COMS News | March 2025
March Newsletter
COMS Announcements
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.
COMS Office Hours for Spring Registration
It’s that time of year for Cal Poly’s Spring registration! If you need help from the COMS department, we're here for you! Associate Chair, Dr. Askay, and Department Chair, Dr. Dhillon, are available during office hours to help with (1) enrollment questions, (2) course selection, and (3) mapping out your degree path. Whether you are unsure about what classes to take next quarter or want to discuss your progress toward graduation, they are happy to support you! To schedule a one-on-one appointment, visit the Calendly links and/or email Dr. Askay or Dr. Dhillon.
COMS Awards Nominations
It’s award season at Cal Poly, and we need your help nominating (and self-nominating) students for university, college, and COMS department awards! Have you been involved in opportunities such as on-campus service, research projects, or community-related work? You know your awesome achievements best and we are encouraging you to nominate yourself and/or a peer! Please use this Google Form to nominate students by Friday, March 21 at 11:59 pm.
COMS 270: New Career Readiness Class for CLA
Curious about how to get started in your career journey? Join our new Special Topics class, COMS 270. This 2-unit course is designed specifically for 2nd and 3rd-year liberal arts students looking to boost career readiness. This interactive course will help you: (1) Identify career options where CLA majors shine; (2) explore options for pursuing graduate studies; (3) hear from CLA Alumni about their professional journey; (4) learn strategies to expand your professional network; (5) develop strong resumes and cover letters that highlight the unique value of your liberal arts degree; and (6) develop workplace skills like negotiation and conflict resolution. This NEW class is open to all CLA students and will count as a free elective.
COMS Summer Classes
Interested in taking some COMS courses over summer? Check out the list of tentative classes for summer 2025 to see which COMS classes are scheduled to be taught and during which session they will most likely be offered. Although the schedule of summer classes is subject to changes, this may help students get ahead in their planning.
Student Research Spotlight
We're proud to share the amazing stories of our current students and alumni! This month, we're spotlighting the original research of our COMS majors:
- Sammy Campopiano, Andrea Aruino, & Mason Boerger are headed to the International Association for Communication and Sport Conference in Chicago, Illinois (March 13-16, 2025) to present their research titled “Brains, Brawn, and Bias: Racial Stereotypes in WNBA Commentary and the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese Discourse.” This project was conducted in collaboration with Dr. MLB.
Events & Opportunities
Social Justice Film Festival
The Social Justice Film Festival (Sponsored by the ISLA Department) takes place next week! The first event takes place Monday, March 10 at 4:00 PM at the Palm Theatre - showing the film "Crip Camp" with speaker Dr. Alexia Arani (Assistant Professor in Women's, Gender, and Queer Studies). The second event takes place Tuesday, March 11 at 6:00 PM in the ATL - showing the film "Sound of Metal" with speaker, John Lee (Assistive Technology Specialist with the Cal Poly Disability Resource Center). We hope to see you there!
Present Class Research at S4 in Dominguez Hills
Interested in conference travel to visit CSU Dominguez Hills in SoCal? Submit your class research project to the annual “Social Science Student Symposium” (S4) and build your resume! The S4 is an exciting and supportive opportunity for students to share the results of their class research projects with peers. Paper submission & registration is due Sunday, March 30 at 11:59 PM and the conference takes place Thurs. May 1, 2025. For more information, visit the S4 website and contact Dr. Brie at aadams45@calpoly.edu for help and support with planning your trip & presentation.
Scholarships in Media Studies
If you’re a junior, senior, or graduate student majoring in media studies, we encourage you to apply for a $5,000 scholarship and join the legacy of 104 previous recipients dedicated to reshaping narratives. The "Dr. Jack G. Shaheen Mass Communications Scholarship" honors Dr. Shaheen's lifelong work challenging stereotypes and supporting Arab-American students pursuing careers in journalism, television, radio, and film. The deadline to apply is Saturday, April 12, 2025. For more information, visit the application page.
Public Interest Research Group Jobs
Are you looking for a career that allows you to learn skills in advocacy and organizing? The Student Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) is hiring for immediate start positions (as well as positions starting in fall 2025) to make a difference on important problems facing our communities. They are looking for seniors who are passionate about issues like protecting our remaining wildlife and wild places, tackling the plastic waste crisis, helping students register and make plans to vote, and more. To find out more information, visit the PIRG website and apply here.
Job Opportunity: Social Media Marketing
Dr. J. Kelly Moreno is looking for a creative and driven student to promote his music—including his latest release, "He Smokes With God," through social media, digital marketing, and direct outreach. This is a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience in music promotion while getting paid. Responsibilities include creating engaging content for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, including video clips, reels, and posts to build excitement around the album. More information about the position can be found here. Email Dr. Moreno kmoreno@calpoly.edu for more information.
