COMM talk          Volume 3, Issue 1

                              Spring 2006

New face in department familiar to many

 She might not be familiar to students, but campus long timers know Sherwyn P. Morreale is no newbie when it comes to the UCCS campus.

Morreale rejoined the department as an assistant professor with the start of the Spring 2006 semester. She will be teaching in organizational communication, communication theory, instructional communication, public speaking, and the assessment of communication competence.

Recently, and for eight years, she served as Associate Director of External Affairs for the National Communication Association (NCA), the oldest and largest association of professors in the communication discipline in the world. In her position at NCA, she was responsible for communication instruction and research initiatives and outreach on behalf of the communication discipline to funding agencies, policy makers, and other private and public audiences. She is the author of two communication textbooks and numerous monographs and articles in academic journals. Before NCA, Morreale was the director of the Center for Excellence in Oral Communication on the UCCS campus.

Her undergraduate and master’s degrees in communication are from the University of Colorado and the Ph.D. is from the University of Denver. 

 Stansbery brings drama into the room

 JaNae Stansbery is an instructor in the Communication Department at UCCS, teaching Rhetorical Dimensions in Communication and Male/Female Communication.  Spanning the past 13 years, she has performed, choreographed and coached vocals in Utah, Colorado, and Southern California. Within the past two years, she has performed in and/or choreographed 11 shows. She has acted and choreographed for Theatreworks, Opera Theatre of the Rockies, PPCC Masquers, Castaways, and the Fine Arts Center. Favorite local roles include: Bella Mannigham in Angel Street, Connie in Come Blow Your Horn, Mrs. Peacock in Clue-the Musical, Joanne in Vanities, Betty in The Threepenny Opera, Frenchy in Sweet Charity, and Sondra in the world premiere of Dolly Put the Kettle On, a Kennedy Center CTFA award-winner.

In the classroom, JaNae stresses the importance of theatrical skills to effective communication by focusing on interpreting and conveying nonverbal messages. Because nonverbal communication is usually more indicative of genuine emotions, reading these messages can be crucial to understanding. In other words, what one says is not as significant as how one says it, which involves paralinguistics.

Kinesics is another aspect of nonverbal communication that demonstrates how a message can be sent merely by the way an individual walks across the room. An actor must have a keen understanding of nonverbal communication to convey a message and/or feeling to the audience, particularly if the dialogue contradicts the subtext of the message, i.e., the internal dialogue of the character, which involves intrapersonal communication. Off-stage, an individual who recognizes what messages he or she is sending can alter the communication to elicit the desired response. Similarly, listeners can more accurately recognize what messages they are receiving, especially when the verbal is incongruent with the nonverbal, respond appropriately, and avoid conflict.

Another benefit of incorporating theatrical elements to the teaching of communication is the positive effect of interactive activities on student self-esteem and confidence. In JaNae’s male/female communication course, students represent a wide range of disciplines. Due to the interactive activities and discussions, introverted and shy students learn to be comfortable getting up in front of people and making comments. One day a student excitedly said, “I can’t believe this. I’ve never done anything like this in my life. I’m a Bio-Chem Major!” Class members learn how being comfortable speaking in front of an audience and publicly sharing ideas is crucial to personal and professional success.

JaNae also witnesses this positive effect via her experiences as a choreographer. She is a perfectionist and observes that if a choreographer expects excellence, she receives excellence. She often choreographs actors with little or no dance experience and finds that by recognizing and utilizing each performer’s strengths and communicating high expectations, even inexperienced dancers can receive audience acclaim. This confidence will often extend to every aspect of their lives. She has observed soft-spoken, insecure individuals transform into confident, capable doers who believe that, with discipline, they can achieve any goal. JaNae is thrilled to again be working with her husband, Michael, Theatre Arts Department Chair at PPCC, as choreographer for the PPCC Masquers’ upcoming production of Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?

Communication is vital in every context of our personal and professional lives. Without it, theatre would not exist. It is difficult to understand those who ask the question, ‘You teach Communication?...What’s THAT?’ To their question, JaNae Stansbery simply replies …“It’s everything.”

                   Comm Notes

NEW EDITING EQUIPMENT

Communication Department production students are using brand new AVID editing systems this semester.  The students in Intro to Film and Video (Comm 225), Intermediate TV Production (Comm 327), and Advanced TV Production (Comm 427) will be editing their projects on the newest AVID Express stations that include new software, computers, flat panel monitors, and external hard drives that the students keep with them. Despite intense competition in the non-linear world, AVID is considered the professional standard in editing and most of the contenders at the Academy Awards this year were edited on AVID systems.  

ACTORS NEEDED

Students in the Advanced TV Production class are producing short narrative films and are in need of actors of all types, ages, etc.  Please contact David Nelson at 262-4129 if you are interested or know someone who is.  

