COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION
Setting the Agenda
NEW AGENDAS CONFERENCE AND BOOK SERIES LEADS TO SEMINAL SCHOLARSHIP
Inspired Ideas
MENTORSHIP PROGRAM ENRICHES UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Communication Breakthroughs
FACULTY RESEARCH FROM BHARATH CHANDRASEKARAN, IRIS CHYI, MATT EASTIN, CAROLINE FRICK AND KERI STEPHENS
Tomorrow’s Scholars GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHERS TACKLE COMMUNICATION ISSUES OF TODAY
PU B L I SH E R A N D CO NT R I BU TI N G E DI TO R
Nick Hundley CO NT R I BU TI N G E DI TO RS
Laura Byerley and Marc Speir DESI G N
EmDash All inquiries and comments, including requests for faculty contact information or
Research Matters
for permission to reprint articles, should be addressed to: Editor, Fresh Thoughts, The College Of Communication Nick Hundley 512.471.7209
he best universities are united by one concept: that research matters. Finding new answers to important questions guides much of what we do here at the College of Communication. We recruit premier scholars from across the country so our students learn from the best. We find innovative ways of introducing our undergraduate and graduate students to research opportunities so they can make the breakthroughs of tomorrow.
COVER ILLUSTRATION BY; MICHAEL AUSTIN; ABOVE: MARSHA MILLER
In the classroom, research provides the foundation for learning. It is what makes lessons come alive. It provides proof for our assertions. It lets students marry theory with practice. The benefits of research are not confined to the campus. It helps industry thrive with new technologies and practices and works to make the world a safer place. Research also proves that new ideas matter for their own sake and no matter what their provenance. In this issue of “Fresh Thoughts,� we show how research in the College of Communication creates breakthroughs in business, preserves our history and culture, documents new communication technologies, and promotes ideas that make us healthier,
wealthier and wise. For these reasons, the best universities embrace research and make it a core component of their missions. This publication chronicles some of our activities in that arena. We invite you to take some time with us to experience important ideas freshly wrought.
Roderick P. Hart Dean, College of Communication The University of Texas at Austin
nick.hundley@ austin.utexas.edu
2
Contents Tomorrow’s Scholars Graduate students in the College lay the groundwork for tomorrow’s breakthroughs in communication scholarship.
Faculty Research
4 6 8 18 20
Media Maverick Have newspapers been making the wrong assumptions as they prepare for a digital future? Iris Chyi challenges the assumptions of newspapers abandoning print journalism. Changing Minds Communication Sciences and Disorders professor finds evidence that music training can not only improve academic performance – it can physically change the structure of the brain. The Etiquette of Efficiency Is mobile technology increasing productivity in the workplace or serving as a distraction? Researcher examines the impact of “multicommunicating.” Balanced Approach Matt Eastin explores the dynamic between video games and violence, and looks at games’ potential to serve as a potent tool for teaching math and science. Restoring the Past One Frame at a Time RadioTelevision-Film professor and founder of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image preserves Texas history and culture through film.
Features
10 14
Inspired Ideas
Student Enrichment Program gives undergraduates firsthand research experience in the hopes of inspiring the next generation of scholars.
Setting the Agenda
Junior scholars produce striking new perspectives on communication research through the New Agendas series of conferences and books.
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
FRE SH THOUGHTS
1
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
Graduate Student Highlights
Tomorrow’s Scholars
COMLAB BY L AURA BYERLEY
Campaigning for Health
A
fter working in healthcare fundraising at an Atlanta advertising agency, Marie Guadagno is now researching ways to improve health literacy. As a Graduate School Diversity Mentoring Fellowship recipient, the Advertising Ph.D. candidate studied how to promote multivitamins to Hispanic women, who are more likely to have a child affected by neural tube birth defects. Seeking to address this health disparity, Guadagno developed and tested an advertising campaign focused on the broad benefits of taking multivitamins, which can decrease the occurrence of neural tube defects by as much as 70 percent. After viewing the ads, women participating in her study expressed the intent to start taking daily multivitamins. Guadagno’s future research will focus on ways men can positively influence prenatal health.
Fightin’ Words
I
ntrigued by President Obama’s appeals for civility in political discourse,
Ashley Muddiman – a Ph.D. candidate in rhetoric and language studies
– researched U.S. citizens’ perceptions of incivility across television and blogs. ¶ Through research conducted at the College of Communication’s Annette
Strauss Institute for Civic Life, Muddiman found that citizens perceived political TV messages as less civil than similar blog posts. Research also showed that perceptions of incivility did not affect citizens’ trust of the political process. ¶ In the fall of 2012, through a Graduate School Continuing Fellowship, Muddiman will continue researching perceptions of incivility, including how people define incivility and whether uncivil messages can encourage citizens to follow political discussions.
2
FRE SH THOUGHTS
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
Activating Activism
A
common criticism of social media activism is that it simply
Breaking the News
K
ate Weidaw West
has a gritty determination that for the past eight years has helped her earn graduate degrees in journalism, work full time as a morning reporter and anchor at Austin’s NBC affiliate, and balance a family life – in between running marathons. Drawing on her broadcast experience, West completed her dissertation on a little-known phenomenon called “local news pools” in which competing network news affiliates share content. Often unknown to viewers, local news pools have existed for several decades, with a higher prevalence during the 2009 economic downturn. West found that by pooling resources on noncompetitive material, affiliates have more time and resources to cover enterprise stories that can set a station apart. Editors and producers, however, have complained that local news pools can lead to one-dimensional coverage and the potential to miss different aspects of a story. In August of 2012, West joined the University of Georgia as an assistant professor of telecommunications.
functions as an emotional ventilator and does not contribute to achieving political goals. To investigate this claim, Radio-Television-Film Ph.D. candidate Sujin Choi followed a Twitter-based
community in South Korea calling for the closure of Chosunilbo, a national conservative newspaper. ¶ “The goal of this study was to empirically examine online activism in practice and explain how ordinary citizens employ the new tools to organize a group, form collective identities and implement collective activism in their daily lives,” Choi says. ¶ Choi found that Chopae’s social media activities were successful in broadening support and mobilizing offline activism. Specifically, she found that social media contributed to the sustainability of the group, formed a collective identity through discussions, and enhanced group solidarity.
