Current Graduate Student Awards, Publications, & Conference Papers 2007-2008
Awards:
Arleen Bejerano, Exceptional Student Award, College of Liberal Arts, California State University, Long Beach (2006)
Sarah Dirks, Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award, School of Communication, Illinois State University (2007)
Josh Ewalt, Northern Michigan University's Outstanding Graduating Senior in Speech Communication (2008)
Christine Rittenour, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Presidential Fellowship (2008)
Publications:
Bejerano, A.R. (2008). The genesis and evolution of online degree programs: Who are
they for and what have we lost along the way? Communication Education, 57, 408-414.
Braithwaite, D.O., Breshears, D., & Colaner, C.W. (forthcoming, 2009). Weddings. In H.T. Reis & S. Sprecher (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Human Relationships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Breshears, D. (2008). Book Review, In Bayly, M. (Ed.). (2007) Creating safe environments for LGBT students: A Catholic schools perspective. New York: Harrington Park Press. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 4(2).
Colaner, C.W. (in press). Exploring the Communication of Evangelical Families: The impact of Evangelical gender role ideology on family communication patterns. Communication Studies.
Colaner, C.W., & Giles, S.M. (2008). The baby blanket or the briefcase: The impact of Evangelical gender role ideologies on career and mothering aspirations of female Evangelical college students. Sex Roles, 58, 526-534.
Stein, K. A., & Church, S. H. (revise & resubmit) Success strategies by candidates in presidential debates, 1960-2004. Argumentation and Advocacy.
Baxter, L.A., Braithwatie, D.O., Koenig Kellas, J., LeClair-Underberg, C., Lamb, E., Routsong, T., & Thatcher, M. (in press, 2008). . Empty ritual: Young-adult stepchildren’s perceptions of the remarriage ceremony, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships).
Koenig Kellas, J., LeClair-Underberg, C., & Normand, E. (in press). Sometimes they mean something and sometimes they don’t: The use of address terms in stepfamily stories, Journal of Family Communication.
Maresh, M. M., & Williams, D.E. (2007). Responding to oil industry crises: The case of Phillips Petroleum in Pasadena, Texas. American Communication Journal, 9(2).
Maresh, M. M., & Williams, D. E. (in press). Oil industry crisis communication. In W. T. Coombs (Ed.). Handbook of crisis communication. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Myers, S. M, Brann, M., & Rittenour, C. E. (in press). Interpersonal communication motives as a predictor of early and middle adulthood siblings’ use of relational maintenance behaviors. Communication Research Reports.
Rittenour, C. E., & Soliz, J. (in press). Communicative and relational dimensions of shared family identity and relational intentions in mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships: Developing a conceptual model for mother-in-law/daughter-in-law research. Western Journal of Communication.
Rittenour, C. E., & Martin, M. M. (in press). Convergent validity of the communication-based emotional support scale. Communication Studies.
Brann, M., Rittenour, C. E., & Myers, S. A. (in press). Adult children’s forgiveness of parents’ betrayals. Communication Research Reports.
Rittenour, C. E., Myers, S. A., & Brann, M. (2007). Commitment and emotional closeness in the sibling relationship, Southern Communication Journal, 72, 169-183.
Starks, K. M. (2007). Bye bye love: Computer mediated communication and relational dissolution. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 32, 11-20.
Thompson, J.J., (in press). I like it like that: College student-athletes' attitudes about tutors’ teaching strategies. Ohio Communication Journal
Thorson, A. R. (in press). Adult children’s experiences with their parent's infidelity: Communicative protection and access rules in the absence of divorce, Communication Studies.
Yergensen, B. (in press). He-[scientist] and the masters of the [earth]: A Burkean examination of science as salvation in apocalyptic films. In K. Hart, & A. Holba (eds.), Media and the apocalypse. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Conference Papers & Competitive Presentations:
Bejerano, A.R. (November, 2008). New unconventional ideas for teaching: Five novel instructional approaches toward five different courses. Panel presented at the Instructional Development Division at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA.
Bejerano, A.R. (November, 2008). The Effects of Computer-Mediated and Face-to-Face Instructor Evaluations On Students’ Affect Toward the Teacher and Course Selection Decisions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA.
Bejerano, A.R., & Kearney, P. (November, 2007). The genesis and evolution of online degree programs: Who are they for and what have we lost along the way? Top Panel Award, Training and Development Division, Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Breshears, , D. (2008, February). "The Communication of Forgiveness: Forgiveness of Adult Children Toward Their Alcoholic Parents." Paper presented at the Western States Communication Association Convention, Denver, Colorado.
Colaner, C. W. (2008, April). 'Tell me again how you found me': A proposal to explore associations between adopted children’s entrance stories, child well-being, and family health. Paper presented at the meeting of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI.