Volunteer for Access Watch
If you are looking for a volunteer opportunity to do some important service work and build your resume, the Disability Resource Center (DRC) is looking for students, clubs, and organizations to join the Access Watch team! This initiative aims to proactively identify and correct barriers before they cause a problem and members of the team will be provided training on identifying and reporting access barriers. Examples of barriers could be a broken electric door, debris on ramps, an elevator not working, etc. This is a great opportunity to gain volunteer hours on campus while helping out your community! To find out more, email Noah Jeffery njeffery@calpoly.edu.
Art Media Production Class
Interested in an Art class related to media production next quarter? In ART485 you will explore video art and expanded cinema in all its forms! Students will learn about the historic and contemporary makers of the medium while making their own projects. Students will start with learning about the beginning of video art in the 60’s and go up to present day VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality), AI and more. The professor is waiving pre-reqs during spring 2025. For more information, email Professor Lana Caplan.
Faculty & Staff News
Cal Poly Service Awards Reception
Congrats to our COMS professors who will be celebrated at the annual Cal Poly Service Awards Reception on March 12th! The Annual Service Awards is a Presidential event recognizing the accomplishments of State, Corporation, and Associated Students Inc. (ASI) employees who have completed milestones of 10 or more years of cumulative service to Cal Poly. The following COMS faculty with milestone service anniversaries in 2025 will be recognized this year.
- Sheree Davis - 35 Years
- Jodie Steele - 10 years
- Lauren Kolodziejski - 10 years
Faculty Research & Service
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. Darrian Carroll recently won an election to be named vice-chair of the African American Communication and Culture Division of the National Communication Association (NCA). In this role, Dr. Carroll will be facilitating the division's awards this year. In the coming years, Dr. Carroll will be planning the conference for the division.
Dr. Sergio Fernando Juárez's scholarship was recently published by Communication Education in an article titled "Imagining futures for communication education: AI, education, and the coming crises." This co-authored piece (published with C. Kyle Rudick) examines the integration of AI into communication classrooms.
Dr. Megan Lambertz-Berndt is presenting two research projects at the International Association for Communication and Sport Conference in Chicago (March 13-16). The first project is titled “Race and Gender Privileges Dictate Coverage: Examining Caitlin Clark and Rebecca Lobo’s Entrance into the WNBA” and the second project is titled “Brains, Brawn, and Bias: Racial Stereotypes in WNBA Commentary and the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese Discourse,” which is presented in collaboration with current COMS majors Sammy Campopiano, Andrea Aruino, Mason Boerger.
Dr. Leslie Nelson's scholarship was recently published by the Journal of Family Communication in an article titled "Memorable Messages About Racism in Black Families: Attributions, Intergenerational Transmission, and Well-Being." This co-authored piece (published with Mackensie Minniear) explores memorable messages about racism passed down from Black parents to their children.
Professor Leah Ransom's teaching was recently spotlighted in a KSBY 6 News article titled "Cal Poly class teaches students how to identify misinformation." In this article, which spotlighted Professor Ransom's Argument & Advocacy course (COMS 126), different tactics were discussed that identify the ways that misinformation can spread more easily, both online and person-to-person. This article highlights the importance of media literacy in our modern era.
Dr. Sasha Sanders' scholarship published by Text and Performance Quarterly (titled "My Pen-pal, TPQ") that we highlighted previously is now officially in print in the current issue (Vol 45, Issue 1). This is the first issue of 2025 and the first issue under a new editor. Dr. Sasha was placed as the lead article for the special issue. 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 is also currently attending The Power of BIPOC PoP: Comics, Gaming, Animation, & Multimedia Arts Symposium, which takes place March 6-8, 2025 in UT Austin. She is presenting on a round table panel titled “Black Comics Futurities." BIPOC PoP is a symposium that brings together creatives, scholars, and industry leaders working in comics, gaming, animation, and multimedia arts for 3 days to focus on strengthening community through the sharing of cutting-edge creative critical knowledge making in the graphic storytelling arts.
Miscellaneous Updates
- We’re excited to share that Dr. Sasha Sanders welcomed a new puppy to her family, Sundae! Sundae is a Shih Tzu/Maltese/Bichon Frise who was adopted on December 17! She is smart, unapologetically loud, and very social. She loves her daily routines like watching Clifford the Big Red Dog every morning before breakfast - and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see her pop in on Dr. Sasha's Zoom calls! Welcome to the COMS community, Sundae!
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