Maddening Trend
T
eaching English as a second language and serving as a bilingual speech-language pathologist in Los Angeles, Kai Greene noticed a maddening trend that convinced him to pursue a Ph.D. in SpeechLanguage Pathology. “It was frustrating to see so many bilingual children being misdiagnosed with learning disabilities if they did not fall under monolingual norms,” says Greene, who was impressed by the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders’ focus on bilingual language development. Dividing his time between the department’s Human Abilities in Bilingual Language Acquisition lab and an Austin elementary school, Greene evaluated the effectiveness of bilingual instruction for Spanish- and English-speaking preschoolers. After transcribing and coding children’s story-telling skills, he conducted intervention sessions to help children boost and enhance skills in one or both languages. Through his research, Greene hopes to make a case for early language intervention programs that decrease the likelihood of misdiagnosing students with learning disabilities. In January of 2013, he will join California State University, East Bay as an assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders.
FROM LEFT: MARC SPEIR(2); RYAN GRONQUIST; MARC SPEIR(2)
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
FRE SH THOUGHTS
3
Iris Chyi challenges common assumptions on the future of print journalism BY L AURA BY E R L EY
Media Maverick
F THE DATA
Fit to Print In Chyi’s 2011 study “Are ‘Digital Natives’ Dropping Print Newspapers?”
93
percent of college newspaper advisers said college students preferred print to online newspapers.
4
or as long as she can remember, Iris Chyi has been a maverick. As a 5-year-old in Taichung, Taiwan, Chyi did not read children’s publications. Instead, to the amazement of her neighbors, Chyi read every word in The China Times – one of two major private newspapers she could access in Chinese Nationalist-controlled 1970s Taiwan. “It was the most important information source, and everyone took it as the primary way to know what was going on in the world,” Chyi says. In the late 1980s, as the Taiwanese government started relaxing restrictions on the press, Chyi watched in fascination as stories became more interesting and additional publications appeared. Today, as a media economist and assistant professor in the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin, Chyi is well-known for her nonconformist views. Her research challenges conventional wisdom on the newspaper industry and the future of print media. “Professor Chyi was the first to show the lack of planning, the lack of forethought and the wrong assumptions of newspaper people when they started going to Web,” says George Sylvie, associate professor in the School of Journalism. He met Chyi in 1996, when she was pursuing her Ph.D. in the College of Communication. “She’s also a genuinely nice person, very respectful and very curious – all essential ingredients of a first-class scholar,” Sylvie says. “She’s widely respected and highly thought of by her peers.”
FRE SH THOUGHTS
ONLINE NEWS AS AN INFERIOR GOOD
One of her most controversial theories, understandably unpalatable to Web journalists, is the “Ramen Noodles Theory.” Analyzing survey data collected by the Pew Research Center, Chyi found that as a person’s income increases, his or her consumption of online news decreases. Because a negative relationship exists between income and demand for online news, it is deemed an inferior good. In other words, because they are more often preferred by the affluent, steak meals and print newspapers are economically normal goods. Ramen Noodles and online news, abundantly available at lower prices or for free, are perceived as inferior alternatives. “It’s a new perspective and it sounds awful, but it’s difficult to monetize online news, because it’s an inferior good,” Chyi says. Her research finding challenges Harvard Business School Professor Clayton M. Christensen’s theory of disruptive technology. Coined in 1995, the disruptive technology theory suggests that products based on emerging technologies will eventually displace market leaders. For example, digital textbooks and free e-greeting cards would start competing with offline counterparts, eventually dismantling them. Since then, newspaper publishers have been convinced to de-emphasize their print editions and allocate additional resources to digital operations. However, in a national Web-based survey of 767 U.S. online users in August of 2010, Chyi found an overwhelming preference for traditional media formats. Presenting her research at the
10th World Media Economics & Management Conference in Thessaloniki, Greece in May of 2012, Chyi showed that given the same price and content, 70 percent of respondents prefer print newspapers to online editions. She also found that 78 percent prefer print magazines to online editions; 84 percent prefer DVDs to online videos; 66 percent prefer CDs to MP3s; and 80 percent prefer the print edition of books to e-books. Although preferences for traditional media decreased among younger respondents – those between the ages of 18 and 34 – Chyi found that most of the younger respondents preferred traditional media. Among the younger respondents, 55 percent preferred print newspapers, 68 percent preferred print magazines, 77 percent preferred movies in DVD format and 70 percent preferred print books. Music was the only exception, with 37 percent preferring music in CD format instead of MP3. With age as a predictor, Chyi created
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION
Journalism
regression models to help predict format preference among people younger than 18. According to her analysis, the preference for newspaper’s print format may remain strong for years to come. A MISUNDERSTOOD MEDIUM
Adding insult to injury, Chyi confirms online content accounts for only a sliver of total revenue for traditional media. According to the Newspaper Association of America, online advertising revenue accounted for only 13.5 percent of total newspaper advertising revenue in 2011. Even worse, digital content only accounts for 1 percent of total revenue for magazines, according to the Association of Magazine Media. Despite the fact that consumers overwhelmingly prefer traditional media and the fact that online media has not proven to be a good return on investment, print newspapers have been preparing for their deaths. In 2009, Time Magazine published a list of the 10 Most Endangered Newspapers in America. None of the papers
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
on the list, which mentioned major players, such as The Boston Globe and Miami Herald, have gone extinct. In 2011, New York Times Company publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said The New York Times would stop printing sometime in the future. Even 55 percent of U.S. Internet users have said they believe traditional media as we know it will not exist in 10 years. “Everybody is panicking for the wrong reasons,” Chyi says. “And there are so many very popular but unverified beliefs the general public holds regarding the digital future. People are so suspicious and doubtful.” A NEW BUSINESS MODEL
Instead of newspapers dying, Chyi predicts that while circulation is decreasing, the print edition will remain the core product compared with its Web counterpart. “What’s more detrimental is the decline in print advertising revenue,” says Chyi, referring to an annual average decrease of 8.6 percent between 2004 and 2010. “If you believe
that print is dying, then you sell no ads. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.” While no one has found a new, viable newspaper business model, Chyi recommends that news organizations balance print and online offerings. “The quality is best in the traditional format, so it’s unwise to be driven by unfounded beliefs,” Chyi says. “It’s better to base decisions on rational, empirical analysis.” Chyi predicts small, hyper-local newspapers that allow readers to quickly find targeted information will fare well. She also commended The Dallas Morning News for categorizing its news by geographical location and audience niches. On the other end of the spectrum, she says global newspaper brands, such as The New York Times, have exciting potential. Chyi saw this point illustrated while conducting research in Beijing in the summer of 2012. While studying how eight major news organizations are overcoming geographical, cultural, political and language barriers to pursue Chinese users through their Chinese-language Web editions, The New York Times launched a Chinese-language edition. Adding to Chyi’s points, Sylvie says that instead of writing for a general audience, reporters should start targeting their articles to specific audiences. “The audience has decided there’s too much information out there,” Sylvie says. “It’s an inconvenient truth for publishers. It’s tough – newspapers were designed to help democracy flourish. Are they businesses or utilities? It’s a fine line, and that’s why her research is very important.”
