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What's New:

The Bloomsburg University Xi Omega chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communication Honor Society, has been named the 2019 Chapter of the Year by the National Communication Association.

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Featured Student

Sydney Rimmer

My name is Sydney Rimmer, and I am currently a senior at Bloomsburg, double majoring in Communication Studies with a Leadership and Public Advocacy focus and Political Science with a Legal Studies focus, as well as a minor in Public Relations. This summer, I am beyond grateful to have participated in an internship at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in the Senate Republicans Communications Office, as it was an incredibly fulfilling experience.
The office had a group of employees designated to each area of communications. There were teams of employees for areas such as speech writing, webmasters, photography, film, social media, and others. I got to shadow and help complete assignments in each of these areas, and gain an appreciation for the importance of each specialty. This offered a unique opportunity to understand “a day in the life” of the employees in this office and their responsibilities, and it also gave me an opportunity to meet people outside of the office, and experience things many other people will never experience. Seeing the behind the scenes of these events was so interesting.
The brunt of my work was done in June, as that is when the Senate is in session and the budget is being passed. Once the budget passed, July slowed down and there were significantly less events occurring, therefore less events for me to shadow, as the Senators stay in their district offices as opposed to coming to the Capitol. This gave me an accurate representation of the job, both the hustle and bustle of June, and the relaxed nature of July.
This internship has also proven to be a vital step in my networking. I received a follow up luncheon with the lobbying firm who encouraged me to intern in the Capitol, as well as encouragement from my office to look for a career in the Senate when I graduate. I got a chance to work with several Senators, thereby networking with them, which was a personal goal of mine for the summer. Another strength of my internship was the bond I formed with my coworkers. I was the only intern in my office, however I fit in perfectly with the full time employees despite us being in all different walks of life. I had anticipated forming relationships with my coworkers, but I had not foreseen how close I would grow with them. I am so blessed to now call many of my coworkers my friends. We have spent time together in both the office, as well as our free time, and I am elated they have taken me under their wings, and I still stay in touch with many of them despite being many months post internship.
My internship was a wonderful experience, and truly turned out to be a highlight of my summer. I am able to walk away from this office confident that I completed assignments efficiently and to the best of my ability. I have grown from this experience, and I am excited to see how the things I have learned and the connections I have made will apply to my future endeavors.

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Department News:

Summer 2020 Newsletter

Tenure and Promotion
Dr. Angela La Valley was promoted to Full Professor.

Dr. Erin Brummett and Dr. Kai Kuang were tenured and promoted to Associate Professors. Congratulations!

Awards
Dr. Erin Brummett received Bloomsburg University’s 2020 Outstanding Teaching Award. Congratulations!

Publications
Heineman, D. S. (2020). Game studies’ elephant in the room. New Media & Society, 22, 1116–1121. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820922164

 

Conference Presentations
King, M. E. (2020, July). Exploring hyggeships: Recognizing the function of coziness and comfort in satisfying romantic relationships. A paper accepted for presentation at the meeting of the International Association for Relationship Research, South Kensington, London. (Conference cancelled).

Kuang, K., & Gettings, P. E. (2020, May). Testing the dyadic claims of the theory of motivated information management: Married couples’ information seeking and provision about family health history. Paper presented at the 70th International Communication Association Conference, Gold Coast, Australia (converted to virtual conference due to COVID-19).

Kuang, K., & Long, Z. (2020, May). Managing uncertainty in chronic illness: A tension-centered approach. Paper presented at the 70th International Communication Association Conference, Gold Coast, Australia (converted to virtual conference due to COVID-19).

Kuang, K., & Wang, N. (2020, May). Uncertainty management and support seeking behavior in mental illness: A longitudinal investigation. Paper presented at the 70th International Communication Association Conference, Gold Coast, Australia (converted to virtual conference due to COVID-19).

Wilson, S. R., Kuang, K., Hintz, E., & Buzzanell, P. M. (2020, May). Developing and validating the communication resilience processes (CRP) scale. Paper presented at the 70th International Communication Association Conference, Gold Coast, Australia (converted to virtual conference due to COVID-19).

Grants
Dr. King was awarded $6,919 Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Grant (2020) for her research on the conceptualization of Hyggeships. The goals of this project are to firmly establish in the interpersonal communication literature a typology of hyggeships, develop measures for assessing hyggeships, provide direction and advice for individuals and romantic couples for attaining hyggeships in their own relationships, and ultimately to publish research findings.

Faculty Professional Development
Drs. Chernichky-Karcher, King, and Kuang attended the FPDC-Sponsored Grant Writing Workshop in May 2020. Topics covered in this workshop included how to find funding opportunities for teaching, research, and scholarship, pre-proposal contact and writing a compelling problem statement, goals, objectives, and outcomes in grant proposals.

Dr. King attended the Couples Addiction and Recovery Workshop offered by the Gottman Institute in July 2020. This workshop draws from the fields of addiction treatment, mental health, and couples counseling, and integrates current research findings with knowledge from clinical practice.

Service
Drs. Heineman and King presented to Jump Start students on How to be Successful in Online Courses in August 2020.