SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT PANELS AND GUESTS
Panel #1: Innovative approaches to Commemoration, Race, and Place: A Conversation with Rhondda Robinson Thomas
Co-sponsors: Applied Communication, Community College, Intercultural Communication, Political Communication, Popular Communication, Rhetoric and Public Address, Ethnography, Philosophy and Ethics of Communication, Association for Communication Administrators, American Society for the History of Rhetoric (11)
Chair/Facilitator: Victoria J. Gallagher
Panel description: This panel will feature Dr. Rhondda Robinson Thomas, along with Dr. Carole Blair, Dr. Jason Black, and Dr. Cynthia King who will discuss and respond to Dr. Thomas’ research innovations in relation to cultural history, commemoration, and race.
Dr. Thomas will present her work, discussing topics related to how archival research and digital technologies may be employed to excavate histories and places that have been hidden, lost, or covered over; the identification of efficient and effective processes in using the archive (and other materials) to better understand how commemoration and cultural heritage sites -- along with other historical texts -- preserve national and cultural identities, especially in terms of gender, race and class relations, and the innovations in scholarship made possible by partnerships between humanities scholars and colleagues in architecture and design.
Panel #2: Communication and Innovation in Presidential Campaigns: A Conversation with Michael McCurry
Co-Sponsor: Community College, Political Communication, Popular Communication, Rhetoric and Public Address, (Southern) Argumentation /Forensics, Kenneth Burke Society, Philosophy and Ethics of Communication (7)
This panel will feature Mike McCurry, a former press secretary for President Bill Clinton, and presidential rhetoric experts (including Drs. Jennifer Mercieca, Ken Zagacki, Mary Stuckey, among others) to provide a post mortem reflection on the communication innovations of the 2016 election in relation to their own scholarship. Some topics, among others, will include a discussion of the different strategies of past presidential campaigns, comparing them to the current approaches, as well as the measures that are being taken to represent a collective understanding of a candidate’s identity. This will be a moderated discussion with questions invited from the audience.
Panel # 3: Communicative Cities in the 21st Century: A Roundtable Discussion and Assessment of Greenville, SC as an Innovative Case Study
Co-sponsors: Applied Communication, Ethnography
This panel will feature local leaders from the city of Greenville interacting with communication scholars whose work on Urban Communication and related issues/topics provide innovative assessments and innovative opportunities for urban planning, urban infrastructure and urban life. Invited panelists will discuss the potentialities that can emerge from the joining of academic and community organizations and also discuss how communication scholars have and can continue to contribute to conversations related to issues of community well-being, access to resources for all regardless of socioeconomic status, and structures which can produce better civic engagement within and between communities. Topics for this panel include historical and structural developments of Greenville, public transportation and access, economic sustainability efforts and public policy.
Michael Waltman’s Keynote Address at the Annual Awards Luncheon on Saturday
Mike’s book and continuing scholarship on hate speech is particularly significant at this moment in our cultural and political history and we are honored to have him as a our keynote speaker. He will speak to the role of innovations in communication technology, research and pedagogy that might help us to more productively and civilly communicate in our lives, in our classrooms and in our institutions.
This year, I would like to make a special effort to get a large attendance at this luncheon. Given the significant changes in our disciplines and sub-disciplines, our institutions, and our communities, let alone the shifts in how and where we do our scholarly and pedagogical work, it is more important than even to take the time to be together, to rejoice with and to congratulate our colleagues for their fine work and contributions.
I would particularly like to be able to have all of our division and interest group chairs and planners in attendance, so that we might recognize and thank you, in addition to our award winners, their department colleagues and friends, and the members who support the organization with their continued active engagement. Please make sure to plan to attend this important event in the life of our SSCA community.
The Annual SSCA Town Hall Debate
The 2017 Multi Media Showcase, sponsored by the Mass Communication Division
An Adaptation and Staging of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “The Little Prince” sponsored by the Performance Studies Division
A Performance Art Installation called “After Life”
Panels in Honor of the excellent scholarship and/or book projects of our colleagues including Courtney Wright and Lisa Corrigan
4 GIFTS Panels