RESEARCHER:
Iris Chyi Assistant Professor She holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin. She has published in the Journal of Media Economics, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Newspaper Research Journal, and International Journal of Media Management. She has worked for www. ins.com, an Internet consulting firm; Cox Interactive Media, which operates the online edition of The Austin AmericanStatesman and Austin360.com; and ChinaTimes.com, the first Chineselanguage online newspaper.
FROM LEFT: ISTOCK; DAVID COX
FRE SH THOUGHTS
5
Communication Sciences and Disorders professor shows the benefits of music and linguistic training BY L AURA BY E R L EY
Changing Minds
I THE DATA
Memories and Making Sense In the 2012 study “Effects of Speech Clarity on Recognition Memory for Spoken Sentences” co-authored by Chandrasekaran,
69 percent of listeners were able to identify keywords from incoherent sentences in conversation, versus
79 percent from coherent sentences in conversation.
FROM LEFT: SHUTTERSTOCK; DAVID COX
6
n ancient Greece, long before MRI technology existed, Plato asserted that music improves the mind and imagination. The mathematician and philosopher believed music was the most useful instrument for education and that children should learn music before any other subject. More than 2,300 years later, No Child Left Behind and other education reform efforts have turned Plato’s thinking on its head, at times overlooking the benefits of music education. Reviving Plato’s argument, Assistant Professor Bharath Chandrasekaran has found evidence that music education training can enhance second language acquisition, reading ability and listening skills. Chandrasekaran and his graduate assistants have taken this research and applied it to the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders’ SoundBrain Lab, where they are making discoveries about language learning. Established by Chandrasekaran in 2010, the SoundBrain Lab studies the sensory and cognitive processes that underlie speech and music perception. “It’s still in its early stages, but the SoundBrain Lab has tremendous potential, conducting cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research on how the brain processes sounds,” says Craig Champlin, chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. “Professor Chandrasekaran has progressed in a very exceptional way, harnessing the power of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and various disciplines to include other innovative perspectives.”
FRE SH THOUGHTS
THE MUSICIAN’S MIND AS A MODEL OF NEUROPLASTICITY
Chandrasekaran says the benefits of music training don’t end with improved academic performance. He says music training can physically change the structure of the brain. The ability of the human brain to undergo physical changes – whether from behavior or the environment – is called “neuroplasticity.” Rather than being a static organ, the brain has the ability to create new neural pathways, and certain regions can even grow in size. The human brain is particularly “plastic”– or susceptible to these changes – during childhood. Chandrasekaran says studies have shown intense music training in early childhood can change the shape of the frontal, temporal and parieto-occipital regions of the brain, which control auditory and motor systems. Music training, he says, can even positively change the brains of adults. MRIs have shown increased auditory cortex activity in pianists listening to piano notes, and neuronal activation was greater in people who began piano training at a younger age or had more years of music training. The fine-grained auditory skills musicians demonstrate can affect speech, language, emotion and auditory processing. The ability to rapidly detect, sequence and encode sound patterns has a variety of applications. For example, the ability to decipher slight differences in tones could help a student learn a tone language, such as Mandarin. Improved auditory processing skills could help students bet-
ter concentrate and ignore background noise. “Just like physical fitness has an effect on the body, musical training can improve auditory fitness,” Chandrasekaran says. “The role of music training in schools needs to be reassessed.” TRAINING THE BRAIN
Along with Psychology Professor Todd Maddox and Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. student Han-Gyol Yi, Chandrasekaran uses the university’s Imaging Research Center to conduct MRIs on participants undergoing auditory training at the SoundBrain Lab. At the SoundBrain Lab’s windowless facility on the fourth floor of the CMA building, participants complete a variety of auditory and visual tasks as part of the training. Participants sit before computers wearing headphones to complete various hearing and memory tests. In one, native English speakers learn to distinguish words using Mandarin pitch patterns. Other tests gauge their ability to block out background noise and recall
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION
Communication Sciences & Disorders
RESEARCHER:
Bharath Chandrasekaran Assistant Professor
information in the midst of visual and auditory distractions. Chandrasekaran says as a result of the training, participants show new connectivity patterns in an auditory structure in the midbrain called the “inferior colliculus,” an older part of the brain. “Most researchers talk about the cortex and not about evolutionary older subcortical structures, such as the inferior colliculus, due to a cortexcentric bias in the field,” he says. “It’s much more difficult to change subcortical processing. However, our recent findings show that a nine-day intensive auditory training program is capable of changing function even to this part of the brain.” The researchers also found that participants engaged different areas of the brain at different points in their training. Early on, participants learned best by engaging the frontal region of the brain, the part of the brain that gravitates toward formulating rules and explanation. Later, they were able to better engage the structures for auto-
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
matic, procedural learning. From these results, the team hopes to develop methods to optimize foreign speech sound learning by targeting the brain structures contributing to learning differences. IMPROVING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE PROGRAMS
Even as they become proficient in English, many learners of English as a second language experience difficulties in oral communication. This is the case for many international teaching assistants and instructors who are academically qualified but still experience difficulties in the classroom setting. To help international TAs and instructors improve their oral communication skills, Chandrasekaran has joined forces with Rajka Smiljanic, assistant professor in the Department of Linguistics, and Charles Soto, director of Technology Services at the College of Communication. The three received a $100,000 grant from the Longhorn Innovation Fund
for Technology to examine how training can help non-native speakers improve their speech to become more understandable. “Most work has focused on accent reduction,” Chandrasekaran says. “But improving speech intelligibility does not mean reducing an accent. Everyone’s accent is unique and it’s unfair to modify an accent.” Instead, a person could improve his or her speech intelligibility by enunciating or speaking more slowly. The team also is exploring how variations in speech clarity affect a listener’s understanding and memory of speech. In the winter of 2012, the team plans to release an interactive, multimedia online English as a Second Language training program for international teaching assistants and instructors. “People conclude it’s difficult to learn another language when you’re an adult,” Chandrasekaran says. “The fact remains that what’s out there may not suit your learning abilities. Only now are we understanding the science of learning.”
