This document contains an agenda for a colloquium event featuring several presenters. The event will include presentations on topics such as using abstract art to inspire social activism, examining fantasy sports through media effects theory, and applying crisis communication theory to professional sports organizations. It provides brief summaries of each presentation topic, lists the names of student presenters, and includes logistical information for attendees.

1. “If art is to nourish the roots of our cul-
ture, society must set the artist free to
follow [their] vision wherever it takes
[them].”
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9TH, 2015, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
HUGH GILLIS HALL (HGH) 231
PRESENTED BY DR. MATTHEW SPANGLER AND
THE COMM 297 FALL COHORT

2. *Please, no food or drink in the theater. Also, please silence your mobile
devices out of respect for the presenters.
KENDALL BARRETT
Painting the Future:
Utilizing Abstract Art
to Inspire Social Ac-
tivism
Scholarly literature offers some of the most ad-
vanced research on current social problems; how-
ever, much of this research struggles to transcend
to the public sphere. Through an analysis of immi-
gration and environmental social problems, I will
offer abstract art as a method for increasing under-
standing on societal issues for both researchers and
community members to reach new audiences and
inspire social action.
MATTHEW EVANS
The Evolution of Fan-
tasy Sports:
Examining Fantasy
Sports through Theo-
ries of Media Effects
Fantasy sports have had a meteoric rise in populari-
ty over the past decade leading to a multibillion-
dollar industry. In my research, I have applied the
“uses and gratifications” theory of media effects to
examine the betting aspect of Daily Fantasy
Sports. My presentation will explain the evolution
of Fantasy Sports and why it has become a popular
form of betting in recent years.
CHRIS FARIA
The Sport of Crisis
Communication: An
Overview of Crisis
Communications in
Professional Sports
My research examines the techniques used by pro-
fessional sports teams and athletes when respond-
ing to a crisis. My findings argue that situational
crisis communication theory is a good approach to
understanding crisis and response. This presenta-
tion will provide examples of how this theory can
be applied to professional sports organization.
DAVID GALAN
Stories of Pain and
Healing: A Critical
Look at the Narrative
This is a performance about internalized racial op-
pression that illustrates the power in which the
stories we tell can profoundly shape our lives. The
stories we tell can both constrain and liberate us.
Telling a new story involves more than simply say-
ing and doing things differently, but it also requires
also interrogating the hegemonic stories we have
come to internalize.
PRESENTERS
COLLOQUIUM TEAM
ORGANIZER Dr. Matthew Spangler
REFRESHMENTS Jessica Bettencourt
USHER Mallory Ensminger
AUDIO/VISUAL Rigoberto Flores
PROGRAM Matthew Gloria-Dalton
ROOM SETUP Priscilla Marino
COORISPONDENTS Vielka Pena-Gallo
REFRESHMENTS Anthony Popovich
REFRESHMENTS Rahimeh Ramezany
DR. SPANGLER’S AID Jagdeep Saini
ROOM SETUP Lesley Seacrist
USHER Kirsten Smith
ALVIN LAU
The Social Construc-
tionist: Making Mean-
ing of Our Social
World
This presentation will explore the concepts of so-
cial construction and dialogic communication and
argue for their importance in understanding com-
munication studies, broadly speaking, as well as
day-to-day individual interactions, more specifical-
ly.
ELIZABETH PEMBERTON
Identity in the Third Cul-
ture
Cultural identity is often labeled as one of the most signifi-
cant issues in the cross-cultural and highly mobile world of
Third Culture Kids (TCKs). I will shed some light on the
shaping and reshaping of this identity, discuss problems
with the way we currently think about cultural identity,
and will point out how TCKs can help us to move past this
way of thinking.
PRESENTERS