LOVE IN THE AIR

Just before Valentine’s day, the Films of the 1960s class (Comm 490) was paused long enough for Air Force Academy Cadet Steve Mackinder to propose to senior Comm Major Jillian Hollister.  She said “yes” and her 31 classmates gave them a big round of applause.

 News from the Oral     Communication Lab

Medical School Interviews

   The Center for Excellence in Oral Communication is offering videotaped mock interviews for students considering applying to medical school. Though the lab has conducted interviews in the past, they are now tailoring the interviews to include questions medical school applicants may receive.

“It started last semester with a call from a student who said she needed better preparation for the interview,” said Lab Director Bill Huddy.  “She provided us with some of the specific questions expected in those types of interviews, and we incorporated them into the interviewing process.”  If you know of anyone interested in scheduling an interview, contact the Oral Communication Lab at 262-4770, or stop by the office at Columbine Hall 312.

Looking for Undergraduates

   Undergraduate scholars within the Department of Communication are encouraged to join the staff of the Oral Communication Laboratory.  “With the exception of teaching, undergraduates run the lab,” said Lab Director Bill Huddy.  “Undergraduates are the driving force in our day-to-day operation, as well as providing a secure base for our future.”

To qualify for an undergraduate position within the lab (earning credits), you must have completed Public Speaking (Comm 210) or Oral Communication in the Workplace (Comm 201).  “Both of those courses provide an important starting point for what we do here in the lab,” adds Huddy.

From the Chair: Consider adding minor to enhance degree

  Recently the College of Letters, Arts, & Sciences approved a policy that allows students to “double count” up to nine hours of coursework which can be applied toward both an LAS major (such as Communication) and a stand-alone minor.  This means that a course can meet degree requirements for both a major and a stand-alone minor at the same time. Here is how it works. Take a course such as COMM 344 (Leadership Communication), for example, and that course counts as both 3 hours credit toward the Communication major and 3 hours credit toward the Leadership Studies minor.

As a result, now is a great time for Communication students to consider adding a stand-alone minor to their academic plan. A minor is a coordinated, planned group of courses offered to allow a student to gain limited expertise in a subject. The minor may complement the student's major field, or contrast to it. Many students elect a minor for enjoyment and intellectual satisfaction. Some minors enhance technical abilities while others enhance skills in allied disciplines. Minors are not designed to provide specialist level capabilities, no more than a minor in accounting would prepare one for an entry level position or the C.P.A. examination. Minors do, however, provide more than "exposure" or "familiarity," since minors require a structured course of study. Minors involve a good degree of depth, but not as much as the major.  The key concept is added value: a minor develops a new dimension to your intellectual and professional capabilities. At UCCS, your minor is recorded on your official transcript, alongside your major, so your college record, too, is enhanced. Most minors require 18 hours (9 of which may be “double counted”).

 One such minor is in Leadership Studies. Students electing to take the Leadership Studies minor are required to complete three core courses, COMM 111 (Introduction to Leadership); LEAD 211 (Profiles of Leadership); and COMM 495 (Seminar in Leadership and Organizational Change).

In addition, one course must be chosen from each of three content electives areas, Understanding Diversity, Management and Organizational Leadership; and Social and Political Applications of Leadership. These elective courses come from a wide range of disciplines including Communication, Psychology, Sociology, Organizational Management, and Economics, among others. 

For further information on the Leadership Studies minor contact Dr. Michael Hackman in the Department of Communication.

Other stand-alone minors are offered in Ethnic Studies, Film Studies, Gerontology, Theatre, and Women’s Studies. Information on these programs can be obtained from the Student Success Center.

Class project sheds light on Uganda

  While enrolled in the Intercultural Communication course (Comm 328) in the fall, Applied Communication majors Katie Balsis and Brianne Mullins worked on a group project about the country of Uganda. They became fascinated with another project in Uganda, “The Invisible Children Commission.” The two brought awareness to not only the class but to the entire campus. They set up a table in Columbine with flyers and a video; sold T-shirts and restaurant gift certificates to benefit this project.

The goal of the Invisible Children Commission is to educate the world about the crisis involving the kidnapping of children in Northern Uganda. They are raising funds to build a boarding school to keep the children safe and give them education, sports and exposure to performing and visual arts. For the past 18 years every child in Northern Uganda has lived in constant fear of being kidnapped by the L.R.A. (Lord’s Resistance Army Rebels). The abducted children are forced to join their army and carry guns, kill other children, steal and carry out any demands placed on them by their ruthless leaders. Over 100,000 Ugandan Children have lost their lives to this war.

Katie and Brianne arranged to show the film, “Invisible Children” on campus earlier this month.