Colaner, C. W. (2008, April). Exploring the Communication of Evangelical Families: The impact of Evangelical gender role ideology on family communication patterns. Top Student Paper presented at the meeting of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI, Interpersonal and Small Group Division.
Colaner, C.W. & Giles, S. M. (2007, November). Predicting adolescent body esteem and weight control behaviors from direct and indirect parent norms. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Church, S. H., Wyeth, B. N., Gray, T. J., & Jeppsen, B. (2008, November). The Internet as a medium of political influence: YouTube As a political web site. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Convention, San Diego, CA.
Church, S. H. (2008, March). Medium theory and Marshall McLuhan. Paper presented at the Utah Communication Association Convention, Cedar City, UT.
Stein, K. A., & Church, S. H. (2007, November). Success strategies by candidates in presidential debates, 1960-2004. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Convention, Chicago, IL.
Dirks. S. E. (2008, April). Communication and transitioning to widowhood: "We just talked about what it is like to not have your buddy." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI.
Dirks, S. E. (2008, November). Solidarity during the launching stage: An examination of siblings' and friends' solidarity during the transition to college. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA.
Altieri, M. S., & Dirks, S. E. (2007, November). Examining the relationship between touch attitudes and relationship satisfaction in romantic partners and platonic dyads. Top Student Paper, Interpersonal Division, presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Thompson, E. M. & Dirks, S. E. (2007, October). Student motivation and practices with reading preparation for college classes. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI.
Ewalt, J. & Cantrill, J. (2007). Victims "in" and protectors "of" Appalachia: A frame analysis of "Missing Mountains: We went to the mountaintop but it wasn't there". Paper presented at the Conference on Communication and the Environment.
DiVerniero, R. (2008, February). Examining the Ethics of Instructor Personal Disclosure on Online Networking Sites. Participant, at the Western Communication Association Conference, Boulder, CO. February, 2008.
DiVerniero, R. A. (2007, November). Stepchildren’s communication to manage uncertainty in stepfamilies. Top Student Paper in Family Communication. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Convention, Chicago, IL.
DiVerniero, R. A. (2007, November). Dialectical tensions in communication with extended stepfamily members. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Convention, Chicago, IL.
Duncan, A. (2007, November). The Rhetoric of Orthodoxy and Heresy: An Examination of Lenin’s writing in What is to be Done? Paper will be presented at the National Communication Association for presentation at National Communication Annual meeting, Chicago IL.
Epping, D., & Hammonds, J. (2007, November) An examination of the communication and privacy rules of GLBT individuals with their parents. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago IL.
Ghorbani, S. (2008, November). "A Critical Reading of the Revolutionary Association for the Women of Afghanistan's (RAWA) Website." To be presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA.
Baxter, L.A., Braithwaite, D.O., Koenig Kellas, J., LeClair-Underberg, C., Lamb, E., Routsong, T., & Thatcher, M. (2007, November) “Empty ritual: Young-adult stepchildren’s perceptions of the remarriage ceremony”. Paper presented to the Family Communication Division of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
LeClair-Underberg, C. (2007, November). "Women in the academy: Issues of access V". Presenter, roundtable discussion for the Women’s Caucus division of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Maresh, M. M. (2008, April). From graffiti and guns to blackboards and poetry: A Marxist-Feminist criticism of three popular inspirational films about education. Top Past Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI.
Maresh, M. M. (2007, November). Hurt feelings in the classroom: Facework in student communicative responses to college instructors’ hurtful messages. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Maresh, M. M. (2007, November). What they don't know won't hurt them": An analysis of the ethics of deception and secrecy in organizational crises. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Maresh, M. M., & Williams, D. E. (2007, November). Toward an industry-specific crisis response model: A look at the oil crises of British Petroleum and Phillips Petroleum. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Nunziata, A. M. (2008, May). "Communication privacy management and college instruction: Instructors management of sharing private information with their students." Presented to the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburg, PA.
DiVerniero, R., & Nunziata, A. M. (2008, May). "Students' perceptions and sense making of instructors' online self-disclosure." Presented to the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburg, PA.
Nunziata, A. M. (2007, November). "College students' perceptions of instructor communication privacy management." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication, Chicago, IL.
Nunziata, A. M. (2007, November). "College students' perceptions of instructor communication privacy management." Scholar-to-Scholar presentation at the annual meeting of the National Communication, Chicago, IL.
Nunziata, A. M. (2008, February). "Examining the Ethics of Instructor Personal Disclosure on Online Networking Sites." Co-creator and panelist. Presented to the Western States Communication Association convention, Denver, CO.
