Fall 2024 Faculty Publications, Conferences, and Grants

December 18, 2024

Harrington faculty members have continued to conduct cutting-edge research that they have published, presented, and received awards for this semester. Here are some of the highlights from their work:

Yan MaYan Ma, professor of library and information studies, presented her research on the film Barbie at the 11th Annual International Conference on Library and Information Science. Her research project applied visual literacy theories, including semiotics, to analyze the film Barbie in its visual, cinematic, and structural form to construct meaning for the purpose of enlightening the process of information visualization design. 

She has been invited to chair the Microsymposium on Critical Visual Literacy and Global Media at the 12th Annual International Conference on Library and Information Science in 2025.

Presentations:

  • Ma, Y. (2025, 28-31 July). Invited chair for Microsymposium on Critical Visual Literacy and Global Media. 12th Annual International Conference on Library and Information Science, Athens, Greece. https://www.atiner.gr/libmed.
  • Ma, Y. (2024, 29 July). Visual Literacy: The Film Barbie and Information Visualization. 11th Annual International Conference on Library and Information Science as part of the 10th Annual International Conference on Social Sciences, Athens, Greece. Presented online.

Justin WyattJustin Wyatt, department chair of communication studies and associate professor of film/media, published 3 Women, the newest volume in the BFI Film Classics series introducing, interpreting and celebrating landmarks of world cinema. Using archival production materials from the Robert Altman Archive at the University of Michigan Special Collections and interviews with Altman’s 3 Women collaborators, Wyatt explains how 3 Women is a most valuable film text with particular interest to those interested in unique cinematic storytelling methods, performance, and an exacting social satire of American life in the late 1970s. According to Wyatt, 3 Women is one of the most significant films in Altman’s lengthy career, standing with McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), Nashville (1975), and The Player (1992) as highlights in the Altman oeuvre.    

Publications:

  • Wyatt, J. (2024). 3 Women. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic Publishing. Part of the BFI Film Classics.

Madison JonesMadison Jones, assistant professor of professional and public writing and natural resource science, published a book and two articles, preseted at conference, and received an award and grant. His book, Rhetorical Ecologies invites readers on a transformative journey through the history of writing and rhetoric studies’ adoption of ecology, situating this history in rich discussions about. The variety of perspectives presented in this book provide a solid foundation for understanding how the ecological model of writing can help students become better writers.

As part of a collaboration between DWELL and STEEP, a group of students and faculty developed an interactive augmented reality experience designed to educate the general public about PFAS, entitled PFAS Kitchen. Using Adobe Aero, viewers are immersed in a virtual kitchen filled with everyday household items, such as cleaning products and groceries. Tapping on each item reveals informative posters that explain how these products may contain PFAS and suggest safer alternatives to reduce exposure. Available on both iOS and Android devices, this accessible tool aims to raise awareness about PFAS and promote healthier alternatives to products that have been shown to contain PFAS.

Publications:

  • Dobrin, S. & Jones, M. (2024). Rhetorical Ecologies. National Council of Teachers of English. https://publicationsncte.org/content/books/9780814101919. 
  • Heilig, L., Jones, M., Overbay, A., & Robers, T (2024). Augmenting for Accessible Environments: Layering Deep Mapping, Deep Accessibility, and Community Literacy. Communication Design Quarterly, 12(1), pp. 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1145/3655727.3655731.
  • Jones, M. (2024). Local. In Tham, J. (Ed.), Keywords in Making: A Rhetorical Primer (pp. 75-79). Parlor Press.

Creative Works:

  • Jones, M., Neville, A., Puckett, C., & Witterschein, J (2024). PFAS Kitchen. DWELL Lab/STEEP. Augmented reality game, https://doi.org/10.23860/pfas. 

Presentations:

  • Heilig, L., Jones, M., & Donnellan, A.* (2024, Oct. 20). Creating Open-Access Augmented Reality Experiences. 42nd Association for Computing Machinery International Conference on Design of Communication, Arlington, VA. Proceedings: https://doi.org/10.1145/3641237.3691684

Awards:

  • 2024-25 Science Communication in the Parks (SCIP) Fellowship Mentor. Ecological Society of America and National Parks Service.

Grants:

  • National Science Foundation, ~$6,000,000 ($1,430,000.26 URI Portion). RII Track-2 FEC: Equitable Nature-Based Climate Solutions (ENACTS) (2025-29). Jones, M. (Co-PI), Mo, W. (PI), Parent, J. (Co-PI), & Pradhanang, S. (URI PI).

Amy Cabaniss, part-time faculty of communication studies, presented her research at the National Sustainability Society Conference in September. The presentation entitled, “Closing the Implementation Gap: From Awareness to Action,” was a community-based social marketing workshop with a lecture, hands-on exercises, and case studies that demonstrated its efficacy in fostering behavior change.

Presentations:

  • Cabniss, A. & Tabanico, J. (2024, Sep. 9) Closing the Implementation Gap: From Awareness to Action. National Sustainability Society Conference, Seattle, WA. Workshop.

Ying Xiong, assistant professor of public relations, published her article, “Measuring social movement engagement: A co-creational approach to public engagement and social capital,” in Public Relations Review this semester. Her research proposes and tests a three-tier social movement engagement model. The study indicates that social movement organizations need to increase members’ relational engagement to produce more in-group social capital. The article will be published in the print edition of volume 51, issue 1 in March 2025.