He completed his Ph.D in Integrative Neuroscience from Purdue University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University. He has published articles in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Neuron, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Journal of Neurophysiology and European Journal of Neuroscience. His research has been profiled in the press by the Scientific American, U.S. News, BBC News, The Telegraph and WANE-TV.
FRE SH THOUGHTS
7
Multicommunicating research evaluates the use of technology in the workplace BY MARC S P E I R
The Etiquette of Efficiency
I THE DATA
Cause for Distraction In her 2012 study “Multiple Conversations During Organizational Meetings,” Stephens found working adults were
2x
as likely to use mobile devices in meetings to remain available to others as they were to use them as distractions.
8
t’s a common scene in modern business: employees shuffle into a meeting and unveil smartphones, tablets and laptops. They spend the duration of the meeting texting, sending instant messages or emails, checking social media, or even fielding phone calls. They may even spend as much time using these devices as they do participating in the face-to-face discussions. Is this practice necessary to surviving the workplace? Or does the use of mobile technology distract employees and slow productivity at meetings? These are questions being asked not only by managers and employees, but by communication researcher Keri Stephens, who studies “multicommunicating” – the practice of using technology to participate simultaneously in multiple conversations. Stephens, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, says multicommunicating is becoming increasingly common in the business world. However, few people agree on the appropriateness or etiquette of the practice. “This study gets to the heart of what is bugging people in the workplace and also in the classroom,” she says. “The differing perceptions create real problems, and I think communication research has a lot to say. It’s important to ground this research theoretically first so it can be applied in practice next.” Stephens has developed tools to gauge perceptions of multicommunicating in the workplace. “One big question is whether these actions in
FRE SH THOUGHTS
meetings are seen as being on-task or off-task,” Stephens says. “In my interviews, a lot of the perception is that people using devices are checking email or goofing off, but if a person has a notepad then they are presumably paying attention. It is ironic that when I ask people if they are on task with a notepad, they admit that paper is very useful for writing out their grocery list and pretending to pay attention.” Stephens earned her bachelor’s in biochemistry and after working in that industry for a decade, realized the real challenges in her organizations were the people – not the chemicals and bacteria. “I used that knowledge of science and systems to return to graduate school and get my master’s and Ph.D. in organizational communication,” Stephens says. “Now I study how people use technology to communicate in organizations because it’s so rapidly changing, highly complex, and provides me an opportunity to impact lives.” Stephens has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and co-authored the book “Information and Communication Technology in Action: Linking Theory and Narratives of Practice.” Her research projects focus on technology use in organizations and in addition to multicommunicating, she has applied her interest to examine types of multitasking, new employee orientation, social media use in crisis and health communication, classroom use of new technologies, technology use in school shooting emergency response, and issues of communication overload.
Her recent research titled, “Multiple Conversations During Organizational Meetings: Development of the Multicommunicating Scale,” was funded by a College of Communication Reddick Grant and a University of Texas Research Grant. First published in Management Communication Quarterly’s May 2012 issue, the study assesses multicommunicating through a 22-question survey identifying the behaviors involved in multicommunicating. “I found that remaining available is very important because one of the reasons we use our technologies – even if we’re in a meeting – is so other people can reach us,” Stephens says. “Whether or not the people who contact us are family, friends or work colleagues, we see that what the popular press is calling ‘always being on’ is a key factor.” Stephens said she hopes the measurement scale will allow organizational groups to craft policy. If left unaddressed, the practice of multicommunicating can cause unnecessary splits and resentment among individuals within organizations. “What is expected in one work group can be considered rude in another and cost some people advancement,” Stephens says. “I’d like to see the scale help management make decisions about when to have meetings, who to include and what content to cover.” In meetings she has attended, Stephens says encouraging a person to Google answers to questions has helped reach a conclusion or consensus much faster with relevant data than could
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION
Communication Studies
RESEARCHER:
Keri Stephens Assistant Professor
have been done otherwise. Her research into how organizational members use mobile devices in meetings may be able to predict how the communicative behaviors observed in younger generations will diffuse into large-scale organizations and affect the way of doing business in the future. “Keri Stephens’ research is important in an age when people use multiple modes of communicating in work and in their personal lives,” says Barry Brummett, the Charles Sapp Centennial Professor in Communication and chair of the Department of Communication Studies. “Stephens’ work will help all of us understand how to use media more effectively.” Relying on her own study conclusions, Stephens informs students on the first day of the semester that they are allowed to bring devices to class but with the knowledge that she will likely ask them to search for data or look up
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
answers for her during a lecture. “What’s interesting is that this articulation of the learning purpose for their mobile devices creates an atmosphere of respect,” Stephens says. “If I can get them to have that ultimate respect, there’s less misbehaving and more engagement.” Stephens says she plans to expand her multicommunicating research to include meeting satisfaction rates, overload, the retention of information covered in meetings, how multicommunicating affects decision-making, how work and life boundaries continue to blur, and how multicommunicating differs from multitasking. “As the pace of the modern business setting increases we’ll see more of these issues become increasingly pertinent,” Stephens says. “The foundation of what makes these technologies useful or counterproductive is the people – and that’s what we’ll continue to evaluate.”
She holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin. She co-authored the book “Information and Communication Technology in Action: Linking Theory and Narratives of Practice” and has published more than 30 peerreviewed articles and book chapters in places like Communication Theory, Human Communication Research, Management Communication Quarterly and The Handbook of Crisis Communication.
FROM LEFT: SHUTTERSTOCK; DAVID COX
FRE SH THOUGHTS
9
Inspired
10
FRE SH THOUGHTS
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
Ideas
By Nick Hundley ILLUST RAT IO N BY M IC H A E L AUSTI N
STUDENT ENRICHMENT PROGRAM BRINGS TOGETHER THREE GENERATIONS OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCHERS
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
FRE SH THOUGHTS
11
BEFORE GRADUATING IN 2010 FROM THE COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION, MINHAO DAI WAS ON TRACK FOR A CAREER IN BUSINESS OR PUBLIC RELATIONS. A COMMUNICATION STUDIES MAJOR, HE HAD SET HIS SIGHTS ON A PROFESSIONAL MASTER’S PROGRAM AND EVENTUALLY WANTED TO WORK IN THE CORPORATE WORLD. But that was before his senior year, when he helped conduct an original research study through the Student Enrichment Program. The study, an examination of BP’s use of social media following the 2010 Gulf oil spill, was organized by Keri Stephens, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies. Stephens recruited graduate and undergraduate students including Dai to help conduct the study through the Student Enrichment Program. The study was Dai’s first foray into research. He said the experience led him to participate in other research studies as an undergraduate – and eventually changed his career trajectory. “Doing research changed what I thought of graduate school,” Dai says. “Back then, I was more prone to [attend] a practical program. But since I did so much research with professors as an undergraduate, it’s become what I’m interested in right now – going into academic research.”
