Student Participation in the ECA Convention

The Communication Department proudly recognizes SUNY Geneseo students for their hard work and dedication in the field of communication, including their participation in the James C. McCroskey and Virginia P. Richmond Undergraduate Scholars Conference, part of the annual Eastern Communication Association (ECA) Convention. 

Students are listed alphabetically by last name.

Recognized Student Participants: 2016

Anna Bertoldini

Limitations of Orientalism:  Explaining ISIS' Female Recruits


Jade Brown

Butch, Femme, or Bust:  The Queer Female Binary in American Film and TV


Chi Phuc Khanh Huynh

Out of Sight, Out of Communication? Private Disclosure in Proximal and Long-Distance Relationships


Anna Fong

Male Seeks Exotic Wife:  What Might Media Reveal About Racism and Sexism?


Leandra Griffith

Can Given Names Give Empowerment? The Effects of Non-Conventional Names on Women

*Received Top-Poster Award


Nicole A. Heney

Making Meaning of Distance:  Contradictions in Long-Distance Romantic Relationships

*Received a Top-Paper Award


Megan Meadows

What Will They Think?:  Disclosure of College Students With Family Members


Douglas Parks

Food Fantasies:  The Role of Food Narratives in Cultivating Speciesism


Allyson Pereyra

The Tangled Truth:  The Oppression of Black Female Beauty through the Misrepresentation of Black Hair in American Media


Joseph Potischman

A Label Good Enough to Eat:  Marketing Messages and Consumer Conceptions of Organic and Genetically Modified Brands


Alex Schuhart

An Analysis of the American Online News Media Portrayal of Conservatives, Conservatism, and the"Right-Wing" and Its Societal Impact in the Modern Day


Gina M. Suriano

Value Alignment in Collegiate Celebratory Inaugural Activities


Kala Wilkins

Media's Representation of Hair Color Attributing to Personality Traits Affects Female's Views of Themselves and Each Other


Katherine Zaslavsky

Kill or Be Killed:  Seeing the Middle East as a Threat to the Western World

Recognized Student Participants: 2015

Samantha Brown

Title IX: Friend or Foe?

Faculty Sponsor:  Atsushi Tajima, Ph.D.


Chelsea Butkowski

Veiled subordination:  The Transmission of Gender Posing from Fine Art to Modern Advertising *Received Top Paper Award


Jennie Conway

The future looks bleak?:  Negotiation and Reimagination of Gender Roles in YA Dystopian Novels *Received Top Paper Award


JiYeon Im

Media Framing and Stigmas of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Faculty Sponsor:  Atsushi Tajima, Ph.D.


Bethany Martone

You are the Apple to My I

Faculty Sponsor:  Atsushi Tajima, Ph.D.


Janelle Marxhausen

"A Middle Eastern Trait": Amerian Misperceptions of Islam and the Media as an Educator

Faculty Sponsor:  Atsushi Tajima, Ph.D.


Kelsey McGrail

The Double-Edged Sword:  The Hook-up Culture's Creation of a New Form of Sexism

Faculty Sponsor:  Atsushi Tajima, Ph.D.


Cassandra Nicol

Crippling our Superheroes:  Disability Representation in the Marvel Universe


Jennifer O'Neil

Sex on the Blue Bottle:  The Objectification of Women in Skyy Vodka Advertisements


Taylor Quaranta

Romantic Relationships in Emerging Adulthood:  Understanding Them Through a Communication Privacy Managment Perspective

Faculty Sponsor:  Atsushi Tajima, Ph.D.


Emily Tenenbaum

Chasing a Moving Target:  The Evolution of the Female Beauty Standard Through Advertisements from 1890-1990

Recognized Student Participants: 2014

Jonathan Baek

"The 'Selfie' Trifecta: Cell-phones, Social Media, and Self"

Presented in a panel that explores social media and the power of relationships.


Courtney Dunn

"Prestigious Photojournalism: Enabling Hegemony Instead of Presenting Reality"

Presented in a panel discussing media's purpose as it serves communities and shapes perceptions.


Leah Freeman

"Freedom for Who? Representing Female Thinness, Public Health, and Media Regulation"

Presented in a panel that serves as a dialogue and discourse of health and wellness.


Brittany Lauda

"Memory Rooted in Disaster: Japanese Film and Animation as an Expression of Victim Consciousness and Disaster Anxieties"

Presented in a panel examining cults, consciousness, and a champion's final show as a means of controlling the audience.


