School of Communication Students, Faculty, and Soon-to-be-Alumni!

These last few weeks of the semester are always exciting times – many of you are looking forward to graduation parties, summer travel courses and internships, or even just getting a chance to take a break and rest with friends and family. These weeks can also feel hectic and stressful, right? Those deadlines that seemed so far off at the start of the semester are now approaching, and we have final presentations to give and exams to take (and if you are a faculty member, to grade!). Given that we are all collectively keeping our eyes on the horizon of finishing our classes, completing our exams, or walking across that graduation stage, it isn’t uncommon that we have a hard time staying in the moment and finding a sense of closure as we close another chapter.  

As some of you may know, one of my roles here in the School of Communication is to train and mentor our incredible graduate student instructors – the doctoral students and candidates who teach so many of our courses. I am going to share with you all some of the advice that I give our graduate student instructors regarding their classes: take a very conscious moment for yourself at the end of the semester to appreciate all that you have done. This might be the end of your first year in college – what an accomplishment! This might be the semester you finally figured out the dreaded, “So, what do you want to do with your career?” question. What an accomplishment! This might be the semester you FINISH your college degree. Again… what an accomplishment! I know for a fact that everyone reading this message did something they should be proud of this semester, and no matter how “small” you think it is, I promise it is a big deal.

So, as we wrap up the Spring 2025 semester and the 2024-2025 academic year, I invite you to give yourself a moment of closure and appreciation for all that you have accomplished. Before we rush to graduation parties, to summer courses, to whatever the “next thing” is, take a moment and think about one thing you have done in the past four or so months that you are proud of. What did you learn about yourself in this process? What will take with you as you move toward your new goals? Take the opportunity to reflect for just a moment before continuing on.

From all of us in the School of Communication, we are proud of your many, varied, inspiring accomplishments. We look forward to celebrating with our graduating class on Sunday, May 25^th at 11:30AM. After, your friends and family are invited to join us on Memorial Lawn to celebrate another wonderful academic year.

I wish you all a safe, healthy, and restful Summer!

Sara LaBelle, Ph.D. | Assistant Dean of Academic Programs and Faculty Development

Still looking for classes to register for Fall 2025?

Check out some of the electives being offered in Fall 2025! 

• COM 329- AI/Web: Economic/Social Impact (Professor Kotkin & Toplansky)
• COM 346 - Communication and Civil Discourse (Dr. Katz)
• COM 372 - Introduction to Health Communication (Professor Dimas)
• SCC 329- Personal Branding (Professor Prince)

Spring 2025 Advising Hours 

Advising is available every day in person or through Microsoft Teams. You can schedule an appointment with any advisor on Bookings or reach out to them via email if you need to schedule an appointment outside of regular advising hours. Read more here.

Celebrating Faculty Excellence

Faculty Publications

• Tukachinsky Forster, R., & Spitz, D. H. (2025). I love you but I’ve got to cancel you: Psychological determinants and consequences of cancel culture participation. Psychology of Popular Media, Advance online publication: doi:10.1037/ppm0000598 
• Kuchenbecker, C. M., & Ball, H. (in press). Facilitating social media engagement of missing person posts: An application of the crisis and emergency risk communication model. Journal of Applied Communication Research. 
• Johnson, Z. D., Shin, M., LaBelle, S. (2025). Longitudinal trajectories of student-to-student confirmation and autonomous motivation throughout a college semester. Communication Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2025.2468253 

• Katz, V.S., *Forman, E., & *McGuire, N. (2025). Unsettled ground: Jewish undergraduates & faculty negotiating campus life since October 7. Journal of Jewish Education. doi:10.1080/15244113.2025.2481249 

• Katz, V.S., Jordan, A.B., & Ognyanova, K. (2025). Digital inequalities and U.S. undergraduate outcomes over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE  

• Katz, V.S. (2025) Through the (distorted) looking glass: Priorities for research with young people and social media in politically polarized times. Journal of Children and Media. doi:10.1080/17482798.2024.2439667 

• Miller-Day, M.  (2025). Researcher-as-Instrument in Qualitative Research. In A. L. Nichols & J. E. Edlund (Eds). Cambridge Handbook of Research Methods and Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Volume 3: Data analysis. 

• Miller-Day, M. (2025). Family Storytelling in a Story Economy. In J. Koenig Kellas & R. Fivush (Eds.) Family Storytelling. Special issue of Parenting: Science and Practice.  

• Anthony, K.*, Miller-Day, M., Dupuy, M.*, Ventura, J.*, Leonard-Hodges, A.*, Alonso-Pecora, D*, & Dimas, H.* (in press). Is there really a difference? A comparison of in-person and online qualitative interviews. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 

Staff Spotlight

Graduate Student Celebrations

Congratulations to our Ph.D. students on successfully defending their dissertations!

Internship Opportunities 

Fall Intern – Communications & Editorial (Peace Leadership Collaborative)
The Peace Leadership Collaborative (PLC) is a global hub connecting peace leaders, scholars, and practitioners to advance peace leadership through education, storytelling, and community collaboration. PLC offers virtual trainings, open-source tools, global exchange opportunities, and multimedia storytelling to support peacebuilding efforts worldwide.

They are seeking a School of Communication major with strong skills in writing, editing, design, and digital communications.

Intern Responsibilities Include:

• Supporting and implementing PLC’s communications and marketing strategy

• Managing social media content and updating Mailchimp newsletters

• Assisting with editorial planning and production of Peace Prospects magazine

• Editing content, selecting visuals, and designing the magazine using Canva

This is a great opportunity to contribute to global peace efforts through creative communication and storytelling.

For more information please reach out to Whitney McIntyre Miller, Associate Professor, Leadership Studies (wmcintyr@chapman.edu) 

Check out the resources below for more internship/job openings!