Mississippi Communication Association
Annual Conference Program
Please note: This schedule is tentative and is subject to change.
9:00 - 9:45 a.m.
Room 1: Presentation: How Communication Continues to Change
Suzanne, Michael, and Randall Osborn, University of Memphis
Facilitator: Monette Callaway, Hinds Community College
Room 2: Roundtable Discussion
Topic: Debating Mississippi’s Future: A Centennial Commitment to Education and Civic Life
Participants: Brandon Knight, William Carey University; Brett Harvey, Mississippi State University; and Paul Strait, University of Southern Mississippi
Moderator: Lindsey Conlin Maxwell, University of Southern Mississippi
Suzanne, Michael, and Randall Osborn, University of Memphis
Facilitator: Monette Callaway, Hinds Community College
Room 2: Roundtable Discussion
Topic: Debating Mississippi’s Future: A Centennial Commitment to Education and Civic Life
Participants: Brandon Knight, William Carey University; Brett Harvey, Mississippi State University; and Paul Strait, University of Southern Mississippi
Moderator: Lindsey Conlin Maxwell, University of Southern Mississippi
9:50 - 10:45 a.m.
Room 1: Graduate Paper Presentations
Andrew Morris, University of Alabama / “Social Media Persuasion”
Luana Peters Garcia Bouriche Coutinho, University of Southern Mississippi / “Communicating ESG Efforts in Brazil and the United States: Analysis of Environment, Social, and Governance Reports in the Technology and Energy Sectors”
Matthew Martin and Mohammed Rashid, University of Southern Mississippi / “Taking a Knee: Symbolic Activism as Solidarity and Spectacle”
Respondent: Brad Bailey, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Room 2: GIFTS (Great Ideas for Teaching Students)
Cheryl Chambers, Mississippi State University / “AI and Speaking”
John Saunders, University of Alabama, Huntsville / “Celebrating a Century: The Power of Words, Stories, and Media”
Amy Knight and Amy Fountain, Mississippi State University / “Synchronous Presentations in an Asynchronous Course”
Chair: Terri Sasser
Room 3: Roundtable
Tonya Hayes, Vineeth Vanga, Caroline Donnelly, Samuel Phyfer, and Darron Kastner Mississippi State University, Applied Theatre in Communications
Moderator: Stacey Duke, Hinds Community College
Andrew Morris, University of Alabama / “Social Media Persuasion”
Luana Peters Garcia Bouriche Coutinho, University of Southern Mississippi / “Communicating ESG Efforts in Brazil and the United States: Analysis of Environment, Social, and Governance Reports in the Technology and Energy Sectors”
Matthew Martin and Mohammed Rashid, University of Southern Mississippi / “Taking a Knee: Symbolic Activism as Solidarity and Spectacle”
Respondent: Brad Bailey, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Room 2: GIFTS (Great Ideas for Teaching Students)
Cheryl Chambers, Mississippi State University / “AI and Speaking”
John Saunders, University of Alabama, Huntsville / “Celebrating a Century: The Power of Words, Stories, and Media”
Amy Knight and Amy Fountain, Mississippi State University / “Synchronous Presentations in an Asynchronous Course”
Chair: Terri Sasser
Room 3: Roundtable
Tonya Hayes, Vineeth Vanga, Caroline Donnelly, Samuel Phyfer, and Darron Kastner Mississippi State University, Applied Theatre in Communications
Moderator: Stacey Duke, Hinds Community College
10:50 a.m. -11:45 a.m. – Concurrent Sessions
- Room 1: Undergraduate Paper Presentations
- Madeline Rossi, Mississippi State University / “Effects of media influence on body satisfaction in emerging adults moderated by maternal behaviors”
- Jaylynn Whitfield, University of Alabama at Huntsville / “Incomprehensible: The Social Collective Memory – Collective Memory Core of the Columbine Car Memorials and Memory work Negligence in Wound Addressing”
- Claire Gerber, Hannah Grace Kirland and Sadie Stevenson, Mississippi State University / “What Drives Consumers in Fast Fashion?”
