Everything due Monday ...

Check Blackboard please to make certain you are up-to-date!

There is no final ...

... in case you were wondering. We do not meet finals week. You can turn your final paper in May 4 on Blackboard.

Gradebook grade totals

Gradebook gives you various totals of your assignment scores. Remember that different assignments are weighted differently in class, so these totals are meaningless. (I cannot remove them from Gradebook.)

Wednesday update

All materials that I have received are graded and returned. Each student MUST look on Blackboard to make certain you have received credit for your work. YOU are responsible for any missing assignments, so please check right away.

You can find some examples of past papers here.

Office hours this week

Tentative office hours this week:

• Monday 2:30 - 4:30
• Tuesday 3-7
• Wednesday 7 - 8 p.m. (if needed. Please make an appointment)
• Thursday 11-2

PC Awards submissions

Here is the link to the PC Awards submissions page.

Social Learning Summit on campus April 17-18

This is a terrific event and I highly recommend it. There will be many opportunities at the summit for events to cover.

Final schedule

• Research papers due today (April 13).
• Graded papers will be e-mailed back this week.
• Assignment 4 due April 20.
• This is the last one. You need to complete 3 of 4.
• Research paper rewrites (optional) due April 27.
• Blog essays, event reports.
• Online strategy paper due May 4. 

This week

Your most important task this week is to work on your research paper, which is due Monday, April 13 (11:59 p.m.). There will be no extensions of the due date. It is worth 25% of your grade. I posted a video about the paper in March, and remember that your paper needs to adhere to APA style. There is a link to APA style on the blog.

As you know, you will have the chance to revise your paper. The revised grade replaces the original grade. Typically, this gives you the opportunity to raise your grade by a full step with a strong revision. You should have about a week to revise your paper.

While this means you have a chance to improve your grade, a weak first version can only be improved by one step. (i.e. A C paper can only be improved to a B.)

I understand that the paper will take up most of your attention, but we will also have presentations next week and talk a bit about games in strategic communication campaigns. Here are the readings.

Good luck.

Important odds and ends

• All papers and presentations are graded and returned on Blackboard.
• Your research paper is due next Monday, April 13. You will have a chance to rewrite this paper to improve the grade. Typically, you can improve by one full grade at most. (I will talk more about this next week.)
• Note the games and other activities under the readings for next week. Try out some of the games.

PR Portfolio class creates online campaign to protect U.S. hostages

Check out the online campaign created by a PR portfolio class taught by Professor Gemma Puglisi. The Facebook page is here. The class is asking supporters to tweet #ProtectUShostages on Wednesday.

Poke around a bit and see what you think. I would appreciate your reaction, as well as comments from any student involved in the campaign.

Assignment #4

Answer the following question in 250-500 words (two pages double-spaced).

Readings for April 13

Our topic is games in strategic communication campaigns.

Young people no longer watch the news

Here is a radio story about how little young people watch the news, and an accompanying news story.

Presentations list is updated

Because of class size this year we will have four presentations scheduled for each of the next three classes. The last class period will be left open for any last-minute cancellations.

Readings for April 6

We will talk about mobile technology April 6.

Thursday office hours noon - 3 p.m.

This is just for this week.

Virtual worlds

We had a great presentation Monday about virtual worlds. This is a topic you should familiarize yourself with.

Events updated

A couple new events posted.

Video on paper style

This is a short video on APA style, which you must use for your final papers. Please take a look. 

Events updated

We have two events March 31, and that is all I can find. If you have not yet done so, you must attend one of those.

A note about essays and events

Remember to please post your essay or event on the blog AND post it on Blackboard. If it is not posted on Blackboard it will not be graded.

Also remember to post your event reports within a week of the event.

No readings this week

Work on your papers. Write a blog post. Attend an event.

PC Awards information

Everyone should be considering entering either/both of your papers. See me if you have any questions.

Events!

The events list has been updated, but there are not many after this week. If you find a possible event you or your colleagues could attend, please let me know.

Interesting article about race/social media, and Starbucks

In today's New York Times.

Another chance to help out a graduate student

I urge you to help out your AU colleague. See below.

Wednesday update

The event schedule is updated. Please note the good events on campus Thursday night (shown below) and next week. After that, the schedule of events looks thin, so act now to make sure you can attend something.

Links for Edward Snowden presentation

Here is the Edward Nowden TED talk. Here is a timeline of the Edward Snowden revelations.

March 23 readings

Readings for March 23. Topic: Participatory media and participatory culture

A short New York Times video on Net Neutrality

Linked here. It is less than 2" long.

Career development workshop

The LAGRANT Foundation is partnering with Powell Tate, a strategic communications firm, to host a free career and professional development workshop on April 9 from 1:00 − 3:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C. This workshop will discuss the agency's capabilities and case studies followed by a networking mixer.

Attached is the flyer.

Work opportunity

Student project survey

Events updated

Some more events have been added to the list here, but not as many as I would like. If you have not yet attended an event please take a look and plan now. Any suggested events are welcome.

Assignment #3

Answer the following question in 250-500 words (two pages double-spaced). Make certain you address each of the points. This is due at midnight Monday, March 23.

