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MCIS student attends Wroxton College in England
Nasreen Hussain shares her experience abroad with us...
On May 16, 2011, five MCIS students and four Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) students began a course in International Corporate and Cultural Communication offered at Wroxton College near Banbury, England.
The course, offered through FDU, gives students a view into the world of communication and media through a British spectrum. Class topics included anything from Britain as a Foreign Country to Global versus Local Advertising, and everything in between.
Students not only had the chance to take classes with experts in their field, such as Dr. Richard Howells who taught a course entitled The Joys of Semiotics, but also by a former member of parliament, Dr. Nigel Forman, who taught a course called Media in the UK: Some Facts, Opinions, and Prejudices.
“Richard Howells and Paul Taylor were my favorite speakers because their material was interesting [and] I could relate to the examples they used,” said Laura Mahoney, a Masters student in Corporate and Organizational Communication at FDU. “They had a different approach than the other speakers so they really stood out.”
Traveling with the students was Dr. Gary Radford from FDU, who first traveled to Wroxton during the summer of 2004 and has been going every year since. This summer he presented a course called US and European Approaches to Communication, which was taught as part of an exchange program with the University of West London (UWL). Students from UWL visited Wroxton for the course, and on another occasion the American students visited UWL for a course on Crisis Communication.
“The exchange program was a wonderful way to meet the students who are in the British education system,” said Tim Kauger, a Masters student in Corporate and Organizational Communication at FDU. “It's nice to see the contrasts in our cultures but also the similarities.”
In addition to classes at Wroxton and UWL, students traveled to Oxford University and engaged in two courses there. They also had the opportunity to tour the University and participate in high dinner along with Oxford students.
Attending classes was not the only important aspect of the trip for students, immersing oneself in the culture of Britain was also extremely important. “By being immersed in a new culture, the issues of communication in a global context take on a completely new significance when presented in a cultural context where many of our taken-for-granted assumptions are constantly questioned and challenged,” said Dr. Radford. “Not only do we see the UK and Europe as particular cultural perspectives, but students also become self-aware of the US as a particular cultural perspective, and one that has to find ways to align with the global diversity that surrounds us.”
In their time spent at Wroxton, students had a free weekend and most took the opportunity to travel into London – seeing the sights and shopping. Popular stops included Buckingham Palace, Abbey Road, Harrods, and Westminster Abbey. The nearby pub was also a popular place to meet the local people and relax after a long day of classes. Additionally, students saw a production of Macbeth at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, and several of them toured William Shakespeare’s home. “This was one of the most memorable events in my life,” said Pamela Pruitt, an MCIS student. “It's right up there with getting married to my second husband. The camaraderie, learning, culture, environment and scenery, fun, and the overall experience was exceptional.”
While studying, students stayed in what was called the carriage house, right outside Wroxton Abbey. “Wroxton Abbey is totally special,” said Dr. Radford. “It is hard to describe, and students only ever understand and appreciate Wroxton once they come to experience it for themselves.” Kauger said, “It's a wonderful class with great content mixed with the beauty of the English countryside. It's something that you'll never regret.”
Not only did students praise the course and the day trips, they also praised their instructor. “This course was a perspective-changer,” said Barbara Zelasko, a business student at FDU. “Gary Radford made sure that every part of the trip was a discovery. I came back with a sense that I could truly be a global citizen. I think that was the whole point.”
“Our professor, Dr. Gary Radford, was the conduit for making this journey a successful one. I think that he provided us with a very rich graduate learning experience,” said Pruitt. “It was fun and serious at the same time. He is truly effective as a leader in my opinion. He's the best.”
Students interested in learning about the Summer 2012 trip to Wroxton can visit www.fdu.edu/corpcomm and click on the “Study in England 2012” link on the left hand side of the page.
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MCIS Student attends 11th IGSC 2012
Pallavi Guha shares her experience with us… 
The 11th International Graduate Student Conference 2012 had its annual conference in Honolulu, Hawaii at the East West Center from February 16th-18th. This interdisciplinary gathering, planned and organized by the EWC students, is the largest of its kind worldwide, where more than 90 graduate students participated from 46 universities representing 25 countries.
