Graduate Student Achievements
Spring 2007

Professional Publications

Jason Bradley. (March 27, 2007). Finding finders – an in-depth profile of local musicians and their attempts to fit into the new music scene – and loss of Americana along the way. Vue 365, The Dubuque Alternative Weekly (cover story).

Kyle Gassiott. (January 6, 2007). Kind of blue. Weekend America on American Public Media. Radio story.  Available online at: http://weekendamerica.publicradio.org/programs/2007/01/06/kind_of_blue.html

Kyle Gassiott. (April 7, 2007). Spray paint Michelangelo. Weekend America on American Public Media. Radio story.

Emily Grosvenor. (June 2007). Plains Indian Ledger Drawings exhibit at the University of Iowa Museum of Art. Iowa Art Scene (cover story).

Sonia Gunderson. (Spring 2007). David Ruben Piqtoukun: In search of a softer wind. Inuit Art Quarterly, 22(1), pp. 28-35.

Sonia Gunderson. (Summer 2007). Bart Hanna: Heart of a wanderer. Inuit Art Quarterly, 22(2), pp. 18-23.

Sarah Mercier. (April 7, 2007). Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, but in spray paint. Weekend America on American Public Media.  Online photo essay.  Available online at: http://weekendamerica.publicradio.org/standard/display/slideshow.php?ftrv_id=57135&slide=1

Refereed Research Publications

Lee Farquhar & Robert Meeds. (2007). Types of fantasy sports users and their motivations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4).

Research Papers Presented

David Fan, Thomas Ernste, Penelope Sheets, & Mohamad Elmasry. (May 2007). Conservative, liberal, or moderate? The ideodynamics of public opinion and computer mediated communication.  Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, San Francisco.

Lee Farquhar. (May 2007). Structuration and the online community. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Interpersonal Communication Division, San Francisco.

Josh Grimm. (2007). Mirror, mirror: Hegemonic framing of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., in the New York Times.  Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Ethnicity and Race Interest Group, San Francisco.

Choonghee Han. (May 2007). Towards an online public sphere: A case study of an online civic journalism. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Communication and Technology Division, San Francisco.

Dustin Harp & Josh Grimm. (2007). Happily ever after: Myth, rape, and romance in the Mary K. Letourneau case.  Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Feminist Scholarship Division, San Francisco.

Yeon Kyeong Kim. (May 2007). Asian Americans in prime-time television commercials: An update. Paper presented at the Asian/Pacific Conference of the American Advertising Academy, Seoul.

Carol Liebler, Joseph Schwartz, & John Harper. (May 2007). Queer tales of morality:  The press, gay marriage and hegemonic framing. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgender Interest Group, San Francisco.

Kim Merchant. (Spring 2007). Weight a minute! With a buffet of food and diet choices, what tips the scale? How food and diet propaganda promote poor health and bad eating habits.  Hawaii International Conference on Social Sciences.

Joseph Schwartz. (May 2007). Covering the Catholic Charities controversy: The Boston Globe's  reporting on adoption by gays and lesbians. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgender Interest Group, San Francisco.

Joseph Schwartz, Julie Andsager, & Katherine LaVail. (May 2007). Sexual health and stigma in urban news coverage of methamphetamine.  Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Health Communication Division, San Francisco.

Mervat Youssef. (May 2007).  A story of "US": Negotiating national identity on opinion pages in  times of crisis.  Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Journalism Studies Division, San Francisco.

Honors and Awards

Nicholas Bergus (MAP) was awarded the Paul Conrad Scholarship and the Dorothy Rubenstein Award.

Kyle Gassiott (MAP) won First Place in the Best Student Radio Feature from the Iowa Broadcast News Association for On the Road: The Lincoln Highway in Iowa, and he won Second Place in the Best Student Radio Feature from the Iowa Broadcast News Association for Mumps Mystery.

Kyle Gassiott (MAP) received an A.W. Lee Scholarship.

Lini Ge (MAP) received The Gazette Foundation Minority Journalism Scholarship.

Josh Grimm (PhD) won the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Council on Teaching. 

Sonia Gunderson (MAP) received a Student Fulbright Award to conduct research on Inuit cultural preservation initiatives in Igloolik, Nunavut (Arctic Canada). 

Sonia Gunderson (MAP) won the Dorothy Wilson Moeller Writing Scholarship and received the Ruth and Morris Zweiban Memorial Scholarship.

Robin Johnson (PhD) received the John F. Murray Outstanding Doctoral Student—Teaching award.

Yeon Kyeong Kim (PhD) received the John F. Murray Outstanding Doctoral Student—Research award.

Anup Kumar (PhD) received a T. Anne Cleary Award for International Dissertation Research.

Sarah Mercier (MAP) won the Cedar Rapids Gazette Photo Scholarship, as well as the Professor Donald K. Woolley Scholarship.

Joseph Schwartz (PhD) won the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Council on Teaching. 

Arlecia Simmons (PhD) received a research grant to support her dissertation research on The Rev. Edythe Stirlen and her KMA Radio Church of the Air from the State Historical Society of Iowa ($1,000).

Angela Toomsen (MAP) received the Bruce A. Harrison Memorial Scholarship.

Marina Vujnovic (PhD) received a T. Anne Cleary Award for International Dissertation Research ($4,000).

Li Xiao (PhD) received a Graduate College Summer Fellowship for Doctoral Students 2007 ($3,000) and a Stanley Graduate Award for International Research from the Graduate College ($2,000).

Mervat Youssef (PhD) was awarded the Carl J. Nelson Memorial Research Scholarship.

May 2007 Graduates

Master’s Professional (MAP)

Earlesha Butler. Seeking a better life: Urban migrants in Iowa City. Adviser: Judy Polumbaum.

Eric Kochneff. Flying on borrowed time: Regional jets and the U.S. airline industry in the post-regulated environment. Adviser: Lyombe Eko.

Blake Rasmussen. Cupcakes and sloppy joes: On the road with congressional candidate Dave Loebsack. Adviser: Jane Singer.

Angela Toomsen. Butterfly Magazine (www.butterfly-magazine.com). Adviser: Don McLeese.

Master’s Thesis

Sofia Karatza. Imperialism in the news: British press coverage of the Oram-Apostolides case. Adviser: Sujatha Sosale.

PhD

Vitalis Torwel. Fuel policy palaver: Ideological contestation in three Nigerian news magazines, 1999-2004.  Co-advisers: Dan Berkowitz and Lyombe Eko.