“Undergraduates seeing research in practice can be life-changing,” Byrd says. “It gives undergraduates the chance to see first-hand what it’s like to be a graduate student.” Dai, who is now earning his master’s in communication studies from Wake Forest University, says he is considering a doctoral program in political or business communication. The Student Enrichment Program gives undergraduates in the College first-hand research experience by partnering them with graduate students and faculty members on research studies. Ultimately, its goal is to introduce undergraduates to research – and even inspire undergraduates to pursue careers as scholars. Since 2006, more than 280 undergraduates have participated in the program, along with more than 130 graduate students and 100 faculty members. The program brings together graduate and undergraduate students to assist faculty members on a research project over the course of a semester. Each research study enlists about
12
FRE SH THOUGHTS
three undergraduates and at least one graduate student – each of whom receives a stipend to participate. Undergraduates conduct many of the fundamental tasks of research – such as collecting, entering and analyzing data – which help demystify the world of research. Faculty members and graduate students act as mentors to undergraduates, introducing them to the principals and tasks involved in conducting a study. “Undergraduates seeing research in practice can be life-changing,” says Courtney Byrd, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. In 2012, Byrd investigated childhood stuttering through a research project funded by the Student Enrichment Program. She says the program opens a world of possibilities to students, who might not have otherwise considered graduate school. “It gives undergraduates the chance to see firsthand what it’s like to be a graduate student,” Byrd says. “Also, when you get excited about your future, you do better in the present.” Because there is often proximity in age, graduate students have the unique ability to connect with undergraduates – and perhaps even serve as role models. Bailey Cool, a master’s student in media studies, says the program fosters a unique dynamic between students. “You’re seen as a direct authority figure when you’re their TA and grading their papers,” she says. “But when collaborating on research, it’s more of a team effort – you’re much more their equal. I’m closer to their age, so I can understand where they are.” Cool worked on a study by Sharon Strover, a professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film, who examined how college students watch television shows using “second screens” – such as tablets, smart phones and devices other than televisions. The study will be published by Routledge as a chapter in a forthcoming collection of “connected viewing” studies. Many of the studies conducted through the Student Enrichment Program are eventually presented at conferences and published in journals and books. Renita Coleman, associate professor in the School of Journalism, has participated four times in the program, and her most recent study with Ph.D. students Summer Harlow and Lei Guo, titled “User-Generated Racism,” examined representations of African Americans, Latinos and Asians in YouTube videos.
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
Student Enrichment Participation 2006–2012
UNDERGRADUATES
GRADUATE STUDENTS
FACULTY MEMBERS
TOTAL 2006–2012:
TOTAL 2006–2012:
TOTAL 2006–2012:
285 132 101 2006–2007
49
23
13
2007–2008
42
16 15
2008–2009
44
19 17
2009–2010
51
21
16
2010–2011
52
24
47
19
2011–2012 29
21
RESEARCH PROJECTS FUNDED BY STUDENT ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
The study was turned into a paper and presented at the conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication by the graduate students. They will revise it according to feedback they receive – with the eventual goal of publishing it in an academic journal. Coleman points out that not all undergraduates who participate in the program will become researchers or scholars. But she says the program helps introduce many students to the process and shows them the importance of research. “Most undergrads aren’t clued in on research,” she says. “When I was in my 20s, I never thought I’d be here. The goal of Student Enrichment is to have students learn something about research and have a good experience, so sometime down the road they might become interested in getting a Ph.D.”
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
The Advertising and Public Relations Research Club The Student Enrichment Program has inspired other research opportunities for undergraduates in the College. Started in 2012 by Associate Professor Lee Ann Kahlor, the Advertising and Public Relations Research Club gives undergraduate students first-hand experience undertaking every aspect of the research process. Kahlor explains the club was created in response to the overwhelming number of students wanting to participate in the Student Enrichment Program. “I would announce it to my classes, and I found so many students wanted this experience that I would get around 15 applications for three positions,” Kahlor says. “The research club was created to accommodate all the student requests that we weren’t able to meet.” The Research Club meets weekly during each semester to develop a research project from conception to completion. Kahlor walks students through the process of conducting an original research study – including identifying topics of interest, collecting and analyzing data, and attempting to publish the results. Students in the inaugural class of the research club began investigating underage binge drinking at the university and are continuing with the project this year, exploring social pressures related to academic performance and the role that alcohol can play in stress relief and as a reward for hard work. They hope to isolate themes and begin testing messages that might be successful appeals against the phenomenon. Eventually, students in the research club hope to turn the study into a paper that they can present at a conference and submit to a journal. Hiep Huynh, a public relations major, served as secretary of the Research Club during the spring semester. He says it was an excellent opportunity to work on real-life problems and scenarios and apply the concepts and methods he learned in class. “To me, the university has a crucial role not just for teaching, but also for research and development of society as a whole,” Huynh says. “I think every UT member, including undergrads, should actively engage in the research and development aspect of the school to contribute to the greater good of society.”
FRE SH THOUGHTS
13
14
FRE SH THOUGHTS
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
Emerging and established scholars shape the future of communication research
SETTING THE AGENDA BY MARC SPEIR
S
ILLUST RAT IO N BY M IC H A E L AUSTI N
ara Kamal sat at the end of the conference table in the Lady Bird Johnson room in the College’s CMA building and somehow avoided appearing jet lagged. Kamal was surrounded by 19 other scholars, many of whom had traveled great distances to be there. However, she had traveled the farthest – 8,222 miles. An assistant professor of marketing at American University, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Kamal made the 18-hour plane ride to attend “Ethical Issues in Communication Professions,” a conference held March 30-31, 2012, as part of the New Agendas series in the College of Communication. However, she didn’t travel so far for just any conference. Kamal was one of a select few who had been invited to help shape the course of scholarship in her field. New Agendas was created to attract up-and-coming scholars such as Kamal and her peers – and has been doing so for the better part of a decade. These rising scholars visit Austin and apply fresh ideas to a research topic along with seasoned faculty members from the College. As the result of the conference, participants contribute to a book published by Routledge as part of the New Agendas series. Many of the books have already become significant works in their respective fields. Kamal, who earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in advertising from The University of Texas at Austin, explains the conference offered an extraordinary opportunity. “As an emerging scholar, getting published provides a platform for new talent to contribute to their field of study and allows us to share new
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
FRE SH THOUGHTS
15
Books from the New Agendas Series
The Interplay of Truth and Deception While current magazines and newspapers question the extent to which public officials are deceptive, this collection creates a more precise critique of wellknown constructions of spin, hype, doublespeak, equivocation and quoting out-of-context.
