Fisher Professors Present at Annual Association Conference
Two professors and one emeritus professor from the Department of Media and Communication at St. John Fisher University had a busy week at the annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference, held in Detroit in early August.
Professor Arien Rozelle was an invited speaker at the AEJMC Public Relations Division’s inaugural Active Strategies for Pedagogy in Research and Education (ASPIRE) pre-conference half-day workshop. The ASPIRE Workshop provided practical guidance for beginning, or continuing, an active pedagogy research agenda that will the enhance education of students and support career advancement of faculty. Rozelle was invited to speak about best practices for writing GIFTs (Great Ideas for Teaching) for use in the public relations classroom.
Following the pre-conference, Rozelle was chosen to present her GIFT, “Podcasting PR’s Role in Social Movements,” which was named one of the top five GIFT submissions in the AEJMC PR Division.
Rozelle also participated as a panelist in the Small Programs Interest Group pre-conference workshop “Partnering with PR and Ad Agencies.” Rozelle discussed her experiences developing partnerships with advertising and public relations agencies to provide students exceptional in-class and experiential opportunities including the chance to work alongside professionals in public relations and advertising agencies.
At the Media Management, Entrepreneurship, and Economics Division’s Panel, “It’s Just How the Third-Party Cookie Crumbles: Considerations for Promising Replacements That Uphold Consumer Privacy,” Rozelle joined a panel with noteworthy professors from media management programs across the country to discuss the implications of Google Chrome’s phase out of third-party cookies in 2023. Rozelle focused on privacy, trust, and reputation in relation to the ad-tech space.
Finally, Rozelle’s co-proposed referred panel, “Does Ungrading” Make the Grade? Alternative PR Writing Assessments to Improve Student Learning Outcomes,” was co-sponsored by the Public Relations Division and the Internship and Careers Interest Group. The panel proposal was reviewed by a six-person committee including division officers and committee leaders representing each of the three areas of AEJMC – research, teaching, and professional freedom and responsibility. Rozelle co-organized and co-moderated the panel with Brooke Witherow, Ph.D., of Hood College.
Professor Jeremy Sarachan also presented in the Small Programs Interest Group pre-conference workshop, specifically in the section about “Developing Community Connections” in which he spoke about the department’s alumni advisory group and young alumni events.
He also was a panelist in “Data Literacy for All Majors: Teaching and Assessment Approaches” where faculty from across the country discussed their college’s version of often newly designed media analytics courses, focusing on this important innovation in media education. Sarachan placed in the Teaching and Excellence Competition, where he discussed an activity that uses the video “This is America” to teach visual media analysis to first-year students in his Introduction to Media course.
In addition, Sarachan co-hosted the Teacher of the Year Luncheon and served as a discussant to four papers in his role as head of the Small Program Interest Group, which represents small communication departments across the country.
Finally, Emeritus Professor Jack Rosenberry presented a research paper that was a case study of citizen journalism activity at an online news site in Leeds, England. Rosenberry demonstrated that the content created by community member citizen journalists differed substantially from staff content, and was focused on personalized news rather than institutional coverage.