School of Communication Student and Faculty Achievements

Recent Honors and Awards

School of Communication
Student Honors and Awards

April 26, 2024
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Barbara Weitz Community Engagement
Center Room 230-231

Midwest Journalism 2024 Conference graphic

UNO SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION JOURNALISTS WIN A RECORD-BREAKING 16 ERIC SEVAREID AWARDS

(OMAHA, Neb.)- School of Communication students earned a record 16 Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association Eric Sevareid awards, including first place for the evening newscast, at the 2024 Midwest Journalism Conference. The conference, held at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, is the largest regional conference in the United States. Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin are the six states included in the region. Dr. Heather Hundley, School of Communication director, says she’s ”incredibly proud of our students, faculty and staff who have come together as a team to produce such high-quality work.”

The following is a list of UNO award winners:

Graduate students, alumni and faculty at Central States Communication Association, Grand Rapids, MI April 2024

Left to right: Katelyn Lambert, Sazzad Mahmud Shuvo,Heather Hundley, Adam Tyma, Craig Weathers
Front: Roma Subramanian, Diana Mwikisa, Cecily Jones

MavForensics National and International Results

The Mavforensics team is thrilled to share their results from the 2024 American Forensics Association National Speech Tournament hosted this year by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Results:
Junior Keith Allen is a Semifinalist in Poetry Interpretation (top 12 out of 91 entries)
Junior Keith Allen is a Quarterfinalist in Dramatic Interpretation (top 25 out of 107 entries)
Junior Keith Allen and Freshman Yasmin Monroy are Quarterfinalists in DUO Interpretation (top 25 out of 55 entries)
Junior Brooklynn Schmidt and Sophomore Dylan Harris are Quarterfinalists in DUO Interpretation (top 25 out of 55 entries)
Freshman Caden Whelan and Freshman Sara Micanek are Quarterfinalists in DUO Interpretation (top 25 out of 55 entries)
Freshman Shelby Benson and Freshman Colin Gibbons are Quarterfinalists in DUO Interpretation (top 25 out of 55 entries)
Freshman Colin Gibbons is a Quarterfinalists in Poetry Interpretation (top 25 out of 91 entries)
Mavforensics placed 14^th overall out of 58 Colleges & Universities across the nation.

MavForensics returned from Dublin, IR with their most successful national tournament. Out of 41 schools (the largest IFA tournament in history), we placed 14th overall in open Speech and Debate category and 4th overall in teams that competed in ONLY speech.

We had 7 events break into semifinal rounds and one event - Poetry interpretation by Keith V. Allen - placing 4th internationally overall. We had a significant representation in our Mavericks who became semifinalists, too - two juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen broke into the top 12 in their respective categories, showing an even balance of talent across the ages of the team.

Results:

Junior Keith Allen - 4th POETRY Finals (out of 36 entries)
Junior Keith Allen - Dramatic Interpretation (top 12 out of 48 entries)
Junior Kadance McDonnell - After Dinner Speaking - SEMIFINALIST (top 12 out of 49 entries)
Sophomore Chloe Ellison Dramatic Interpretation - Semifinalist (top 12 out of 48 entries)
Sophomore Dylan Harris - Informative speaking - Semifinalist (top 12 out of 54 entries)
Freshman Shelby Benson - Prose Semifinalist (top 12 out of 65 entries)
Freshman Shelby Benson - Dramatic Interpretation Semifinalist (top 12 out of 48 entries)
Freshman Caden Whelan - Program of Oral Interpretation - Semifinalist (top 12 out of 37 entries)

TEAM OVERALL: 14th

TEAM PLACING IN SPEECH ONLY COMPETITION: 4th

Other Faculty & Student Accolades

Dr. Lei Guo was competitively selected to receive the “Landscapes of Belonging: Service Learning Project Development Grant” for her JMC 3030 Multimedia Journalism class Fall 2024.

Dr. Herb Thompson presented Skill Building – Making a Pitch during the NU Deal site visit at UNO Friday, April 12

Dr. Herb Thompson presented a session on Communication at the USSTRATCOM Strategic Leadership Fellows program, Friday, March 22

Guo, L. (2024, August 8). Building bridges: Service learning in news reporting across redlined communities. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual convention, Great Ideas for Teaching, Philadelphia, PA.

Maiorca, C. (2024). Image repair in a social movement: Oklahoma teachers flip the script. Communication Studies,

Graduate student Diana Mwikisa won the Graduate Student Meritorious Award at the 2024 UNO Creative and Research Activity Fair for her research “Uterine Fibroids: A Silent Crisis.”

Graduate student Md Sazzad Mahmud Shuvo presented “Exploring Female Collegiate Athletes’ Lived Experiences of Mental Health Stigma on Social Media” at the 2024 UNO Creative and Research Activity Fair.

Chao, C., & Xie, M. (2024). I am in the homeless home or I am always on the way home: Formatting identity and transcultural adaptation through ethnic and host communication. Journal of Transcultural Communication, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1515/jtc-2023-0005
This research was granted $5,000 by University Committee on Research and Creative Activity (UCRCA) Grant, UNO.

Xie, M., & Chao, C. (2023/2024). Dialogue about syllabus for education of research methods in journalism and communication: A contract, a plan, a cognitive map, or a communication device?. Teaching Journalism & Mass Communication, 13(1), 14-28.

Chao, C. (2024, March 20). Presented an Intercultural Communication Workshop for the UNO International Programs.

Amy Ellefson successfully defended her dissertation entitled, Collective Memory and Place Attachment Expressions as Communicative Constitution of Community. Thus, according to The University of Southern Mississippi she is now Dr. Amy Ellefson!

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School of Communication
6001 Dodge Street, ASH 140
Omaha, NE 68182
Phone: 402.554.2600
Email : mthies@unomaha.edu