perspectives on existing issues and expand the research literature,” she says. “Publications provide emerging scholars with the chance to generate meaningful dialogue with their peers and thought leaders.” Founded in 2006 by College of Communication Dean Roderick P. Hart and Associate Dean Stephen D. Reese, New
“New Agendas taps into the energy and imagination of junior scholars who will be leading the field in the near future,” Hart says. “By partnering them with top-notch scholars and editors from the ranks of the College of Communication, it yields striking new perspectives on the most important issues of the day.”
ABOVE: ROUTLEDGE
16
Agendas brings together researchers from a diverse array of fields to tackle current issues in communication scholarship. Past topics have included health communication, the interplay of truth and deception, media literacy, language and learning, international communication, ethnicity and media, science communication, media convergence, journalism and citizenship, and political emotions.
FRE SH THOUGHTS
Political Emotions By examining the study of discourse, rhetoric and the framing of emotion, “Political Emotions” shows how segments of society understand the public sphere, civil society and politics. Chapters probe why some sentiments are valued in public communication and mobilize political movements while others are judged irrelevant.
So far, New Agendas has hosted more than 10 conferences and yielded five books – with a sixth to be published in November 2012. “New Agendas taps into the energy and imagination of junior scholars who will be leading the field in the near future,” Hart says. “By partnering them with topnotch scholars and editors from the ranks of the College of Communication, it yields striking new perspectives on the most important issues of the day. New Agendas is producing seminal work in communication scholarship.”
Form and Focus
“Ethical Issues in Communication Professions” was organized by Reese and Minette “Meme” Drumwright, associate professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations. Together, they curated a small list of participants to contribute expertise and unique perspectives to the topic. Fourteen of the participants were in the early stages of their careers as assistant professors, and six were established scholars, culled largely from the College of Communication. While the topic of each conference varies, each seeks to invite a small, select number of scholars to participate. Drumwright says the intimate discussions make New Agendas different from other conferences. “Larger conferences are geared toward people sharing research they’ve already done, while New Agendas conferences are designed for young scholars who are thinking through their ideas to share them with senior scholars for comments and criticisms,” Drumwright says. “It’s a working conference in which the presenters have their ideas somewhat formed, but are still in the process of developing them. It’s really an extraordinary opportunity for young scholars to have both senior scholars and their contemporaries focus on their work in its
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
Media Literacy This volume explores how educators can leverage student proficiency with new media for learning in formal and informal education. Chapters compare different approaches to media education in the digital age and cover the rapid influx of intellectual and communication resources available.
Journalism and Citizenship Sweeping changes are complicating the relationship between news media and the audiences they seek. This collection identifies key issues and paves the way for further research on the role of journalism in today’s world.
early stages. Such conferences have often been important launching pads for the careers of scholars, and they also facilitate future collaborations. ” Drumwright, whose own research focuses on ethics and corporate responsibility, will serve as book editor. Most New Agendas conferences culminate with plans to publish articles in a volume within six months to a year. Over the course of the conference, participants give presentations, critique each other’s work and help prepare articles for publication. Paper presentations at the March 2012 event ranged from marketing toward children and racial identities to freedom of the press and ethical issues in crisis public relations. In the event’s keynote address, Renita Coleman, associate professor in the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin, voiced the importance of scholarly research. “The take-away for academics is that we need to more clearly make the connection between what we are researching and what the implications are for the profession,” Coleman says. “For example, when we learn that people are paying more attention to and learning more from online news that has a label of ‘breaking’ than when it has a time stamp, I’m pretty sure online editors will immediately add that ‘breaking’ label to their websites instead of the time stamp.” Coleman and five other senior faculty members served as “discussants” and reviewed papers, provided feedback and promoted discussion among conference attendees. The role of discussants is to probe the clarity of papers and suggest other theories, literature or topics for consideration.
Breadth of Expertise
New Agendas has always been multidisciplinary. Speakers from the March conference addressed a range of topics
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
Communicating ScienceThis collection investigates the evolution of science communication and the nature of expertise, the diffusion of knowledge, and the communication of science and technology among professionals and to the public.
within the framework of ethics – including health communication, new media, video games and journalism. Scott Stroud, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, specializes in rhetoric and philosophy. He and Danee Pye, a communication studies doctoral student, delivered the presentation “Kant on Unsocial Sociability and the Ethics of Social Blogging.” Stroud says the conference was a great venue to bring together scholars from various specialties and fields. “Many areas of communication have ethical dimensions or implications,” he says. “Each communication profession has its nuances that can help us better understand the limits and benefits of traditional ways of analyzing ethical situations.” Through New Agendas, visiting scholars have access to the widely diverse subject matter experts in the College. The College houses the Departments of Advertising and Public Relations, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Communication Studies, and Radio-Television-Film, and the School of Journalism. Compared to its peer institutions, the College has a depth and size advantage that positions it to further multidisciplinary research. It is the largest college of its kind in the world with nearly 4,000 undergraduates, more than 600 graduate students and 125 tenured, full-time faculty members. Not surprisingly, then, the New Agendas conferences are producing both an intellectual and a practical advantage for the College. By bringing together highly talented faculty members from diverse institutions early in their careers – and by giving them an important publication outlet to boot – the New Agendas conferences make a deep impression on the scholarly leaders of tomorrow, thereby reminding people that the College of Communication is “the place to be” on the national and international scene.
Two conferences are scheduled for the
2012-2013 academic year.
WORK PRESSURES
will be held October 18-19, 2012, and will study how the social, economic, environmental and technological changes of 21st century employment create new models of communication and causes stress.
SPORTS AND IDENTITY will be
held February 2122, 2013, and will study the theoretical and methodological approaches to identifying, understanding and critiquing the communicative significance of sports.
