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Award-winning Theatre MSU celebrates 60 years, opens 2023 season with improv

Mississippi State’s Theatre MSU debuts its 60th season this month with a play steeped in improvisation as part of its Theatre for Young Adults program. With four annual mainstage productions, the 2023-2024 season opens with “Pants on Fire: A totally made up musical for kids,” from Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado. MSU’s Lab Rats Comedy—an improv student theatre club—also will sponsor the show.

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Jones featured in Southern Register

Rex Jones, an assistant professor Broadcast & Digital Journalism, was featured in an article for The Southern Register in Ole Miss that covers his documentary of Steve Holland’s loss after 36 years in the Mississippi legislature.

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CO Connection: Chris Misun

Instructor Chris Misun talks with CO Department Head, Dr. Terry Likes, about his career in media, how he moved into teaching, later developing unique course offerings such as Creative Services Production where emphases include client-based work. Misun has maintained strong professional ties via his work with Hail State Productions/SEC Network, where two of his video clips have aired on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top Ten Countdown. Finally, Misun addresses his work as Director of the Magnolia Independent Film Festival.

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Department Gains New Academic Advising Coordinator

Casey King recently became the new Communication Academic Advising Coordinator. She will oversee communication orientations, work with major changes to welcome them to our department, and work with faculty members on advising majors, among many other duties.

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Department Welcomes Two New B&DJ Faculty Members

The Department of Communication welcomed two new faculty members for fall 2023. Marcus Hunter and Rex Jones both join the Broadcast & Digital Journalism concentration with years of industry experience between them.

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Likes shares ‘Cowbell Culture’ audio documentary exploring iconic university symbol

Just in time for Mississippi State’s season opener in football—September 2’s MSU vs. Southeast Louisiana game—a veteran journalist at MSU is releasing an audio documentary looking in depth at the influence of the iconic university tradition, the cowbell.

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Communication student, Rayborn, helps increase trafficking awareness

“Barbie” movie extra. International magazine and runway model. World traveler. Communication and philosophy student at Mississippi State University. Rayborn, an MSU junior and native of Brandon majoring in Communication and Philosophy, is using her talents to build a nationwide platform for human trafficking awareness.

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EXCITE grant furthers adult vaccine education

Mississippi adults will continue to be offered science-based vaccine information by the Mississippi State University Extension Service with help from a national grant. MSU Extension received the Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement, or EXCITE, grant to provide adult vaccine education in Mississippi. MSU was one of 37 institutions chosen for this award.

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Rex Jones' "Camille" film airs on BTV in August

August is the anniversary month of Camille and Katrina, and this month on BTV the public is reminded to stay prepared with replays of “Camille: The original monster storm”. The city’s municipal TV channel, BTV, is airing Mississippi filmmaker Rex Jones’s hour-long documentary of the storm that ranks as the second-most intense hurricane to strike the continental United States, claiming the lives of 256 individuals and causing more than $1 billion in damage.

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Mississippi Book Festival features communication instructor Foreman

The Saturday [Aug. 19] “Literary Lawn Party” -- free and open to the public -- will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the historic downtown State Capitol and surrounding grounds and in nearby Galloway United Methodist Church. The festival is a nonprofit event founded in 2015 by reading advocates. For complete information, visit www.msbookfestival.com.

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Degree options in two high-demand communication fields added by College of Arts and Sciences

Mississippi State University now offers students new ways to combine multiple interests with two additional College of Arts and Sciences degrees. Begun this semester, a new concentration in entertainment technology has been added as a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies, or BSIS, option and political communication now is offered as a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, or BALA, choice.

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Seitz presents research at ICA

Dr. Holli Seitz, an associate professor in Communication & Media Studies, attended the International Communication Association annual conference in May. She shares, “I was able to give an oral presentation of my research, co-authored with recent graduate Sarah Rendon, ‘Effects of Community-Engaged Learning on Student Perceptions and Outcomes’ and received excellent feedback.”

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Dr. Uyanga Bazaa presents "Conceptual Definition, Operationalization, and Factors of Value Perspective"

Assistant Communication Professor Dr. Bazaa presented her paper titled "Conceptual Definition, Operationalization, and Factors of Value Perspective" at the 73rd International Communication Association's Annual Conference that will be held between May 25 and 29, 2023. Her presentation explores value congruence, as an antecedent of the organization-public relationships, benefits from a valid measurement scale to predict quality relationships between organizations and the public.

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Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Communication's Hays for contributions to the arts

Tonya S. Hays, assistant professor of theater performance in MSU’s Department of Communication, is a recipient of the Dr. Penny Wallin Lifetime Achievement in Arts Education Award for “consistently making meaningful contributions to her art form and advocating for the arts throughout her career.”

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CO Connection: Bethany Shipp

Mississippi State University's Department of Communication Head Dr. Terry Likes interviews Bethany Shipp, Marketing and Communication Coordinator for MSU’s Office of Public Affairs. Shipp discusses her varied career path from her days from MSU as an undergraduate student, to working at Disney in Orlando, to the world of Public Relations. Shipp also discusses her love of dance to her leadership role with the PR Association of MS-Starkville chapter.