All materials returned on Blackboard

Assignments are returned on Blackboard. If you posted an essay or event report to the blog please also post to Blackboard for grading.

Some comments on the research paper

Here are some comments about the research paper.

See if you have a filter bubble

Is Google filtering your search results? Google the word "Netanyahu" and find out, then send me the screenshot and I will post.

Saturday update

Readings for March 16

Dean's Internship program

These are extraordinary opportunities. Consider applying.

Readings for March 2

Topic: Online Politics

Articles we will discuss in class, and a video link

In the Washington Post, "Feminist writers are so besieged by online abuse that some have begun to retire" Also in the Post, "Secrecy around police surveillance equipment proves a case’s undoing."

Here is the video of the recent talk Isis ' Influence on Social Media at the Heritage Foundation. Unice L. wrote about this on the class blog.

A couple minor points about assignments

Just to clarify:

Grades returned on Blackboard

Presentations and event reports are usually graded and posted on Blackboard within a week of the presentation or the date of posting online.

Interesting article about "turning a moment into a movement"

It is a Washington Post article about Michael Brown and the resulting protests.

Participation online. I will review at spring break.

We have two more classes before spring break. I will review the blog for online participation credit at spring break. Make sure you have appeared here. I will accept a lot of things as online involvement.

PC informal networking Wednesday, Feb. 25, 1-2 p.m.

SOC event.

Marketing and Communication Day

Check it out. It is at the Kogod School of Business, so I think SOC students may not know about it.

Reading for Feb. 23

I left class Monday thinking that I wanted to spend some more time with Bennett's ideas. Then I completely forgot to post the reading I was thinking about. Very sorry. Do your best with the time you have, and I will talk about the ideas in ...

• Bennett, W. L., Segerberg, A., & Walker, S. (2014). Organization in the crowd: peer production in large-scale networked protests. Information, Communication & Society, 17(2), 232-260. (This is on Blackboard.)

We will also have presentations next week. Remember assignment #2 is due March 2. Finally, your blog post assignment is also something you should be thinking about.

Provost Summer Scholars Announcement

Short assignment #2

Answer one of the following questions in 250-500 words (two pages double-spaced). Make certain you address each of the points for the question you choose. This is due at midnight Monday, March 2.

Extra office hours Wednesday, Feb. 18

I should be able to hold extra office hours Wednesday frmo 1-4 p.m.

PC Awards deadline

I just learned that the deadline for the PC Awards is 5 p.m. on April 23. I recommend all of you shoot for this deadline with your papers.

And a government speechwriting opportunity

An opportunity for graduate students and seniors:

Scholarship opportunity for undergraduates

Here.

Extra office hours Wednesday, Feb. 11, noon - 2 p.m.

Tuesday update

Readings are posted here and also in a permanent link at the top of the homepage here. The graduate presentation schedule is posted here.

Readings for Feb. 16

Short assignment #1

Answer one of the following questions in 250-500 words (two pages double-spaced). Make certain you address each of the points for the question you choose. This is due at midnight Monday, Feb. 16.

A few words about presentations

I wanted to offer a few comments about presentations in general.

Take advantage of events for SOC week

Here.

Events to report on

Undergraduate presentations assigned

Click here.

Readings for Feb. 9

We are going to jump in to grassroots advocacy now. The topic is Social Advocacy and Online Activism and we are interested in big ways in which advocacy campaigns (and campaigns in general) have changed because of new media.

Undergraduate presentations

Let's get the presentations chosen this week.

Our list of events starts to grow

I have begun adding events to the list for your Event Rapporteur assignment. It's not too early to start planning. If you see any events please forward.

SOC Superbowl ads event - Sounds like fun

See the flyer here.

Odds and ends

After reading about diffusion of innovations, ask yourself "Do I know any laggards?" Are YOU a laggard in any respect, at least according to the theory? Let's hear about it.

Also, if you did not post a campaign you might follow please do so this week.

We will start getting presentations tied down this week. Forthcoming.

Readings for Feb. 2

Great to see everyone in class! I look forward to the semester. (In future, I will have readings posted much earlier.)

Office hours this week

Office hours Monday will be the same.
Tuesday 1-3 and then 5-7. (This is different from regular hours!)
Thursday 1-3

Welcome video for COMM 551

Please take a look at this video before class Monday!

Hello

I have posted the first readings for class below. Please take a look and see if you can access the readings here and through Blackboard. A syllabus has also been posted on Blackboard.

Readings for Jan. 26

I will give you a complete reading list and syllabus when we meet Jan. 26. I typically post the readings for each week on the blog. This makes it easier for you because many of the readings are linked online and also because our readings will be supplemented throughout the semester with very current material from the news. I also provide discussion questions.

Readings without links are on Blackboard.

Welcome

Welcome to the class blogs. Everything for class should be available here and on Blackboard.

I will post comments about the readings, assignments and announcements here. You are also welcome to post anything related to class, communication or campus life. Longer posts and assignments should go to the discussion board.

If you have trouble posting you can just e-mail it to me. We will use Blackboard to post readings, turn in some assignments and access grades. We will also use the Twitter hashtag of #comm551 and the Facebook page entitled “COMM 551 – Spring 2015.”