FRE SH T HOUGHTS
17
Advertising researcher examines the implications of video games in entertainment and education BY NI C K H UND L EY
Balanced Approach
F THE DATA
Just a Game? In his 2007 study “The Influence of Competitive and Cooperative Group Game Play on State Hostility,” Eastin found
video game players
verbalizing aggression during game play – such as using profanity, verbal abuse, or references to destruction or physical harm – displayed
greater hostility after gameplay.
FROM LEFT: SHUTTERSTOCK; DAVID COX
18
or many students, it’s too good to be true: a chance to earn extra credit playing video games. Matt Eastin, associate professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, gives students just this chance. Undergraduates volunteering for one of his studies earn credit by playing a game of his choosing in a research lab in the College of Communication. But participating students aren’t just having a good time for a better grade – they’re contributing to cutting-edge communication scholarship. By enlisting students in his research, Eastin is identifying the social and psychological effects of video games. “Games are so prevalent in kids’ lives now,” he explains. “There are implications for their social wellbeing. There are implications for addiction tendencies to come through. It means there are implications for greater exposure to violent messages.” Eastin examines the many implications of video games – both positive and negative – including the role they play in violent behavior and their potential to be used as a powerful educational tool. A NEW PLATFORM FOR SCHOLARSHIP
For a video game expert, Eastin doesn’t play many video games. In fact, he says he doesn’t play any except the occasional game of Galaga, the arcade classic from the early 1980s. Rather, his interest lies in their potential to serve as an important new testing ground for communication
FRE SH THOUGHTS
theory. “The reason I started studying games was I thought they represented a platform to study all aspects of communication,” he says. “They allow for social interaction, competition, content engagement, isolated play, social play – all the different ways we interact in the real world, they give you those opportunities in a virtual environment.” While much of his research has centered on games, Eastin has studied a broad range of topics. He’s authored dozens of studies and edited several books on health communication and advertising. He teaches Media Psychology and Psychology of Video Game Advertising in the College. He started studying video games in the 1990s while earning his Ph.D. in telecommunications from Michigan State University, where he became interested in virtual reality technology. Since then, Eastin’s witnessed breathtaking advancement in the technology of games, as well as a fundamental shift in how players experience them. “Before it was very passive, in the sense that when you engaged the technology, you were just pushing buttons,” he says. “But now you can actually engage as a full-fledged member of the media experience by swinging a bat, swinging a golf club, moving a steering wheel on a car, moving your hands to fight with – or pulling a trigger on a gun.” He says that while technology provides a more engaging experience for players, it also has implications. “All of these things give you a totally different experience with the content, because – from the standpoint of a first-person
perspective – you’re actually making it happen. You’re doing the behavior.” ONGOING DEBATE
The relationship between media violence and violent behavior is something experts and the media have argued about for decades. For nearly as long, video games have been central to this argument. As games become more dynamic, lifelike and available to young people, Eastin says critically examining them is more important than ever. “It’s a very controversial topic right now – believe it or not after all these years,” he says. “But I believe there is an effect from exposure [to violence].” As editor of the forthcoming “Encyclopedia of Media Violence,” Eastin collects scholarship on violence in video games and other media. However, Eastin cautions against overstating games’ influence on violent behavior. “I think it’s dependent on the individual,” he says. “I think it’s dependent on the type of exposure they have and the type of content and how they engage it – whether they’re doing it competitively or cooperatively. I think it depends on whether parents mediate the exposure and on the dialogue that goes on afterward.” In his research, Eastin examines the many factors contributing to whether games result in violent behavior – not just the violence itself. Vincent Cicchirillo, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, also researches video games. He says one of Eastin’s greatest contributions to the field has
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION
Advertising and Public Relations
RESEARCHER:
Matthew Eastin Associate Professor
been his ability to bridge two major schools of thought on the topic. Historically, Cicchirillo says, the research community has been split between those arguing games have exclusively negative outcomes, and those arguing they have exclusively positive outcomes. Eastin has sought to synthesize the valid points from both of these schools of thought. “Matt’s position was that the context of the gaming experience determines the outcome,” he says. “It’s not that [games] are positive or negative. It’s that the context – gender representations, ethnicity, narrative involvement – those things influence outcomes.” EDUCATION VS. ENTERTAINMENT
In addition to the dynamic between video games and violence, Eastin examines games’ potential to be used as educational tools. His latest research examines how games can improve learning outcomes in K-12 education in math and science. “We have to understand the difference between how we’re creating games from an educational standpoint and how we create them from an entertainment standpoint,” he says. “How do you best construct a message inside a game that’s being used for educational purposes?” Eastin often examines educational games using many of the same concepts – such as involvement, gender and race. Isabella Cunningham, chair of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, says he seeks to apply the theories of what makes engaging games to improving education. “Learning with
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
play is a system that has been used for a long time with lower grades to help students become more involved in lessons,” she says. “Students today are used to interacting with games, so why not take advantage of that disposition to help them absorb subjects such as math and science they might not immediately like?” Whether studying games for entertainment or education, Eastin says his research has always sought to
craft a nuanced approach. He says parents and others too often take a black-and-white view of video games. “I hope that people would look at this body of research and see that there can be negative components to gaming,” he says, “but there are also a lot of positive components as well. I think that if you have the right type of game and use them in the right type of way, they can be a positive influence.”
He holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He has published in numerous journals, including the Journal of Communication, Communication Research and Human Communication Research. He is on the editorial board of Communication Research and is the editor of the “Encyclopedia of Media Violence.”
RTF professor preserves the history and stories told through film BY MARC S P E I R
Restoring the Past One Frame at a Time
W THE DATA
Worldwide Sensation The Texas Archive of the Moving Image’s mostpopular film has been viewed more than
71,000 times
– “America Welcomes President Ayub” is a 20-minute documentary of President Kennedy and then Vice-President Johnson hosting Pakistani President Ayub Khan in July 1961.
20
hen you ask Caroline Frick if she has a favorite film, she will wince ever-so slightly, be t ray ing a
hint of frustration. She will steer the conversation away from whether “Citizen Kane” or “The Godfather” should place first in the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Movies list. Perhaps Frick, an assistant professor in the Department of Radio-TelevisionFilm, has seen too many films to pick just one. Or perhaps she would rather discuss what she’s most passionate about – discovering and preserving historic films. Only a small number of film aficionados worldwide can match her expertise researching, cataloging and restoring prints. “As a kid, I remember asking my mom if there were librarians – but for films instead of books,” Frick says. “When I heard that there were, I never looked at anything else.” As the founder and executive director of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, she has devoted her career to the discovery and preservation of Texas films. The organization attempts to collect and preserve all Texas films – educational films, local advertisements, abandoned local television airings, documentaries, feature films and even home movies. Her work discovering, restoring and digitizing these films is not just a personal obsession – it helps to preserve the film and cultural heritage of Texas.