Catherine L. Love

"Hooked on Hooking Up: The Influence of Television on College Romantic Relationships"

Presented in a panel that examined interpersonal relationships and the differences between friends and lovers.


Megan Nolan

"Navigating Foreign Text: The Challenges of Literary Translation in Global Communication"

Presented in a panel that serves as a discourse of communication, both challenges and challenging.


Lauren Pdzonak

"After 140 Characters, Did Anybody Notice? Non-Profit Organizations' Use of Twitter"

Presented in a competitive undergraduate poster session.


Christa A. Sousa

"Eating Disorders and Cultural Imposition: Wasting Away Because Society Says So"

Presented in a panel exploring ways of negotiating the margins in society.


Dena Spanos

"Bridging the Gap: Negotiating Communication and Perceptional Discrepancies Among International and American Students"

Presented in a panel that serves as a discourse of communication, both challenges and challenging.


Emily C. Wagner

"Face Management in Post-Relational Dissolution Communication"

Presented in a competitive undergraduate poster session.


Madeline M. Zebertavage

"Color Me Pink: The Commodification of Public Health"

Presented in a panel that serves as a dialogue and discourse of health and wellness.

Recognized Student Participants: 2013

Mark Armstrong

"Fox News and the Anti-American Perception of President Barack Obama"

Presented in a panel that looks at how modern television stations discuss the news and explores rhetorical implications of the news process itself.


Sean Connor

"Civil Society, the Public Sphere, and the Internet: An Analysis of BRIC Similarities and Differences"

Presented in a panel about how people are using and understanding communication through the use of the Internet.


Anna Dirienzo and Kayla Holmes

"College Students Use of Smartphone Communication in Maintaining and Challenging Face"

Presented in a panel exploring how college students use modern technology for communication and how it impacts interpersonal relationships.


Cailin Kolalewski

"Collegiate Athletic Identity and Its Relationship to Food Discourses"

Presented in a panel for undergraduate posters.


Sean Leigh and Shelly Massachi

"Smartphone Communication: Negotiation of Face Needs by College Students"

Presented in a panel exploring how college students use modern technology for communication and how it impacts interpersonal relationships.


Josephine Lukito

"Selectively Social Media: Selective Exposure Theory and Social Media During the 2012 US Presidential Election"

Presented in a panel representing different theoretical perspectives of communication and examining how these theories apply to today's world.

"Americanizing Anime: Is Disney's Reinterpretation of Miyazaki Movies Removing the 'Japan' from Japanese Anime?"

Presented in a panel exploring how today's world discusses and understands Japan.


Takaki Matsumoto

"Social Trend of Avoiding Young Marriage: Understanding People's Perceptions of Young Marriage in the United States"

Presented in a panel about how marriage is portrayed in the television show Modern Family and how youth perceive marriage in a modern context.


Tara Mcgarry

"Fear of Aging: The Mass Media's Role in the Anti-Aging Industry in America"

Presented in a panel that studies how visuality in mass media functions and how America views aging.


Kevin Mejia

"The Red Solo Cup as a Cultural Artifact"

Presented in a panel for undergraduate posters.


Jaemoon Shim

"Representation, Agenda Setting: Roles of South Korean Newspapers in Presenting an Evil Picture of North Korea"

Presented in a panel for undergraduate posters.


Kimberly Showalter

"Improved Translation of Anime: How Better Translations of Popular Anime Promote Japanese Culture"

Presented in a panel exploring how today's world discusses and understands Japan.


Amanda Skinner

"3D Media Tech Research: Technology Implementation into Education"

Presented in a panel about how people are using and understanding communication through the use of the Internet.


Anna Verneuille

"The Intentional and Unintentional Roles of English in Global Advertising" (Received a Top Paper award)

Presented in a panel for the top four papers from the conference. Also included in a panel representing different manners of understanding or studying the persuasive impact of advertising in modern society.


Emily Wagner

"The 'Dark Side' of Teeth Whitening: Smile Enhancement or Smile Exploitation?"

Presented in a panel that studies how visuality in mass media functions and how America views aging.


Julie Williams

"Elitist Eating: The Effect of Food Blogs on Multiculturalism"

Presented in a panel examining how today's stereotypes and popular media determine how people are viewed or view themselves.