News & Updates

8th annual TEDx strengthens our “resolve”

The Department of Communication Studies hosted its 8th annual TEDx event in February, featuring six speakers exploring the theme of “resolve” and focusing on the potential and promises ahead. Recent years have been rife with difficulty, from managing a global pandemic to mounting economic uncertainty, ongoing protests for human rights, and escalating environmental disasters, all of which have been taking place in a contentious political environment. Despite these difficulties, we must strengthen our resolve to overcome these challenges and remain hopeful for the future.

2024 Speakers

Dr. Nadmi Adi is an assistant professor at Texas State University. He completed his doctoral studies in the field of virtual reality and obtained a master’s in architecture from the UK. Combining these two fields, he developed a passion to understand and test new buildings and building materials using virtual reality. He studies how people respond to different types of built environments using various virtual platforms as a medium. He has worked in several universities around the globe, in the fields of high-rise wood buildings, hospital design, dementia and elderly friendly design, and interactive architecture. His talk focused on his research team's progress on developing design interventions for hospitals and elderly care centers that reduce the number of injuries and increase our resilience as a species as we grow older. Dr. Adi advocated for practical and actionable solutions that are both affordable and feasible to implement.

Mateo Gutierrez is a self-taught artist whose hand-embroidered art challenges the ingrained violence in American culture. Mateo brings to light forgotten tragedies, defying society's short attention span. His work confronts issues of identity and outsider experience, exhibited across the nation. Currently based in Austin, Texas, Mateo continues his thought-provoking exploration of American culture and its profound impact. His talk focused on a series of hand-embroidered paintings that contain juxtaposed images by photojournalists of people crossing the US-Mexico border and of people after mass shootings. Through his art and TEDx talk, Mateo challenged the ingrained violence in American culture.

Stacy Johnson is the CEO and founder of the non-profit organization, Central Texas Table of Grace. After entering the foster care system at the age of two, Stacy Johnson spent the next 14 years moving from foster home to foster home, dreaming that someday she would open a children’s shelter and help other kids like herself. In 2014, she opened the doors of Central Texas Table of Grace, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides emergency shelter services to foster children and administers a Supervised Independent Living program for young adults aging out of foster care. Stacy is the recipient of several awards, including NBC’s KXAN recognizing her as the “Most Remarkable Woman of the Year” in Central Texas. Her talk focused on her experiences as a child in foster care and how those challenges fueled her resolve to help other kids in foster care and those aging out of the foster care system. Stacy encouraged the audience to think about how we can enact the Power of O.N.E. (Offer, Nurture, Empower) as an antidote to high ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores.

Kendra Marsteller + Pawfficer Brady are members of the Texas State University Police Department. Kendra has served as a University Police Officer since 2018 and has worked in a variety of first responder roles during her career. She started as a Victim's Advocate in 2008 and has worked as a Dispatcher, Dispatch Supervisor, Fire Fighter, Deputy Constable, and now serves as a Training Officer, Mental Health Officer, K9 Handler, Victim Services Liaison, and Instructor at Texas State. Pawfficer Brady is Texas State’s first K9 Therapy Dog. Together, their efforts in mental health advocacy and public service align perfectly with the theme of resolve. Officer Marstellar's talk focused on their partnership and how she and Brady have helped individuals and communities in crisis both on our campus and beyond including being dispatched to help during the aftermath of the Lahaina fire in Maui.

Dr. Christine Norton is a Professor of Social Work at Texas State University and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Supervisor. Christine is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, a Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist, and a Certified Experiential Therapist. Dr. Norton helped launch Foster Care Alumni Creating Educational Success (FACES) at Texas State and created the Foster Care Adventure Therapy Network to share nature with youth and young adults with lived experience in foster care. She is a highly published author and a leading social work scholar in the field of outdoor therapy, and has presented her research and conducted trainings and workshops nationally and internationally. Dr. Norton’s talk focused on current research about the physical and mental health benefits of nature and provided a call to action to GO.S.L.O.W. This acronym stands for Get Outside, Seek beauty, Listen to what nature is saying, Observe what you are seeing and feeling, and Widen your perspective.

