Colloquia Information
School of Communication Colloquium Series
Evaluation of a Statewide YouTube Campaign to Increase Thirdhand Smoke Awareness and Protective Behaviors among Californians
Assessing Digital Health Communication Strategies for Public Health Impact
A School of Communication Colloquium with Dr. Rachael Record
Join the School of Communication for an engaging colloquium with Dr. Rachael Record as she presents findings from a statewide public health campaign designed to increase awareness of thirdhand smoke and encourage protective behaviors among Californians. The presentation examines a 16-message YouTube campaign targeted to communities disproportionately affected by tobacco use and evaluates how effectively the campaign reached audiences and advanced its public health objectives. Attendees will gain insight into the role of strategic communication, digital media, and campaign evaluation in addressing critical health challenges and promoting behavior change.
Corporate Colonization or the “American Dream?”
Rhetorics of Privatized Urbanism in the United States
A School of Communication Colloquium with Dr. Tiffany Dykstra-DeVette
What happens when corporations take the lead in building entire communities? In this thought-provoking colloquium, Dr. Tiffany Dykstra-DeVette explores how companies use powerful stories about the American Dream, freedom, and prosperity to promote privatized urban development. Focusing on California Forever's proposal to build a new city in Solano County, the presentation examines how communication shapes public perception, influences policy, and raises important questions about inequality, governance, and the future of American cities.
Experiencing Intercultural Conflict
How Students Navigate Choice, Emotion, and Ethics in Interactive Video
A School of Communication Colloquium with Dr. Godfried Asante
Join the School of Communication for an engaging colloquium with Dr. Godfried Asante as he explores how interactive video simulations can foster intercultural learning and ethical decision-making in higher education. Using a 180-degree branching narrative centered on a culturally diverse roommate conflict, this presentation examines how students navigate microaggressions, bystander intervention, and difficult interpersonal choices. Drawing on focus group research, attendees will discover how immersive storytelling encourages empathy, critical reflection, and deeper engagement with issues of cultural identity, power, and communication ethics.
Doing Gender, Doing Race
Intersectional Negotiations of Identity in Everyday Life
A School of Communication Colloquium with Dr. Rati Kumar
Join the School of Communication for an engaging colloquium with Dr. Rati Kumar as she explores how gender and race are negotiated through everyday communication and social interaction. Drawing on her "Doing Gender and Doing Race through Intersectionality" framework and research with second-generation Vietnamese American women, Dr. Kumar examines how identity is shaped by race, migration, family dynamics, and cultural expectations. Attendees will gain insight into how everyday practices—from language to labor—become sites where femininity, identity, and power are continually performed, challenged, and redefined.
Narrating Displacement
Transient Refugee Shelters as Sanctuaries from Violence in Latin America
A School of Communication Colloquium with Dr. González and Maya Cancio-Vendel
Join the School of Communication for an engaging colloquium with Dr. González and SOC master's student Maya Cancio-Vendel as they examine how refugee shelters in Mexico serve as spaces of refuge, resilience, and identity formation for displaced people from Central America, Venezuela, and Cuba. Drawing on research with Latin American refugees, the presentation explores how storytelling helps individuals preserve their sense of personhood during experiences of statelessness and displacement. Attendees will also learn how the Catholic Church supports narrative expression and legitimizes refugees' lived experiences, present challenges, and hopes for resettlement, offering new perspectives on communication, migration, and humanitarian care.
Improving Thirdhand Smoke Awareness and Preventative Behaviors among Tobacco Industry-Targeted Communities
Advancing Public Health Through Strategic Communication
A School of Communication Colloquium with Dr. Rachael Record
Join the School of Communication for an engaging colloquium with Dr. Rachael Record as she explores how strategic communication can increase awareness of thirdhand smoke and promote healthier behaviors among communities disproportionately targeted by the tobacco industry. The presentation examines the health risks associated with thirdhand smoke exposure—including DNA damage, oxidative stress, and altered cell function—and highlights the role of evidence-based communication campaigns in addressing tobacco-related disease and health disparities. Attendees will gain insight into how public health messaging can empower communities, influence behavior, and support efforts to reduce the long-term impacts of tobacco exposure.
"Racism Lives Here"
Race, Place, and Protest at the University of Mizzou
A School of Communication Colloquium with Dr. Damariyé Smith
Join the School of Communication for an engaging colloquium exploring the role of race, place, and protest in shaping social change on college campuses. Focusing on the 2015 student-led protests at the University of Missouri, this presentation examines how the campus itself became a powerful rhetorical space where histories of racial injustice were challenged and institutional accountability was demanded. Attendees will gain insight into how student activism, communication, and place-based rhetoric intersect to confront systemic racism, inspire institutional change, and offer valuable lessons for addressing social injustice in higher education and beyond.
