In April, the Comm department honored the winners of this year’s Comm Student Showcase and Awards in the ILC Hub. Students were encouraged to submit their work across the categories of writing, civic engagement/community-based work, audio-visual, research, and rhetoric, speech, and performance. Panels of peers, professors, and alumni chose a handful of works out of the many submissions to be awarded.

In addition to the wide range of mediums represented at the showcase, an impressive diversity in topics was present, including personal narrative, political campaigns, national identity, beauty standards, perceptions of normalcy, conversation and everyday tak, and the UMass Campus.

Each student had a chance to talk briefly about their work and creative process. Nearly every student noted a Comm class or professor who had inspired and encouraged them in their work, many of whom were present.

Below is a list of all the awardees in their respective categories. 

Below is a list of all the awardees in their respective categories. All of the works submitted to the showcase, including those not awarded, can be found online at https://commshowcase17.wordpress.com.

Congratulations to all!

Writing

1st Place: Katie Dube Chronicles of Ruby: Excerpts of Radiant Dysfunctionality and Vulnerability

2nd Place: Stephanie George Forgetting Philoxenia: National Identity in the U.S. Hellenic Diaspora

3rd Place: Nicole Welliver Representation Bi Any Means Necessary

3rd Place: Katy Rieber 21 years: Pain x Passion

Civic Engagement/Community-Based Work

1st Place: Emma Tavolieri Comm Student Spotlight

2nd Place: Erika Civitarese “Fight for $15” Campaign

Audio-Visual

1st Place: Lizzy Keery Endings/Beginnings

2nd Place: Corey Stein Durfee Conservatory

3rd Place: Cassidy Kotyla You Are Beautiful

Research

1st Place: Laura Jarvis The Use of Like in Everyday Talk

2nd Place: Julia Jagannath Constructed Dialogue in Conversational Narratives

3rd Place: Michael Hagerty Podcasting and Youth: Resource Guide on Youth Radio

Rhetoric, Speech, and Performance

1st Place: Emily Adelsberger Citizenship and Belonging

2nd Place: Joseph Kerlin-Smith A Day in the Life of Joseph Kerlin-Smith

3rd Place: Miranda Woods That’s Not Normal

3rd Place: Zachary Martin Conversation Opera

-- Stephanie George ’17