The UNM C&J Research Colloquium Series

Description
The C&J Department’s Research Colloquium Series brings in speakers one or two times each month during the academic year. Unless otherwise noted, colloquia are held the second Wednesday of each month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. A light lunch is served at each event for the first 15 minutes and is followed by a 45-minute presentation and a 15-minute Q&A session. Approximately 25 to 40 people attend, including faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students from C&J, and people from across the university and community.

Mission Statement
The colloquium series strives to provide an intellectual presentation and exchange of various communication, interdisciplinary, and community-based topics and ideas. The series features scholarship from a mixture of methodological and epistemological traditions and provides diverse perspectives and ideas. We strive to create a meeting place for invited scholars, community members, and departmental faculty members and graduate students to share their research.

The 2011-2012 coordinators are Dr. Pavel Shlossberg, and graduate students Jelena Petrovic and Miwa Kimura.

The confirmed dates of the 2011-2012 school-year colloquium sessions are as follows (all Wednesdays): Oct. 19, Nov. 9, Jan. 25, Feb. 15, March 21 and May 3. Details on each event will be posted below as it is confirmed:

• Wed., May 3, 6:00 p.m.- 7:30 p.m., C&J 116
  Introduction to Graduate Studies: The final academic showcase
  Speakers: Dr. Eudaline Cia Hell and her students
  After discussing the intricacies of writing, editing and publishing as it relates to their research endeavors or theory building pieces, students in the introduction to graduate studies seminar finally get the chance to showcase their polished work. The unique research interests feature topics such as identity in music, identity in media representation, the use of metaphors be it in cultural conservation or public speaking, the complexities of meaning management in conversation and the relevance of framing in the instructional setting. Download PDF Flyer.
      Hot food and refreshments will be served.


• Wed., March 21, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., C&J 116
  Working Against the Odds: Women Pioneers in Communication
  Speakers: Dr. Janice E. Schuetz; Dr. Glenda R. Balas
  "Working Against the Odds" is a hybrid project involving traditional video documentary and academic methodology. Central to the project's success is its emphasis on the oral history interview, which explores decision-making processes on the part of women subjects and asks interviewees to describe the challenges they faced as graduate students and professors over the years. Very specifically, women were asked if some fields seemed more accepting of women, if others were totally off-limits to women, and if they ever considered quitting. Each scholar was also asked to describe her mentors, most difficult lessons, and changes in the field, particularly regarding opportunities and challenges for women. These insights proved useful in developing a project that not only tells the stories of the selected women scholars, but also makes larger arguments about women working in academia generally and communication specifically. Download PDF Flyer.
      The project received funding from NCA's Special Project Fund and the Feminist Research Institute at UNM. Hot food and refreshments will be served.


• Wed., Feb. 15, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., C&J 116
  Refugee Mental Health & Well-being: A Community-based Social Justice Approach
  Guest Speakers:
  • Dr. Jessica Goodkind (a community psychologist and a faculty member at the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Prevention and Population Sciences)
  • Dr. Julia Hess (a sociocultural anthropologist and a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Prevention and Population Sciences)
  • Carmen Lowry (a facilitator at the RWP and a Ph.D. student at the Communication & Journalism Department).
  This colloquium presentation will provide an overview of refugee displacement worldwide, attendant mental health issues, as well as the increasing recognition that post-resettlement stressors play in refugee mental health. The majority of the presentation will focus on the Refugee Well-being Project (RWP), a community-based intervention that aims to improve the mental health and well-being of recently arrived refugees in New Mexico. The RWP educates and trains students from UNM in refugee issues, advocacy and engagement. The intervention has proved successful in decreasing refugee psychological distress, increasing quality of life, social support and improving English-language skills. Download PDF Flyer.


• Wed., Jan. 25, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Waters Room in Zimmerman Library
  Dr. Pavel Shlossberg: Indian Arts and the Politics of Race and Culture in Central Mexico
  Dr. Shlossberg's work documents contemporary danzas, such as the pastorelas, and related masking customs in central Michoacan. His work also examines how knowledge about masks and masking is often falsified in popular and scholarly work through the repetition of colorful myths that envelop the craft and the disavowal of items produced for the tourist and curio markets as inauthentic and low-grade. The debates over the authenticity/inauthenticity of tourist and curio arts shed light on how relations of class, status, and inequality are constructed and contested in community rituals, Mexican national/regional culture, and crossborder markets for Indian arts. Download PDF Flyer.


• Wed., Nov. 9, noon-1 p.m., LAII Conference Room (801 Yale Blvd NW)
  Felipe Horta: Mascarero from Tocuaro, Michoacan, Mexico
  Reflecting his commitment to a vibrant local form of cultural and religious expression, Felipe has been making pastorela masks since the age of 12. His boundless creativity is reflected in the allegorical masks of devils, hermits, viejitos, fantastic creatures, and characters from popular culture, which he hand-carves for the danzantes who perform in the local pastorelas. Join us as Felipe discusses these dynamic performances and how they depict faith, sin, and salvation, while also commenting upon the joys and struggles of everyday life in contemporary Mexico. Download PDF Flyer.


• Wednesday, Oct. 19, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Room 116
  Surviving Conferences
  The panelists will share their experiences and advices about networking, meeting scholars and peers from other universities, presenting papers and posters, communicating with your audience and respondents, and utilizing school fairs and departmental parties for job opportunities and learning about Ph.D. programs.
  Faculty Panelists: Dr. Ilia Rodríguez and Dr. Stephen W. Littlejohn
  Student Panelists: Carmen Lowry and Kristen Cole