The conference started with the registration followed by the keynote address and reception for the participants on February 16th at the Hawaii Imin International Conference Center. Starting with the traditional Hula dance (chants) participants and other dignitaries were extended a warm welcome to the conference. After a brief introduction by the Chair and Co-Chair of the conference, Dr Terence Bigalke, Director of the Education Program at the East-West Center addressed the gathering. Following this was the keynote address by W. Lee Howell, Managing Director, and Head of Centre for Global Events & Risk Response Network, World Economic Forum. Howell spoke on the global risks and opportunities in the decade ahead. An interesting conversation on the impeding economic and social risks assessed by the experts of WEE. The reception later that evening was the perfect opportunity to socialize and network with other graduate students and the keynote speaker.
The next two days started early and there were multiple sessions going on simultaneously. On Friday, February 17th, presentations were made on economic sustainability, social media and political participation in countries like China, South Korea, and Japan, use of virtual classroom for students in the Pacific Asia, cyber bullying, ethnic identity and political participation, regional cooperation and economy. Panelists had an interactive session with the other participants. Being a student of MCIS helped me understand the research terminologies and communication networking better.
The lunch and snacks breaks facilitated discussions about the sessions with the co participants. Stephen, from Yale University was particularly thrilled to attend the many sessions on political participation and ethnicity though he is a student of environmental studies.
My session was on Saturday, February 18th, in the gender and social inequalities panel. It was a very enriching experience speaking in the session. My paper was on how the communication modules influence the gender biases in India. I spoke primarily on the influence of educational textbooks and entertainment modules of communication on gender biases. The other participants in the same session spoke on gender based sexual motives and women writers in Indonesia.
In the little time that we got in between the sessions, we had the opportunity to hop around the island of Oahu. The Pearl Harbor Memorial helped us to reconnect with history and the warm beaches were a change from the winter chills of the east coast. Definitely agreed by other participants from the east coast!
Attending the IGSC 2012 has been a truly enriching experience, meeting other doctoral and master’s students, listening to their presentations has given me a wider perspective of experience and knowledge in the academia.
The East West Center calls for abstract submissions every fall and after careful analysis, the papers are selected. Among 350 submissions, 90 were selected this year. I would highly recommend my MCIS cohorts to participate in this conference.
Joint Degree Program for Communication Majors!
Communication Majors can now apply to MCIS as Juniors or Seniors and start taking MCIS courses in their senior year. If you'd like to get a started on your graduate education while you are still an undergraduate consider applying for the Joint Degree Program. To learn more, click on the "Joint BA and MCIS Degree" button on the menu bar.
MCIS Welcomes New Spring Students
 Howard Williams Howard is a communication professional with over ten years of experience in the field. He has managed and developed many programs related to media relations, messaging, internal and crisis communication. Howard has worked for several companies in various aspects of communication both internally and externally including Ogilvy Public Relations, AT&T, Elsevier and GolinHarris.  Michelle Tong Michelle is a recent graduate from Rutgers University majoring in Communication with a minor in French. She was accepted into the Joint Degree program in her senior year. As an undergrad she served on the executive board of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and was a member of the National Communication Honor Society, Lambda Pi Eta.  Samann Rahimi Samann graduated from Cornell University in May of 2010 and received her Bachelors of Science degree in Communication with a minor in Cultural Studies.  Samantha Gilham Samantha graduated from Rutgers University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communications. While at Rutgers, she was involved in several academic and extracurricular activities such as: work study at Alexander Library, Zeta Tau Alpha, Gamma Sigma Alpha Honor Society, and copy editor at The Daily Targum. During her time as an undergraduate, she interned at local lifestyle magazine, Lehigh Valley Style, where she had works published in several bi-monthly issues.  Malaika Carpenter Malaika is a cum laude graduate of Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management, earning a B.B.A in Marketing. She now serves as a healthcare sales representative at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Philadelphia, PA. She began her career at Pfizer as an INROADS Scholar in 2006, completing a sales internship for two consecutive summers and earning a full-time position following graduation. Recognized as a top performer, Malaika received a Regional Performance Award in her first year of full-time employment for achieving outstanding results in a challenging market; subsequently, in 2010 she won three consecutive quarterly sales contests.  Megan Dubrowski Megan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English/Professional Writing from Kutztown University in 2006. After graduating, she was hired as a communications specialist at Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Tibotec Therapeutics, then later worked in a public relations agency for three years. She currently works at KPMG LLP as a senior associate in corporate communications, supporting both internal and external communications teams in implementing strategic communications programs that support the firm in achieving its goals. |