Grady faculty and graduate students present at ICA conference

Several Grady College faculty and graduate students will present their research at the annual International Communication Association Conference May 26-30.

The hybrid conference takes place in Paris as well as virtually.

Among the highlights are a presentation by graduate student Haley Hatfield and co-author Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn that was awarded one of the Top Four Papers in the Information Systems Division. The paper is titled “Do Black Lives Matter in the Empathy Machine? Investigating Whiteness and Immersion on Creating a Shared Reality with 360-Degree Video,” and studies the different impact of Black and white speakers delivering anti-racist messages using a 360-degree video platform.

During the conference, Kyser Lough will complete his term as secretary for the Visual Communication Studies division of ICA. He will also chair a Journalism Studies session during the conference.

Other faculty and graduate students participating in the ICA conference include (listed in chronological order of presentation):

Friday, May 27

• Virtual Poster Presentation (virtual, all day) Graduate students Xuerong Lu, Haley R. Hatfield, Shuoya Sun, Youngji Seo (PhD ’22), Solyee Kim (PhD ’22), Sung In Choi, Wenqing Zhao and Jeffrey Duncan; and faculty members Hye Jin Yoon, Bartosz Wojdynski and Glenna L. Read presenting “Gaining Insights into Effects Appeals for COVID-19 Vaccine Messages Targeting 18-23 Year Old College Students”
• Virtual Poster Presentation (virtual, all day) Solyee Kim (PhD ’22) presents her poster, “Making Sense of DEI: The Construction of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Public Relations Agencies in the United States.”
• 8 to 9:15 a.m., Juan Meng, Tong Xie (Ph.D. ’22), Jeonghyun Lee (graduate student), presenting “Understanding the competency spectrum for communication management: The need, the gap, and the continuous learning mindset.”
• 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., Haley R. Hatfield (graduate student) and Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, “Do Black Lives Matter in the Empathy Machine? Investigating Whiteness and Immersion on Creating a Shared Reality with 360-Degree Video.”
• 8 to 9:15 p.m. (Virtual presentation), Sung In Choi (graduate student) Sungsu Kim (PhD ’19) and Yan Jin and others present, “Trust and Cultural Factors Shaping COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions Across Six Countries.”

Saturday, May 28

• 9 to 10:45 a.m. Juan Meng chair session “Issues in Digital PR: AI Applications and Digital Ethics” and will present a paper she was co-author on, “Ethical Challenges of Digital Communication in Public Relations: A Comparative Study of Individual, Organizational, and National Factors in 52 Countries.”
• 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Ivanka Pjesivac presents research she was a lead author on entitled, “Between the Facts and a Hard Place: Trust Judgments and Affective Responses in Information-Seeking Processes During Early COVID-19.”
• 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Juan Meng will present a paper she co-authored entitled, “Toward an integrated model of healthy food choice: Examining the moderated mediation effects via online search for nutrition information.”
• 5 to 6:15 p.m. Ivanka Pjesivac (faculty); Leslie Klein (graduate student); Wenqing Zhao (graduate student); Xuerong Lu (graduate student); Yan Jin (faculty) present in an interactive poster session featuring their research, “Factors That Impact COVID-19 Conspirational Beliefs and Health-Related Behaviors.”
• 8:30 to 9:45 p.m. (Virtual Session) Alumni, graduate students and faculty including Taylor S. Voges; Solyee Kim (PhD ’22); LaShonda L. Eaddy (PhD ’17); Jeonghyun J. Lee; Sara Ervin; Yan Jin; and Bryan Reber  present “Threat Assessments and Organization Resources for DEI and Ethics: Practitioner Insights on Sticky Crises.”

Sunday, May 29

• 8 to 9:15 a.m. Juan Meng presents a paper she co-authored entitled, “Examining the characteristics and virtues associated with servant leadership in public relations.”
• 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Kyser Lough presents his research, “Visual News Practices: Ethics, Power and History Panel Session, Visual Communication Studies.”
• 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Yan Jin chairs a session about COVID-19 and Public Relations
• 8 to 9:15 p.m. (Virtual presentation) Graduate students, alumni and faculty including Taylor S. Voges; Yan Jin; LaShonda L. Eaddy (Ph.D. ’17) and Xuerong Lu present “Responding to Fire Ignited From Outside: Explicating “Crisis Spillover” Through the Multi-Layered Lens of Organizational Crisis Communication.

Monday, May 30

• 9:30 a.m. Karin Assmann (faculty) presents her research about German reporters’ and news organizations responses to physical attacks, “Enemy in the streets: German journalists on the defensive” on the panel, “Enemies of the Press: Global Harassment, Abuse and Violence Against Journalists.”
• 12:30 p.m. Karin Assmann presents her co-authored paper, “Women in newsroom leadership in Germany 30 years after reunification:  A West German domain?” as part of the session, “Women in Journalism: Newsrooms, Unions, Protests and Online Hate.”
• 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Michael Cacciatore, Juan Meng and Bryan Reber will present their research paper, “Leveraging the cybersecurity function to build influence and strategy: An empirical study of public relations professionals’ cybersecurity acumen.”