ferrara, assistant professor of Marketing Communication at Emerson College and a sociocultural anthropologist with expertise and field experience in France. ABOUT OUR GUEST... Drawing upon her diverse academic and professional expertise in anthropology, diversity, pluralism, religion, education, and business, Carol Ferrara's teaching in Marketing Communication encourages students to explore the ways that the social sciences can be leveraged to help make marketing and business better, smarter, and more socially and environmentally responsible. Her research has focused on religion in secular societies, and most prominently, the ways that Muslims and Catholics navigate and negotiate faith, plurality, ethics, and national identity in secular France. She has published multiple articles and book chapters about private Muslim schooling in France. During the 2019-2020 academic year, Carol was awarded the Fulbright-EHESS Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue new ethnographic research about independent private schooling in France. Carol holds a PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology from Boston University, a dual MA in Middle East & Islamic Studies and International Affairs from the American University in Paris, and a BS in International Business from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is a co-Chair of the American Academy of Religion’s “Religion in Europe” Program Unit, and is on the Research Editorial Board of the journal EuropeNow. At Emerson, Carol teaches Social and Mobile Marketing (DD603), Global Cultures: Applied Anthropology and Sociology for Marketing (MK665), and Communication, Media and Society (MK120) ,and has previously taught courses on Islam (HI204 and RL115), and Religion and Secularism in Contemporary Societies (SO310).

How do children with autism spectrum disorder develop language skills? Recent research shows signs that third party conversations may be a possible avenue for children with ASD to learn the language. If correct, this hypothesis may reveal insights into new ways of teaching children important early language skills. In this episode, we’ll talk with Dr Rhiannon Luyster about her research into how children with autism may benefit from a language-rich environment. ABOUT OUR GUEST... Dr. Luyster is a developmental psychologist who studies social communication and language in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, American Philosophical Society, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, Organization for Autism Research, and Emerson College. Dr. Luyster has published her work in several peer-reviewed journals, including Developmental Psychology, Development & Psychopathology, Journal of Child Language, Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Autism Research, and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Dr. Luyster offers graduate courses on research methods and ASD, as well as an undergraduate course on developmental psychology. Her research activities are open to Emerson students interested in learning more about clinical research with young children and toddlers with ASD. Dr. Luyster was the recipient of the Emerson College Alumni Award for Teaching Innovation in 2016, and she was awarded a Huret Faculty Excellence Award for 2021.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Some of the most iconic moments in modern history have been captured through the lens of photojournalists. These dedicated witnesses to history conform to an ethical code of conduct and apply their truth in documenting what they see. As modern technology democratizes who gets to craft and share the story, what separates the professional photojournalist as a multimedia storyteller from a passerby with a smartphone camera? ABOUT OUR GUEST... Gina Gayle joined Emerson's Department of Journalism as assistant professor in the Fall 2020 semester. Dr. Gayle is a photojournalist, educator, and researcher whose professional work has taken her across the United States, as well as to Cuba and Italy, while previously working in New York City with numerous news organizations. Gayle earned her doctorate in Mass Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, with research interests in media credibility, innovation, new technologies, the future of photojournalism, and digital media entrepreneurship using experimental research, as well as applied research methods She has taught multimedia, photojournalism, entrepreneurship, and media management courses, with future interests in data visualization, AR/VR/360 storytelling, and entrepreneurial journalism.

NFL Quarterback Colin Capernick took a knee during the national anthem, Olympic medalists John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists on the podium, and basketball legend LeBron James refused to shut up and dribble. How do professional sports and social activism intertwine, and what impact do sports continue to have on the ongoing struggle to build a more equitable world? ABOUT OUR GUEST... Lauren Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Communication at Florida State University, with a cognate in Sports Management. Her research and publications focus largely on media representations of gender and race in sport, as well as the ways in which media shapes social and cultural values and (re)produces dominant ideologies. Currently, Lauren is working on a book project on media coverage of domestic violence in sport, as well as a critical media analysis of mainstream media coverage of Kobe Bryant’s death. A critical scholar at heart, her research agenda is driven by a desire for social change, which is also a large focus in her classroom teachings. Lauren has been actively involved in the field of Sports Communication for the past seven years, presenting research at the annual summit for the International Association of Communication and Sport and the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, as well as the sports communication divisions of AEJMC and NCA. Lauren is also an avid sports fan. Born and raised in the Chicagoland area, you can always find her cheering on the Bears, Cubs, Bulls, and Blackhawks.

In stressful times, it’s easy to lose our cool. Empathy and reason become hard to come by and we can react to others as well as ourselves in a less-than-positive manner. So what can we do about how we feel and how we manage relationships with others? Let’s talk about emotional intelligence.  In this episode- we’ll talk with Sara Asem ’00, MA’02 founder of Luminary Minds and emotional intelligence coach. ABOUT OUR GUEST... As the founder of Madrid-based Luminary Minds, Sarah is a personal growth consultant and emotional intelligence professional with experience in creating multidisciplinary workshops that enhance social and emotional learning to support self-management. Sarah's creative skills are focused on developing programs that magnify innate strengths that exist within each individual. Her work manifests core life skills to improve well-being. Kindness, resilience, growth mindset, gratitude and self-awareness are essential takeaways in every session she facilitates.

