COMS News | December 2024
December Newsletter
COMS Announcements
Finals and Winter Break
Good luck to all of our students during the upcoming finals week! Your professors are cheering you on! We hope all goes well and you have a restful and restorative break.
COMS Club
Want to get involved in the COMS major, show your engagement in the discipline, and connect with other COMS students? You're invited to attend COMS Club all quarter long! When and where are the meetings? Visit the COMS Club website or follow their Instagram account for the most up-to-date information. An upcoming calendar of events for COMS club will be forthcoming, so be on the lookout in the winter quarter!
Debate News
Congrats to the Cal Poly Debate team! Students Alondra Vianey Cardoso (SOC) and Andrea Valle (COMS) represented our university at the Legados - Mexico 2024/2025 debate competition (November 16th, 2024) at CETYS University in Mexicali, Baja California. They received a winning case proposal award for proposing a sustainable agricultural plan to support farmers. Legados is a pioneering civic advocacy event conducted entirely in Spanish, which fosters international dialogue and collaboration between students from the United States and Mexico. Please join us in congratulating Alondra and Andrea for this impressive accomplishment!
Spotlights
We're proud to share the amazing stories of our current students and alumni! This month, we're spotlighting the work and leadership of alum Anika Maney:
- Anika Maney (she/her) is a COMS alum who graduated spring 2021. She recently published a peer-reviewed article in Georgetown's Gnovis journal titled "I Don't Care for G.O.B.: Examining Social Aggressions in Arrested Development." This published article originally started as a class project in Dr. Aubrie Adams' COMS 384 Media Effects class and evolved to become a conference paper and now a scholarly contribution!
Events & Opportunities
Media Jobs Workshop: Landing an Interview
The CSU Entertainment Alliance is sponsoring an exclusive insider discussion on what media recruiters look for and how to stand out in a competitive market. Panelists will include recruiters from The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Horizon Media, and Zambezi/Finn Studios. The workshop takes place (on Zoom) Friday, December 6, at 12-1pm PST. For more information, visit the Eventbrite page.
Media Jobs Workshop: Breaking into TV Interships & Opportunities
The CSU Entertainment Alliance is also sponsoring an online session that will cover everything you need to know about Dreamwork studio’s internship programs, including upcoming deadlines and application tips to help you get ahead. Get an insider’s view of DreamWorks Animation’s TV and feature film pipelines! The event takes place (on Zoom) Monday, December 9, from 12-1pm PST. For more information, also visit the Eventbrite page.
Camp Polyhacks
Are you a student with a passion for problem-solving and a desire to make a positive impact in SLO? Camp PolyHacks is a unique (and free!) opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds to come together and tackle real-world challenges facing San Luis Obispo. The event takes place January 24-26, 2025 and includes a weekend filled with collaboration, free food, $1000+ in prizes, and personal mentorship. All majors are encouraged to participate, and there are opportunities to expand your problem-solving skills in a variety of disciplines. Sign up for this event and learn more at the Camp Polyhacks Eventbrite page!
CSU Research/Creative Activity Competition
The CSU Student Research/Creative Activity Competition is held each year to promote excellence in undergraduate and graduate scholarly research and creative activity by recognizing outstanding student accomplishments across the 23 CSU campuses. The competition is open to all disciplines and to current undergraduate and graduate students and 2024 alums. Cash prizes are awarded. Submissions are due Monday, 12/16/24. For general information, visit the Office of Student Research website and to learn more, attend the next scheduled Zoom information session: Monday, 12/9/24, 10:10-11:00 AM (Zoom Meeting ID 883 6250 1116).
Startup Launch Weekend
Startup Launch Weekend is a Shark Tank-style pitch competition taking place January 17th-19th. In this 54-hour event, participants form teams, develop business ideas, and present a final pitch to professional judges. With guidance from mentors, faculty, and business leaders, teams learn what it takes to start their own company in a hands-on real-life scenario and teams also compete for cash prizes (1st place = $1,000, 2nd place = $750, 3rd place = $500). The event helps students enhance their entrepreneurial skills and develop key qualities like teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and strategic thinking. This event is sponsored by the Cal Poly Entrepreneurship Club; for more information, visit the official signup form!
Washington Center Internship Program
The Washington Center Internship Program delivers a comprehensive experience designed to help you thrive in today’s rapidly evolving job market. This program combines personalized career coaching, immersive hands-on experience, and access to a dynamic network of peers and professionals in Washington, D.C.—a city where ideas turn into action. You’ll return to campus with a clear plan for success after graduation and the tools to build a thriving career. For more information about spring and summer internships, visit the program website.
Cal Fresh
Need money for food? Cal Poly’s CalFresh Outreach team is a student-driven initiative that guides students to food resources and through the CalFresh application process. It is basically financial aid for food! CalFresh is a nutrition assistance program that provides eligible students with up to $292 per month to spend on groceries. It gives students the flexibility to buy the foods they love at their favorite grocery stores or farmer's markets (Trader Joe’s, Costco, Vons, Food 4 Less, the downtown Farmer's Market, and more)! For information, visit the Cal Fresh website.
Faculty & Staff News
Faculty Projects
Our COMS Department faculty are always participating in high-quality teaching, research, and service projects within our academic community! This month we're highlighting the following news showcasing the work of your professors:
Dr. Sergio Fernando Juárez scholarship was recently published by Communication Education in an article titled “Imagining Futures for Communication Education: Health Communication Campaigns as Pedagogy.” This co-authored piece (published with C. Kyle Rudick) proposes four ways health communication scholars can engage health-campaign literature as pedagogy.
Dr. Sasha Sanders' scholarship was recently published by Text and Performance Quarterly in an article titled "My Pen-pal, TPQ." This essay is written as a collection of pen-pal letters addressed to Text and Performance Quarterly (TPQ) over the span of eleven years to document her relationship with TPQ and her identity formation as a performance studies scholar.
Dr. Sasha Sanders' graphic scholarship was also recently published by Women's Studies in Communication in a second article titled "We Feel Everything while Falling through the Cracks." This comic essay brings attention to how Black women faculty negotiate resilience and self-preservation in academia.
Sharing is Caring
Do you have an announcement to share with COMS majors, minors, faculty, and staff? Email Dr. Brie to find out how to share it! Follow COMS on Social Media: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn