Graduate Program Plays Vital Role in Life of Department
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Membership Matters: This publication is paid for in part by dues-paying members of the Indiana University Alumni Association. Vol. 7 Fall 2007 Graduate program plays vital role in life of department elecomment rarely discusses the tele- ment agencies, private foundations, and understand the influence of media on people communications graduate program the media industry. Grants support the and society. Master’s students can simultane- Tor features its graduate students, university and research in our department ously complete a law degree or an MBA. even though they are a major feature in and, often, help fund graduate students. The PhD in mass communications is offered the life and history of the department. The The top grant recipient in our department in cooperation with the School of Journal- graduate program of the IU Department is Professor Annie Lang, who has received ism and most often leads to research and of Telecommunications is considered one more than $2 million in federal funds over teaching careers at colleges and universities. of the top 0 in the country. This ranking the past eight years. is based on three factors: First, the qual- The Department of Telecommunica- Research ity and quantity of research and creative tions offers three graduate degrees. The IU is a Research I institution, and our de- work that our faculty and graduate students MA prepares students for PhD study, for partment has an international reputation for generate is significant. This includes pre- teaching positions at small colleges, and (continued on page 2) sentations at conferences and authorship in for analytical and research books, journal articles, documentary films, positions in media and and games, as well as exhibitions of work creative industries. The MS About our current graduate students in galleries and online spaces. The second degree prepares students for • Of the 97 students currently enrolled, 36 are in factor is the placement of PhD and MA professional careers in media the PhD program, 34 are in the MA program, graduates at Research I universities and production and manage- and 27 are working toward an MS degree. MS alumni in major professional media ment with advanced course- • They come from 2 states and nine countries. positions. Third, our faculty members are work in these areas as well • Nearly half (44 percent) are international students. successful at securing grants from govern- as theoretical training to One student’s story of finding answers — through research at IU Zheng Wang completed her doctoral studies and defended her dis- sertation in August 2007 after six years as an outstanding student in the graduate program. Her undergraduate degree in journal- ism and mass communications is from China Youth University for Political Sciences in Beijing. Following her undergraduate studies, she worked as a photographer and columnist for Teenagers in China & Abroad (a monthly magazine) and as an associate editor for evening news programs with China Central Television, the largest network in China. The department wishes her well at Ohio State and will miss her many academic contributions as well as her cheerful approach to work — and life. ix years ago, I was a freshly minted journalism graduate, work- Sing for a national news program in Beijing, China, my home country. I was always curious to know how the stories produced by my hardworking team would influence our audiences. My curios- ity wasn’t satisfied by the audience rating reports that arrived at my desk weekly. With plans to study media effects in the Indiana University Department of Telecommunications — and then return to my news production work — I arrived in Bloomington. Jim Krause (continued on page 5) ates who are trained to be media profes- professor, studies the influence of violence in Graduate program sionals — making and managing media. As the media on different audiences. In a series (continued from page 1) Grabe explains, “Because they also take the of recent experiments, he found that remov- its research productivity. Faculty members core conceptual courses, they leave here ing violent content from popular television work closely with graduate students, col- with much more than sophisticated skills programs such as HBO’s The Sopranos or laborating with them on groundbreaking training. In fact, when they graduate, they Fox’s 24 makes the programs more enjoy- studies that are presented at national and are expert media professionals with an added able for viewers, including young adult international conferences and then published academic understanding of how the industry males, who the are target demographic. The in top-tier journals or books. For example, works. This makes for a new generation of department chair, Professor Walter Gantz, telecommunications students and has worked on three Kaiser Family faculty made 9 presentations at Foundation–funded studies over the International Communication At national conferences in 2006, IU the past seven years. One of the Association conference this year. telecommunications graduate students many interesting findings from his The director of graduate stud- • received a dissertation of the year award research is that children between ies, Professor Betsi Grabe, says • had their dissertation selected for a monograph series the ages of 2 and 7 are likely to colleagues from other universities • received a dissertation-year fellowship see as many as 7,600 food ads often joke with her that “IU is • received Top Student Paper and Top Three Student annually. Most of those ads are for taking over ICA!” The research Paper awards foods that nutritionists, watchdog from the department is also well • co-authored an (open division) Top Paper award groups, and government agen- represented and has won awards cies argue should be eaten either at other national and international in moderation, occasionally, or in media conferences, such as the Association media workers who think critically as they small portions. Together, these projects were for Education in Journalism and Mass Com- create media content and manage media supported by more than $300,000 from the munication, the National Communication companies. I don’t know of too many other Kaiser Family Foundation. Association, the Society for Psychophysi- universities where both practical skills and ological Research, the Broadcast Education scholarship are emphasized in MS pro- Recruitment Association, and the TPRC Research Con- grams.” For example, MS graduate student “You can never stop working on recruit- ference on Communication, Information, Chase Martin, a Hoosier who is preparing ment of students,” Grabe said. “We want and Internet Policy. for a career in the game industry, presented the very best students from across the a paper in Paris at the International Associa- country and around the globe to study with Graduate curriculum tion for Media and Communication Re- us. One focus for this year will be to recruit search conference this summer. In a rapidly Students work closely with their faculty more Hoosiers. We have had outstand- changing and hypercompetitive media envi- advisers to design individualized programs ing graduate and undergraduate students ronment, IU telecommunications graduates fitting their goals and objectives. Programs from Indiana, and I want more Hoosiers to stand out as thinkers and doers. are designed from the large variety of choose IU for graduate school. We’ll also courses offered by the Department of Tele- continue to recruit international students. communications and related areas, such as Our faculty All of us — undergraduates, graduates, and business, fine arts, journalism, law, library “The faculty, as a pool of educators, is faculty — benefit from the diversity that and information sciences, education/in- diverse and entrepreneurial,” Grabe said. international students bring to our class- structional support technology, psychology, “We have research heavyweights and rooms and social lives. When international sociology, and political science. As Grabe also hire faculty straight from the media students return to their homes, they plant describes, “Students can customize their world. In fact, several instructors are still IU’s flag abroad. If they stay — they make studies and are encouraged to go out- doing freelance work for media outlets valuable contributions to the U.S. media side the department for training in other — and they bring that expertise into the industry and the academe.” interest areas. But for each of our degrees, classroom.” Recent hires include Barbara Alumni and friends can help by refer- there are several core conceptual and skills Cherry, an FCC lawyer; Lee Sheldon, a ring potential students — both graduate courses. These core courses are the ‘glue’ writer/producer and game designer; and and undergraduate — to our department. of our program; they are the ‘telecom Andrew Bucksbarg, a media artist. The recommendation of someone who has stamp’ that our students share.” Our research faculty dedicate themselves studied at IU and lived in Bloomington can to the pursuit of new knowledge, and their be powerful. Job placement work advances our understanding of many dimensions of living in a media age. Some- The department’s graduate program is The future times scholarly research is seen as esoteric known for the excellent job placement of its The media environment is undergoing and unimportant to the world outside the graduates. Former doctoral students now enormous and high-speed change during academe. Our faculty