Dana Swann serves as the Executive Assistant at Texas Commission on the Arts. She is the direct administrative support person for the agency’s nine commissioners and serves as the agency’s Accessibility and Disability (ADA) Coordinator and as the Liaison for the Creative Forces Initiative. She has considerable administrative experience, including organizations like the Greater Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council, City of Austin, and The University of Texas System. She recently graduated Magna Cum Laude in Communication Studies from Texas State University and is now pursuing a master's degree. Dana aspires to teach communication at the college level and finish writing her book. Her talk focused on overcoming grief and loss and how she cultivated resilience and tenacity and continues to embody the spirit of resolve.

Entertainment portions of TEDx were provided by:

• Mesal Quartet, a student led group of trombone musicians, kicked off the 2024 event in the lobby and led the audience into the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. 
• Members of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, one of the oldest members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council performed a stroll routine and informed us about their organization's history. 
• Comedy Duo featuring Gabe Cortez and Garrett Buss, both alumni of Texas State University, helped the audience to recognize the benefits of humor for building resolve. 
• Los Gatos 512, an eight-piece salsa ensemble comprised of Texas State current students and alumni, brought the high energy and enabled the audience to embrace Hispanic music and culture during the break.
• Two students (Cameron Monroe Thomas and Eric Shawn) performed moving pieces from their Young, Gifted, and Black showcase led by Aaron Brown to start off the second session.
• CIM-TEYA (Creation in Motion - The Touring Ensemble for Young Audiences) is a dance company made up of Texas State dance majors and minors directed by Kaysie Seitz Brown. They performed two pieces - one about normalizing and overcoming stigmas associated with dyslexia and one set to Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off." 
• VocaLibre, an auditioned choral group directed by Craig Aamot, performed two powerful pieces and blew our audience away when closing out our 2024 event!

Braiden Touchette and Gabe Cortez served as Emcees for the event. Braiden is a junior at Texas State majoring in political science. She is involved in Move Texas, Model UN/OAS, and the Undergraduate Research Journal and is passionate about political advocacy, civic engagement, and international issues. Gabe is an alumnus and current graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State. He has been performing stand-up since 2017 with the Texas State Comedy Association. He created a monthly showcase at the Fallout Theater and has hosted the Laughing Dead Comedy Open Mic at Wake the Dead Coffee House for the last two years.

The Department of Communication Studies would like to thank the following:

TEDx Leadership Team

1. Dr. Kristen Farris - Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies serves as the Event Director and TEDx License Holder.
2. Mark Paz - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies serves as the Creative Director.
3. Hannah Collazo - Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies serves as the Director of Speaker Experience.
4. Dr. Prisca Ngondo - Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication serves as the Communications Director.
5. Dr. Youjeong Kim - Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication serves as the Director of Videography.

Speaker Coaches

1. Dr. Ann Burnette - Professor in the Department of Communication Studies
2. Rita Gomez - Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies
3. Mark Paz - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies
4. Hannah Collazo - Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies
5. Wayne Kraemer - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies

Student Interns and Volunteers

1. Victoria Vazquez - graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies served as the Logistics Lead.
2. Mia LaChance - graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies served as the Creative Lead.
3. Andrea Avila Regalado - graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies served as the Content Creation Co-Lead.
4. Miracle Leveston - graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies served as the Content Creation Co-Lead.
5. Sierra King - graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies served as the Sponsorship and Volunteer Lead.
6. Undergraduate students in the Department of Communication Studies (Greg Ordonez, Vianni Dudley, Kendell Green) helped with various aspects of event planning and implementation.
7. Oscar Hough, undergraduate student in the Department of Theatre and Dance, served as the show caller and helped supervise and support the stage managers (Alyssa Gonzalez, Madison Montagne and Guillermo Sanchez) also from the Department of Theatre and Dance.
8. June Vega, undergraduate student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Mia LaChance served as the photographers for the event. 
9. Dr. Kim supervised a group of 21 undergraduate students from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication who served as camera operators, sound specialists, and editors: Bayla Anderson, Charles Bicknell, Leslie Bowlware, Justin Brown, KyLee Carpenter, Luis Diaz, Maliek Goodlow, Taylor Jaqueole Pierson, Angelica Luna, Jacob Marquez, River Morgan, Tyani Ray-Janet, Liles, Connor Reid, Chase Ritchie, Dylan Sallee, Matt Strain, Houston Tackett, Alexander Tawiah, Stephanie Valderrama, Osmara Valles, and Michael Williams.

