A Symposium sponsored by the Harrington School for Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island
Thursday, April 9:
9:00-9:30a: Welcome from President Marc Parlange and Provost Barbara Wolfe Outline for the conference, Justin Wyatt
9:30-11:00a: Panel A
“Community-Engaged Research, Risk Communication, and the Climate Crisis”
Madison Jones, University of Rhode Island (& moderator)
Ryan Kopp, Audubon Society of Rhode Island
Lauren Cagle, University of Kentucky
Emily Diamond, University of Rhode Island
11:00-12:30p: Panel B
“Truth, Trust, and Technology: Journalism in the Age of AI”
Mandy Zhang, University of Rhode Island, “Assessing detection, believability, and credibility of AI images versus real photos of news events”
S Mo Jones-Jang, Boston College, “Discrimination cues and the turn to AI: Perspectives from minority and marginalized groups”
John Pavlik, Rutgers University, “Agentic AI in Journalism: Considering the implications of custom GPTs for public trust and engagement in the news”
Moderator: Dan Hunt, University of Rhode Island
1:00-2:30p: Panel C
“Reconsidering Audience in the Digital Era”
Justin Wyatt, University of Rhode Island (& moderator), “Understanding the Entertainment Viewer, Media Market Research Protocols & Generative AI”
Pete Johnson, University of Miami, “The Financial Commodity Audience in the Age of Streaming”
Rebecca Romanow, University of Rhode Island, “Are We Watching Movies Anymore? Viewing Positions, Storytelling, and the Age of the Micro-Video”
Pete Kunze. Tulane University, “Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children?”
2:30-4:00p:
Library Panel: Panel D
“Crisis Communications in Libraries and Information Organizations”
Valerie Karno, University of Rhode Island, “The Role of Central Connectors during Crisis: Libraries as Intersectional Hubs for Local, State, and Federal Communications”
Lauren Fralinger, University of Miami, “From Face-to-Face to Screen-to-Screen: Peer Research Consultants and Pandemic-Era Research Support”
Kimberly Lavoie, University of Rhode Island, “Framing the Conversation: Why School Librarians Matter in Crisis Communication”
Hilary Fussell Sisco, Quinnipiac University, “Communicating Value in a Time of Crisis: Strategic Messaging for Higher Education Leaders”
Moderator: Lauren Mandel, University of Rhode Island
4:15-5:45p: Panel E
“Journalism, Advertising, and Propaganda in the Age of AI”
Renee Hobbs, University of Rhode Island, “How Educators in Palestine Build Critical Thinking Skills about Propaganda and Social Media Influencers”
Michelle Amazeen, Boston University, “Navigating the Journalistic Turn to Content Confusion”
Paul Mihailidis, Emerson College, “Restoring Civic Health in a Culture of Distance: Media literacies and proximal environments”
Moderator: Scott Kushner, University of Rhode Island
Friday, April 10:
8:45-10:15a: Panel F
“Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) Research in Crisis”
Melissa Dodd, University of Rhode Island, “From values to vulnerability: Corporate social advocacy in high-risk crisis contexts”
Jason Zhou, Bentley University, “The liability of values: Corporate social advocacy as a strategic risk factor in international business.”
April Yue, Boston University, “How disciplines talk about corporate social advocacy: Communication and business compared”
Moderator: Ying Xiong, University of Rhode Island
10:15-11:15a: Panel G
“Corporate Crises Communication: Case Studies”
Joseph Baerlein, Baerlein Partners
Peter Brown, Peter Brown Communications
Gus Carlson, Thompson Reuters
Moderator: Gail Lowney Alofsin (University of Rhode Island)
11:15-12:45a: Panel H
“Crises, Disruption, or Growth? Sports Media & Communication”
Maria Grover, University of Rhode Island, “’Slacktivism’ and the National Football League: An experiment on the impact of corporate social responsibility”
Brian Moritz, St. Bonaventure University, “All in? How legal gambling and generative AI are destroying sports journalism as we know it.”
Molly Yanity, University of Rhode Island, “Women’s sport and divisive narratives: How the ‘rage and engage model’ undermines progress”
Moderator: Matthew Hodler, University of Rhode Island
1:30-3:15p: Panel I
“Mapping Communication Networks: Tracing Wildfire Expertise Across Regional Scales”
Timothy R. Amidon, University of Rhode Island (& moderator)
Negar Elhami-Khorasani, University of Buffalo
Kristen Moore, University of Buffalo
Pat MacMeekin, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
3:15-4:00p: Group Discussion & Closing Remarks