Nunziata, A. M "Assessing Plagiarism in the Basic Course" (2007, November). Panelist. Presented to the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Nunziata, A. M “Applying Training and Development Course Content: A Student and Industry.” (2007, November). Panelist. Presented to the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Nunziata, A. M. (2007, November). “My Students Did Really Well… I think”: Faith, Intellect, and Ethics in Training Graduate Teaching Assistants to Effectively Evaluate Speeches for the Basis Course.” Panelist. Presented to the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Sato, S. (2008, April). The influence of remedial account strategies on forgiveness and relationship termination following dating infidelity. Paper presented at the Central States Communication Association conference, Madison, WI.
Sato, S. (2008, November). The Role of Communication-Related Traits for Victims of Unwanted Relationship Pursuit. Paper presented at the National Communication Association convention, San Diego, CA.
Soliz, J., Rittenour, C. E., & Thorson, A. R. (2008, April) Communicative predictors of relational satisfaction, shared family identity, and ethnic group salience in multiethnic families. Manuscript presented at the Annual Meeting of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI. [Top Four Paper, Interpersonal Division of the Central States Communication Association]
Rittenour, C. E. (2008, April) Managing self-disclosure in the classroom: Tools for Instructors. Presenter, roundtable discussion for the Small Group and Interpersonal Division of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI.
Rittenour, C. E., & Soliz, J. (2007, November) Communicative predictors of shared family identity, future contact, and caregiving intentions in mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships. Manuscript presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago. IL.
Brann, M., Myers, S.A., & Rittenour, C. E. (2007, November). Caring for the one who cared for you: Parent-child discussions about caregiving. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Starks, K.M. (2007). Race, gender, & Ethnicity in three Saturday morning cartoons: A content and critical analysis. Paper presented at Central States Communication Conference, Madison WI.
Steimel, S. (2007, November). In Good Faith: Exploring Academic Dishonesty with Undergraduates. Top GIFT Paper. Presented at the Annual Conference of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Steimel, S. (2007, November). From Pre-Inception to a Social Movement: An Extension of Existing Theory. Competitive Paper, Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division. Presented at the Annual Conference of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Steimel, S. (2008, April). The ACLU and anti-capital punishment rhetoric: Classical rhetorical theory as a framework for action. Competitive Paper, Graduate Division. Presented at the Annual Conference of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI.
Steimel, S. (2008, April). Making change through dialogue. Competitive Paper, Young Scholar’s Master Class. Master’s Class attended at the Annual Conference of the Central States Communication Association, Madison, WI.
Thorson, A. R. (2008, February). Exploring the Dimensions of Adult Children’s Attributions for Their Parent’s Infidelity: Creating and Validating the Attributions for Parental Infidelity Scale Using Mixed Methods. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Western States Communication Association, Denver/Boulder, CO.
Thorson, A. R. (2007, November). Attributions of Parents Infidelity: Adult Children’s Experiences. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Thorson, A., Rittenour, C. E., Koenig Kellas, J., & Trees, A. (2007, November) Utilizing multilevel modeling: Illuminating family communication intricacies. Manuscript presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL. [Top Four Paper, Family Division of the National Communication Association]
Koenig Kellas, J., & Willer, E. K. (2008, February). Intergenerationally transmitting relational world views: The relationship between mother-daughter memorablemessages and adult daughters’ relational schemata. Top Four Paper, Interpersonal Communication, presented at the meeting of the Western States Communication Association, Denver, CO. [Top Four Paper in Interpersonal Communication]
Willer, E. K. (2008, June). Narrative storytelling and metaphor construction as interventions: Testing methods to increase well-being and affect in adolescent girls experiencing social aggression. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association Doctoral Honors Seminar, Tuscaloosa, AL.
Willer, E. K. (2008, June). The communication of social aggression: Messages, responses, and situational factors. Session presented at the meeting of the National Conference on Relational Aggression, Mean Girls, and Other Forms of Bullying, Orlando, FL.
Willer, E. K. (2008, February). Contradictions in mother-adolescent daughter communication during relational turning points. Paper presented at the meeting of the Western States Communication Association, Denver, CO.
Willer, E. K. (2007, November). Communication and closeness in mother-adolescent daughter relationships: A turning point analysis. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL. [Top Four Student Paper in Family Communication]
Yergensen, B. (2007, November). I have an epiphany! The sexist structure of problem solving heroes in Shyamalan's plot twisting supernatural thrillers. National Communication Association Semiotics Division, Chicago, IL.
Yergensen, B. (2007, November). Cinematic scripture: Ethical crisis in using fantasy as equipment for militant ideology. National Communication Association Kenneth Burke Society, Chicago, IL.
Yergensen, B. (2007, November). Christian window dressing: Advertising secular movies for the religious audience. National Communication Association American Studies Division, Chicago, IL.