In just the last few months, we've witnessed plague, brutality, protest, murder hornets, locusts, wayward comets, and unemployment numbers unseen for generations. So who do we look to in a time a crisis? What do we, the public, need to hear? Why are some leaders effective in getting the public to respond, while others fail miserably? How do you get the word out? What are the key concepts and best practices of crisis communications? ABOUT OUR GUEST... In addition to his appointment as assistant professor of Communication Studies at Emerson College, Vincent Raynauld is an affiliate professor in the Département de lettres et communication sociale at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (Canada). He is also serving as research associate in the Groupe de recherche en communication politique (GRCP), as member of the Réseau démocratie électronique based at Université Paris-Est Créteil (France), as member of the North American Digital Diplomacy Initiative (NACDI) based at Queen's University (Canada), and as academic adviser for the non-profit research organization Samara (Canada). His areas of research interest and publication include political communication and campaigning, protest politics, social media, research methods, political marketing, e-politics, and journalism. He earned his doctorate in Communication at Carleton University under the supervision of Dr. André Turcotte in October 2013.

In this powerful and insightful discussion, we explore... • The origins and persistence of institutional racism in the U.S., and how its driven by individual racism • The legacy and manifestation of white privilege • The definition and nuances of racism, and what we get wrong about it • What white people can do to understand and combat racism About Cheryl Owsley Jackson... Cheryl is a is a journalist-in-residence at Emerson College and a certified diversity trainer. She previously directed the Washington, D.C. video news program for Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Prior to joining the academic world, Cheryl worked for CNN, PBS, and Racing Towards Diversity Magazine. About Heather May... Heather May is chair of the Emerson Faculty Assembly and a senior lecturer in Communication Studies. She has worked as a consultant in public speaking and presentation skills, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in psychology.

Media is a powerful tool that shapes our everyday lives. But how do others worldwide engage with media and harness its power for social change? In this episode, we’ll talk with Azeta Hatef, Assistant Professor of Journalism, who studies how marginalized groups—such as women in Afghanistan and the Czech Republic's Roma community —find ways to shape their own identity by engaging the media. ABOUT OUR GUEST... Azeta joined Emerson's Journalism faculty in the summer of 2019. She is a media researcher and award-winning instructor whose academic interests focus on issues of social media as activism for underrepresented groups, gender and identity, and media systems in a global context. She has conducted research in Afghanistan examining the complex global beauty industry, including analysis of the post-feminist politics of choice, ethnic/class politics, and consumerism in Afghanistan. In 2017-2018, Hatef was the recipient of a Fulbright Research Scholarship in the Czech Republic. Her research examined minority media production and social media engagement among Romani activists to better understand the contextualized dynamics of these mediated spaces in providing marginalized groups places to negotiate identities, build communities, and experience feelings of belongingness.

"Alexa, help me with my homework!" Voice-enabled technology has arrived and is becoming a bigger part of our daily lives. Where is this technology going, what are the implications for industry, education and at home? How do you get in on this trend's ground floor? Why should we care? In this episode, we speak with Emerson Launch Director Sanjay Pothen, who is leading several initiatives to advance the use of voice technology here on campus and beyond... ABOUT OUR GUEST... Sanjay's career began in management consulting and ultimately transitioned into digital and mobile marketing and advertising. He is passionate about helping brands engage with consumers in impactful ways and scale emerging media and technologies. Having successfully founded a variety of startup companies himself, Sanjay is a driven entrepreneur with specific knowledge of the startup ecosystem. Sanjay first started at Emerson College as an Emerson Launch Mentor and has now taken on the role of Director to help infuse creative and problem solving thinking skills into academia.

In our discussion with Laura, we also learn about... • The symptoms and processes of different types of dementia • Tools and strategies that family members and caregivers can use to help their loved one with dementia • How family members can take care of themselves as well as their loved one • The different types of therapies used at Emerson's Robbins Center, and how therapists determine which is best for each patient. ABOUT OUR GUEST... Laura Glufling-Tham has more than 20 years of clinical experience working with adults who have cognitive-communicative disorders, including aphasia, apraxia of speech, dysarthria, cognitive-linguistic impairments, and difficulty in swallowing, known as dysphagia. An experienced clinical supervisor and teacher, Glufling-Tham works in Emerson's Robbins Speech, Language and Hearing Center. There, she supervises graduate students as they conduct evaluations and therapy with adult clients who present with various neurogenic communication disorders. Glufling-Tham also teaches a clinical methods course covering clinically based adult topics, including professional issues, interviewing, documentation, and assessment tools.