This spring semester is a very busy one for our graduate program in the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Several graduate students as well as some faculty members have been accepted to present their research at upcoming national and international conferences.

The first of the conferences is the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Midwinter Conference February 24-25, 2023. Frankline Matanji will present two papers: “Return to Migration: Contemporary Return of the African Diaspora to Africa” and “Media Influence Versus Personal Experience: Understanding the Public Opinion Towards Chinese Engagement with Kenya.” Ugochukwu Madu will present “Combating the Effect of Conspiracy Beliefs as Health Misinformation Accelerators on Social Media in Nigeria.” In addition, Patrick Johnson will be a moderator for “Pathways to More Equitable Graduate Education Experiences and Opportunities” and a discussant on the Commission on Graduate Education research paper panel.

On March 2-4, 2023, Middle Tennessee State University will be hosting the 48th annual AEJMC Southeast Colloquium. Patrick Johnson will be a moderator for the panel “The Graduate Student Experience Moving Forward,” and a panelist for “Innovations in Curriculum: Exploring Student Empathy Response and Impact When Introducing Mental Health Clients and Content in the Classroom.” Visiting Associate Professor Brett Johnson will present, “Observing and Assessing Trends in the Work of Media Law Clinics and Centers.”

Later in the spring from May 25-29, 2023, the International Communication Association Annual Conference will be held in Toronto, Canada. Jenny Xu, Lei Chen and Queen Zhou will present “Stop Asian Hate Movement a Myth? A Content Analysis of the Reality of #StopAsianHate Videos on TikTok.” Frankline Matanji will be joined by Associate Professor Melissa Tully and Dani Madrid-Morales (University of Sheffield) to present “Scams as ‘Everyday Misinformation’: A Computational Analysis of financial complaints on social media in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda.” Javie Ssozie and Associate Professor Brian Ekdale will present “Relational Labor, Social Media and Social Networks: The Perseverance of Kenyan Small-Scale Vendors in the Digital Era.” Finally, Professor David Dowling is set to present “Voices from the Margins: The Promise and Perils of Podcast Diversification.”

Follow our social media channels and check in on our news site to keep up to date with the what the University of Iowa SJMC graduate students and faculty members are working on.