Publications:

Renee Hobbs, professor of communication studies, received $200,000 from the U.S. State Department to develop a new program that helps Palestinian college faculty and young adults in Ramallah, Hebron, and Jerusalem advance their leadership in media literacy education. Topics will include algorithmic personalization, propaganda and disinformation, and conflict entrepreneurs. She is working with Professor Yonathan Friesem (URI PhD in Education, 2017), a professor at Columbia College Chicago and Professor Bilal Younis of the Palestine Technical University. 

Presentations

  • Hobbs, R. (2024, Nov. 23). Media Literacy Education as Community-Based Resistance to Radicalization. National Communication Association 110th Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA.
  • Brown, C., Davidson, R., Hobbs, R., Hudak, K., Linabary, J., & Youn, H. (2024, Nov. 22) Considering Connections Beyond the Classroom: Building Community Partnerships with Greater Regard for Local Concerns. National Communication Association 110th Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA. Top Panel presentation.
  • Hobbs, R. (2024, Oct. 25). Hacking for Good: Reducing the Fear and Hate that Leads to Violence. Rocky Hill School, East Greenwich, RI.
  • Hobbs, R., Lindekamp, C., Reynolds, S. (moderator) & Steager, P. (2024, Oct. 23). Building Resilient Communities: Using Media Literacy to Fight Extremism, Hate and Violence. Sponsored by the Media and Learning Association. 
  • Hobbs, R. (2024, Oct 29 and Nov. 5). Digital and Information Literacy at FIT. Professional development program for faculty of the Fashion Institute of Technology.
  • Hobbs, R. (2024, Oct. 22). Media Literacy is for Everyone. An in-person event in honor of National Media Education Week, co-sponsored by Rhode Island PBS, Media Literacy Now Rhode Island, and the Media Education Lab, Providence, RI.
  • Hobbs, R. (2024, Oct. 8). Mastering Media Literacy: Navigating Politics in a Media Age. As part of the Congress to Campus Program at Rhode Island College, Providence, RI.
  • Hobbs, R. (2024, Oct. 5). Media Literacy Resource Showcase. As part of the National Association for Media Literacy Education Media Literacy Week.

Grants:

  • U.S. State Department, $200,000. Mission to Palestine for Media Literacy. 
  • U.S. State Department, $50,000. Mission to Kurdistan for Media Literacy: A Five-Year Plan.
  • Massachusetts Department of Education, $300,000. Media Literacy Landscape Scan and Policy Recommendations. 
  • The University of Rhode Island 4-H Roots of Resilience, $87,000. A Journey to Self-Discovery and Social Responsibility Sustainable Community Project. Co-PI with Olagundoye, T.

Emily Diamond, assistant professor of communication studies and marine affairs, published three articles this year, two of which focused on offshore wind. “Framing the Wind: Media Coverage of Offshore Wind in the Northeastern United States,” is a comparative framing analysis of newspaper coverage of the first two offshore wind projects in the United States. “Legitimacy through representation? Media sources and discourses of offshore wind development” investigates the sources used in media quotes and how that confers legitimacy to some entities over others in the debate on offshore wind in the United States. 

Her paper, “‘The Ocean is a Part of Me’: The Importance of Coastal Place Attachment to Well-Being and Implications for Coastal Access Management.” is a theory-building paper that uses extensive interviews with coastal recreators in Rhode Island to understand the concept of coastal place attachment and its impacts on well-being. 

Publications:

Joon Kim

Joon Kyoung Kim, assistant professor of public relations, and Ying Xiong presented an experimental study at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) annual conference in Philadelphia in August. In this study, they conducted a series of online experiments to investigate how job advertisements addressing AI use affect viewers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions (positive word-of-mouth) toward companies using AI during hiring. 

During the study, participants viewed a job advertisement mentioning either the benefits of using AI during hiring or the drawbacks of not using AI during hiring and answered questions about their attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the company they viewed during the experiment. They found that participants displayed more favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions when job advertisements highlighted the negative outcomes of not using AI during hiring (i.e., longer wait time and more unconscious hiring bias), compared to job advertisements addressing how AI benefits job applicants (i.e., faster recruitment process and reduced bias). The research project was funded by the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication.

Publications:

  • Jun, J., Kim, J. K., & Woo, B. (accepted for publication). Racial Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms among Asian Americans: Moderating Effects of Colorblind Racial Attitude and Nativity. Ethnicity & Health.
  • Alharbi, K., Carter, J., Kim, J.K., & Overton, H. (2024). Examining the Role of Self-Enhancement, Collective Efficacy, and Subjective Norm as Predictors of Corporate Social Advocacy Support. Public Relations Journal, 17(2).

Presentations:

  • Kim, J.K. & Xiong, Y. (2024, Aug. 8). Communicating Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment Process: How Message Frames Impact Organization-Public Relationship and Technology. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) 2024 National Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Agaoglu, E., Jun, J., Kim, J.K., Woo, B., Xu, Xiao, J., & Zain, A. (2024, Jun. 24). Multidimensional Investigation of Asian Activism: The Role of Racial Esteem, Ethnic Identity and Bicultural Efficacy. 2024 International Communications Association (ICA) Conference, Gold Coast, Australia.

For more information about this research or any other faculty research, check out our faculty profiles on the Harrington School website and keep an eye out for more research highlights.