Congratulations to Yiqing Ran (INTS minor) and Meghan Yang White (INTS double-major with Communication) in earning annual awards from the Department of Communication.
Information provided by the Department of Communication:
The Department of Communication established the following awards to recognize and honor excellence in academics, leadership, and community service. These awards have been named for individuals who have made significant contributions to the communication discipline, our department, and the community.
The Sonja Foss Award for Academic Excellence
Sonja K. Foss, a professor in the Department of Communication, is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar in the areas of contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism, feminist perspectives on communication, and visual rhetoric. She is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Rhetorical Criticism and Feminist Rhetorical Theories, and her numerous essays in communication journals have dealt with topics such as invitational rhetoric, agency in the film Run Lola Run, visual argumentation, and body art. Dr. Foss earned her Ph.D. in communication studies from Northwestern University and previously taught at Ohio State University, the University of Oregon, the University of Denver, Virginia Tech, and Norfolk State University. This award recognizes outstanding academic work by an undergraduate student that was produced for a course in the communication department. This work may include a research paper, poetry, a video production, painting, and/or other expression of academic excellence. Yiqing Ran is this year's recipient of the Sonja Foss Award for Academic Excellence! Yiqing is a COMM major (and INTS minor) and about graduate this May. She is passionate about various popular cultures, such as ACG culture, idol culture, comics/movie/game culture and so on and interested in the fandom community. She is pursuing linking her interest in pop culture and her academic direction, and she hopes to work on media studies in pop culture in the future.
The Robley Rhine Student Leadership Award
Robley Rhine (1930-2009) was a founder of the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. Prior to earning a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1967, Professor Rhine attended the University of Colorado and taught speech and debate at Southwestern College. In the fall of 1967, he was asked to start a communication program at the CU-Denver campus. Professor Rhine served as department chair and later as the assistant dean for the Division of Arts and Humanities. He retired in 1994 after 27 years of service. Upon his retirement, Professor Rhine stayed in touch with the department as he wished to continue his commitment to quality education and the field of communication. He provided support for travel for graduate students to attend conferences and helped the department subscribe to journals in the communication discipline. Meghan Yang White is this year's Robley Rhine Student Leadership Award co-winner! Meghan will be graduating this May with a double major in International Studies and Communication with a minor in Chinese Studies. After graduation, she plans to advance her Mandarin Chinese language skills in China and then pursue a Master's degree in International Education. Meghan enjoys working at CU Denver's Office of Global Education office where she promotes study abroad around campus. Through her work at the study abroad office and her study abroad experiences in Beijing, Barcelona, Singapore, and Seoul, Meghan has found a passion for international education.