Operations Staff

1. Candice Mongellow - Operations Manager of the Performing Arts Center
2. Robert Styres - Box Office Manager
3. Eaton Saylor - Lighting Supervisor + Audio Engineer of the Performing Arts Center

Finally, we would like to thank HealthyCats, Students Against Violence, and the Counseling Center for setting up tables during registration and the break for the audience to learn more about how these organizations can help develop individual and community-level resolve. We'd also like to thank Officer Marsteller for giving away Pawfficer Brady merch during registration and the break - these were a big hit with the attendees!

We could not have a successful event without the combined efforts of all of these individuals and organizations.
 

---

 

Faculty Accolades

Jasmine Austin received the Presidential Distinction Award for Teaching and will represent the College of Fine Arts and Communication as a nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Tricia Burke received the Presidential Distinction Award for Scholarly/Creative Activity and will represent the College of Fine Arts and Communication as the nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activity. Tricia also had “The rare life: Examining parents’ grief, barriers, and facilitators associated with caring for medically complex children” accepted for presentation to the upcoming International Association for Relationship Research as well as for publication in the journal Health Communication. The piece was co-authored with Kristen Farris and M.A. alum Abigail (Mellow) Rubidoux.

Ann Burnette received the Presidential Distinction Award for Service and will represent the College of Fine Arts and Communication as the nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Service.

Stephanie Dailey received the Presidential Distinction Award for Teaching and will represent the College of Fine Arts and Communication as a nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. Stephanie was part of Team Visualizing Mental Health, selected to participate in the Texas State Innovation Lab and Reception at SXSW 2024. The team showcased their training program, to be offered on the Zeus Certifications platform later this semester, which will equip participants with the knowledge and skills to build and use a customized mental health dashboard for their organization. The data visualization training will help employees at public and nonprofit mental health service agencies create dashboards to share compelling narratives about the state of mental health in Central Texas for grants and policy briefs. Stephanie also welcomed Elissa Fontenot, Digital Marketing Director at TXST, as a guest lecturer in her Social Media in Organizations class, sharing insights on her role and career advice to students.

Elizabeth K. Eger and her COMM M.A. research assistants Johnny Vasallo, Allister McNally, and Anca Tonciu, along with Rex Long and COMM alumnus Rowan Lampert presented a research poster, "A pilot study introducing how rural Texas librarians can convene community resiliency collaborations" at the Texas State University Health Scholar Showcase hosted by the Translational Health Research Center.

Kristen Farris had “The rare life: Examining parents’ grief, barriers, and facilitators associated with caring for medically complex children” accepted for presentation to the upcoming International Association for Relationship Research as well as for publication in the journal Health Communication. The piece was co-authored with Tricia Burke and M.A. alum Abigail (Mellow) Rubidoux.

Nikki Saldivar Hodgson published an article in the Edible Rio Grande Valley magazine entitled, “One State at a Time”. The piece chronicles her culinary adventures to the Great Lakes and Midwest as she pursues her goal of visiting all 50 states.

Marek Muller published “Long live the liver king: Right-wing carnivorism and the digital dissemination of primal rhetoric” in Frontiers in Communication.

Mark Paz received the Presidential Distinction Award for Teaching and will represent the College of Fine Arts and Communication as a nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Manu Pokharel published “Exploring appropriateness as a topic avoidance motivation: The influence of familial and social norms” in the Journal of Family Communication. She also published “Political party collective norms, perceived norms, and mask-wearing behavior: A test of the theory of normative social behavior” in Health Communication. Manu also received the College Achievement Award for Scholarly/Creative Activity.