{"id":5485,"date":"2024-09-03T20:26:01","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T00:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/?p=5485"},"modified":"2024-09-03T20:30:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T00:30:02","slug":"letter-from-the-director-september-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/2024\/09\/03\/letter-from-the-director-september-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from the Director: September 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Back-to-School 2024<\/h2>\n<h4>By: Michelle Amazeen<\/h4>\n<figure id=\"attachment5093\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment5093\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/crc\/files\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-8.00.03\u202fPM.png\" alt=\"A group photo at AEJMC 2024\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" class=\"wp-image-5093\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment5093\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pictured at the 2024 AEJMC conference in Philadelphia: Dr. Cen April Yue, Dr. Arunima Krishna, Dr. Sung-Un Yang, Dr. Michelle Amazeen, and Dr. Ejae Lee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The fall semester is upon us, and I hope CRC fellows are re-engaging with renewed energy and enthusiasm. Over the summer, many of us turned to advancing our research efforts and sharing our work on the academic conference circuit. COM was well represented at the International Communication Association in Gold Coast, Australia and also at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p>As of July 1st, the CRC welcomed five new scholars: Dr. Sung-Un Yang, Professor and Chair, Department of Mass Communication, Advertising and Public Relations; Dr. Juwon Hwang, Assistant Professor of Media Science; Dr. Ejae Lee, Assistant Professor of Public Relations; Dr. Ayse Lokmanoglu, Assistant Professor of Emerging Media Studies; and Dr. Cen April Yue, Assistant Professor of Public Relations. I am excited to have them as colleagues and look forward to working with and learning from them.<\/p>\n<p>All COM faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend the CRC\u2019s inaugural <b>Open House<\/b> scheduled for <b>Thursday, September 26th from 4:00 \u2013 6:00 pm<\/b>. Co-hosted with CISS, you can start off on the lower level of Alden Hall, 704 Commonwealth Avenue to enjoy refreshments, demonstrations of our biometric technologies, and opportunities to network with your colleagues in the CRC. And you can also visit our friends from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ciss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Center for Innovation in Social Science<\/a> on the 5th floor to learn about their research and affiliation opportunities. Please <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/7Q8wWr9AqpCSQPf47\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">RSVP here<\/a> if you plan on attending.<\/p>\n<p>The CRC\u2019s fall programming is set with an outstanding lineup of presentations. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/crc-lecture-series\/colloquium-series\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colloquium Series<\/a> includes the following talks from COM researchers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>September 24 (Tuesday) @ 3:30 pm: Dr. Denis Wu<\/li>\n<li>October 23 (Wednesday) @ 3:30 pm: Dr. Betsi Grabe<\/li>\n<li>November 20 (Wednesday) @ 3:30 pm: Dr. Chris Wells<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>More details on each presentation coming soon!<\/p>\n<p>As part of our <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/crc-lecture-series\/defleur-distinguished-lectures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Melvin L. DeFleur Distinguished Lecture Series<\/a>, on <b>Wednesday, November 13th @ 3:30 pm<\/b> we will welcome to our campus <a href=\"https:\/\/grady.uga.edu\/faculty\/bartosz-wojdynski\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Bart Wojdynski<\/a>, Jim Kennedy New Media Professor and Director of the Digital Media Attention and Cognition (DMAC) Lab at University of Georgia, Athens. More details on Dr. Wojdynski\u2019s lecture coming soon, as well.<\/p>\n<p>In collaboration with COM\u2019s MarComm department, we will be hosting a COMtalk virtual panel titled, <b><i>The Campaign to Curb Misinformation Research<\/i><\/b>, @ 3 p.m., ET, Wednesday, October 9, 2024. I will moderate a panel of esteemed misinformation researchers including <i><b>Dr. Joan Donovan<\/b>, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Boston University; <a href=\"https:\/\/cals.cornell.edu\/claire-wardle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Claire Wardle<\/a>, Associate Professor, Cornell University, and Co-founder, Information Future Lab; and <a href=\"https:\/\/smpa.gwu.edu\/rebekah-tromble\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Rebekah Tromble<\/a>, Director of the Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics and Associate Professor, George Washington University<\/i>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Panel Description: The alarming rise of mis- and disinformation influencing recent elections spurred a flurry of new research to understand the trend. But work among academics, nonprofits and the technology sector made some activists suspicious that a conspiracy was developing to muzzle conservative and right-wing ideas \u2013 leading to a campaign to curb research. In these polarized times, is the future of the field threatened?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Our monthly Work-in-Progress (WIP) meetings resumes on September 26th at 12:30 pm in the CRC room B04E. WIP is your opportunity to forge connections within our research community and talk research with other COM faculty members. Attendees are encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/crc\/files\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-03-at-8.00.17\u202fPM.png\" alt=\"A green sign saying 'Works in Progress'\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" class=\"wp-image-5093 alignright\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The CRC will also continue to offer research training opportunities for faculty and students on our technologies including Meltwater and iMotions software. Over the summer, our Lab and Research Manager, Amanda King, received their certification in Human Behavior Research with a focus on biosensor modules from iMotions. Amanda is available for offering workshops for your students this fall to expose them to biometric research. If interested in learning more, you can email Amanda at <a href=\"mailto:ajk90@bu.edu\">ajk90@bu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To further promote the thought leadership of our faculty fellows, the CRC is continuing its Media &amp; Technology Public Opinion Poll with national polling firm, Ipsos. Since its inception in January 2022, CRC fellows have polled the public on information integrity topics ranging from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/survey-slim-majority-trust-media-hiding-huge-partisan-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">media trust<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/survey-generations-genders-differ-when-it-comes-to-ai-replacing-people-for-some-jobs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">artificial intelligence<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/survey-most-believe-companies-can-help-combat-climate-change\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">climate change<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/americans-leery-of-social-media-bans-for-journalists-who-post-content-owners-dont-like-survey-finds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">social media censorship<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/with-dating-apps-we-doubt-them-but-wont-drop-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dating apps<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/media-literacy-skills-important-to-counter-disinformation-survey-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">media literacy<\/a>, and more. Check out the press releases <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/news\/media-technology-press-releases\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>. Fellows can also access the raw data to past polls <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/research-resources\/media-technology-survey-data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a> (password protected). Curious about fielding a poll related to your own research? Find more details and submit your interest <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSfklRRLCsi93rj_z6SUlWg6GtUKrcZtrnMYuE1zW4PQnc2XXA\/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, stay tuned for a fun initiative the CRC is embarking on to rename the rooms in our center. No more B04E, B02A, or the ill-advised NRA. We\u2019ll be soliciting your input for communication research related suggestions for our rooms (think the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soziopolis.de\/herta-herzog-1910-2010.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Herta Herzog<\/a> Naturalistic Viewing Room). Share your suggestions <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/s9WjcpYP4CrJ2mwb8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I wish you all a wonderful fall semester and hope to see you around campus (if not in the CRC) soon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back-to-School 2024 By: Michelle Amazeen The fall semester is upon us, and I hope CRC fellows are re-engaging with renewed energy and enthusiasm. Over the summer, many of us turned to advancing our research efforts and sharing our work on the academic conference circuit. COM was well represented at the International Communication Association in Gold [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,72],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5485"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5485"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5491,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5485\/revisions\/5491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}