Room 2: Professional Paper Presentations
- Mohammed Rashid, University of Southern Mississippi / “We don’t talk about it: Family Sexuality Communication Among South Asians”
- Lindsey Conlin Maxwell, University of Southern Mississippi / “Revisiting the TV world: How transportability and opinion leadership affect the willingness to and frequency of rewatching TV shows”
- Randrika Henderson, University of Southern Mississippi / “For Color or Colored Girls Who Considered Natural when the Perm was Enuf: A Cultural Examination of the Political Significance of Natural Hair YouTube Influencers”
Room 3: Roundtable
Brad Bailey, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College / “Cruisin’ the South Mississippi Roads: Stories Collected by Community”
Moderator: Brandon Knight, William Carey University
11:50 a.m. - 1:05 p.m. -- Lunch and Keynote Speaker: Walt Grayson – Location TBD
Walt Grayson is a life-long Mississippian. He was born and raised in Greenville where he started his broadcasting career at a Greenville radio station while he was still in high school. After moving to Jackson shortly after graduating he worked at various radio stations over the years, making a move to television in 1984. He was a weather anchor and feature reporter for WLBT for over three decades before coming back home to WJTV-12 where he actually began his TV career as a part-time weekend weatherman while still working full-time “across the driveway” at Jackson’s WSLI radio.
Walt graduated from Mississippi College with degrees in history and Bible. He is married to his junior high school sweetheart, “Miz Jo” and between them they have four children and four grandchildren.
Walt is also the longtime host of Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s popular show, “Mississippi Roads.” He has written 4 books about his travels around Mississippi and writes a monthly column for the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi’s newspaper, Today in Mississippi.
Walt graduated from Mississippi College with degrees in history and Bible. He is married to his junior high school sweetheart, “Miz Jo” and between them they have four children and four grandchildren.
Walt is also the longtime host of Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s popular show, “Mississippi Roads.” He has written 4 books about his travels around Mississippi and writes a monthly column for the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi’s newspaper, Today in Mississippi.
1:10 p.m. -1:45 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions
Room 1: Undergraduate Paper Presentations
Room 2: Undergraduate Creative Work
- Jason Gatson, William Carey University / “The Healer’s Approach: A Rhetorical Critique of John Chrysostom’s Lent Homily”
- Makenzie Stone, Mississippi State University / “Persuasive Analysis of Eleanor Roosevelt’s “The Struggle for Human Rights”
- Anna Rachel Krebs, William Carey University / “Wolves in the Lambs' Cassock: An Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory to the USCCB response to Sexual Abuse Scandal”
Room 2: Undergraduate Creative Work
- Parker Acosta, Maggie Heath & Abby Zupa, Mississippi State University / “Public Relations Integrated Student Media Agency (PRISM) Campaign”
- J.D. Roberson, William Carey University / “An Earnest Defense of Redneck Culture”
1:50 p.m.-2:45 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions
Room 1: Roundtable Discussion
Gil Carter, Mississippi State University; John Nicholson, Mississippi State University; John Saunders, University of Alabama-Huntsville; & Jeremy Rogerson, Mississippi State University / “Victors, Villains, Martyrs, and Trailblazers: Mississippi Political Rhetoric during the Hundred Years of MCA”
Chair: Zainul Abedin, Mississippi Valley State University
Room 2: Graduate Paper Presentations
Gil Carter, Mississippi State University; John Nicholson, Mississippi State University; John Saunders, University of Alabama-Huntsville; & Jeremy Rogerson, Mississippi State University / “Victors, Villains, Martyrs, and Trailblazers: Mississippi Political Rhetoric during the Hundred Years of MCA”
Chair: Zainul Abedin, Mississippi Valley State University
Room 2: Graduate Paper Presentations
- Gretta Graves, University of Southern Mississippi / “Man’s Best Friend: Analyzing Depictions and Negotiations of Femininity in Pop Music”
- Emily Keith, Vivek Paudel, and Lilum Irby, University of Southern Mississippi / “Public Perception of VR”
- Colby Penton, University of Southern Mississippi / “Firstfers: Pilot Study”
2:50 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. – Awards Reception – Room TBD
3:00 p.m. – Business Meeting - Room TBD