FRE SH THOUGHTS
TEXAS ARCHIVE OF THE MOVING IMAGE
Frick, who grew up in Kansas City, Kan., began archiving as an intern at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., before working at the National Archives, American Movie Classics, the Library of Congress and Warner Bros. Eventually, she enrolled in the Ph.D. program in the Department of RadioTelevision-Film at The University of Texas at Austin. While still a student, she started the Texas Archive of the Moving Image in her apartment in 2002. Since then, the organization’s collection of Texas films has grown into a full-fledged library accessible to the public through streaming on its website: www.texasarchive.org. The nonprofit is comprised of five part-time workers who enlist and teach students the tools of the trade at offices in downtown Austin. It offers more than 1,000 films, including footage of natural disasters, Texas Department of Public Safety training films and humorous commercials. “The oldest films we’ve archived are copies from the aftermath of the hurricane in Galveston in 1900,” Frick says. “Those are some of the earliest films that exist in the entire world.” Some of the films may seem odd, but Frick explains there is tremendous value in this material. “If you think about it, the Zapruder film of President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas became one of the most famous home movies of all time,” she says. “Yet, no institution had emerged to preserve, study and exhibit these images specifically related to Texas until the Texas
Archive of the Moving Image.” Frick’s work has resulted in numerous honors. In 2010, she served as curator at the George Eastman House International Museum of Film and Photography, home to one of the largest feature film collections in the world. And in 2011, she became president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Moving Image Archivists. SAVING CELLULOID
When celluloid film decomposes, it shrinks and gives off a vinegar smell. Some film is in such poor condition it must sit in chemical vapors for months before becoming malleable enough to restore. Only then can archivists begin the process of building new sprockets, matching color and fixing scratches. While celluloid film has nearly disappeared from conventional use, Frick says it continues to enchant her. “There is romanticism to celluloid,” she says. “We’re getting closer to digitally replicating the amount of information captured in the film image – but with digital, there’s no flicker or the same kind of softness. It’s likely that the more we remove ourselves from celluloid, the more some people will fetishize the artifact itself.” Celluloid film was first used for still photography in 1822 and for moving images in 1893. Each second of footage is composed of 24 frames, and restoration requires a setting similar to a darkroom. Restoring traditional film stock is an expensive, laborious and isolating process requiring careful choice of project and significant donations, often from the private sector.
CO LLEGE O F COMMUNICATION
COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION
RadioTelevision-Film
“The Kidnapper’s Foil,” filmed by Melton Barker in Childress, Texas in 1936, was discovered and restored by Frick and the Texas Archive of the Moving Image. It is an example of “home talent” films of the era, filmed by itinerant filmmakers and featuring local residents and businesses, screened in local theaters before major theatrical features.
to introduce students to periods of history caught on film. “I think Caroline’s work is just amazing,” says Paul Stekler, chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film. “The proof is in just strolling through the thousands of Texas films that she’s preserved and put on the Web, accessible to anyone. What she’s doing is at the pinnacle of film study, film preservation and history of American popular culture.” TEXAS AND BEYOND
The most expensive films to restore are full-length features. Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation estimates it costs up to $100,000 to restore a blackand-white film and several-hundred thousand dollars for a color film. BRING OUT YOUR FILMS
Since 2007, the Texas Archive of the Moving Image has partnered with the Office of the Governor’s Texas Film Commission on the “Texas Film RoundUp,” which has already digitized more than 10,000 films. The program offers free digitization of films for individuals and organizations throughout the state. “Our part-
COLLEG E O F CO MMU N I CAT IO N
nership with the Texas Film Commission is unique,” Frick says. “We have the only program in the U.S. that combines a film production incentives program with a preservation initiative and educational service – the first of its kind.” As part of the program, Frick and her colleagues visit regions of Texas to collect and digitize moving images from the public that also become part of the organization’s archive. The Round-Up even conducts educational events highlighting Texas moving image history through screenings, demonstrations, lectures and interactive exhibits. Through the organization’s program, “Teach Texas,” K-12 educators use films
Frick’s 2011 book, “Saving Cinema: The Politics of Preservation,” chronicles the development of the preservation movement and lays bare the institutions and people responsible for deciding which films to save and which to ignore. Frick is currently conducting a global search to find silent films produced in Texas but housed overseas. By 2013, she hopes to bring a Texas feature film home from another part of the world. So, what are her favorite favorite films? If you talk with her long enough about film preservation, she will eventually tell you. “My list is constantly in a state of flux,” she says. “The Robert Mitchum film ‘Out of the Past’ is amazing, and the movie that changed my life was ‘Bringing up Baby.’” Frick says she shows her students every semester the 1947 film noir classic and the 1938 comedy starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. “I feel we need to save films so we can show future generations what the world was like at a moment in time to highlight the points of view, diversity and art of Texas, our country and the world.”
RESEARCHER:
Caroline Frick Assistant Professor She holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin. She is president of the Association of Moving Image Archivists, founder and executive director of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image and author of “Saving Cinema.” She has published in a variety of journals including the International Journal of Heritage Studies, The Moving Image, The Journal of Popular Film and Video, and The Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television.
FROM LEFT: COURTESY CAROLINE FRICK (2); DAVID COX
FRE SH THOUGHTS
21
T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X AS AT AU S T I N
NON-PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE
COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION 300 W. DEAN KEETON, A0900 AUSTIN, TX 78712-1069
Exemplary speeches were recorded for student use in the Center for Communication Research Laboratory.
PA I D
AUSTIN, TEXAS PERMIT NO. 391
COMM. 1968
H
by
Dean DeWitt C.
Reddick ,
the 3-year-old School
eaded
of Communication – later renamed the College of Communication –
recognized the growing importance of communication in an increasingly complex society. That year, the School received a grant from the Ford Motor Company to cover costs of film production and opened the Center for Communication Research Laboratory. Composed of soundproof booths and tape decks, the lab contained historic communications and recordings of literary greats. Degree requirements exposed students to a more varied selection of courses and lessons, and increased attention was given to communication theories and research.
COURTESY OF CACTUS YEARBOOK, 1968