SCM Students Win Top Award at NYSCA Conference

Shannon Boyle and Brooke O’Donnell, students in the Communication Studies program in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University, attended the 73rd Annual New York State Communication Association Conference on October 17, 2015. They were selected to speak on the "Top Paper Panel" which included two undergraduate papers, two graduate papers, and one paper from a professor. Their research paper won the top undergraduate paper award.

“Our experience at the conference was great,” O’Donnell said. “It left us feeling empowered and motivated to continue our research.”

Both students enjoyed their experiences of sitting on a panel and convening with other students who attended the conference.

“The panels were innovative and interesting, as were all of the people we met,” Boyle said.  “I’d highly suggest this conference for anyone looking to submit research or a paper.”

Their research focused on finding out the ways in which Millennials are altering the feminist movement. Through their research, they concluded there are two inter-related aspects of feminism that are especially important to Millennials: gender and modern forms of communication. Due to the fact people today usually only spend a handful of seconds glancing at online content, they argued new forms of media must be able to strategically communicate the ideals of the feminist movement that traditional media does not.

“The main example we used was hashtags,” Boyle said. “Hashtags are a way to invite people into a conversation where they can discuss with other like minded individuals or be exposed to contrasting ideas. This creates an online community.”

The student’s research consisted of an online survey that asked questions such as the participants’ definition of feminism and questions related to gender and media. The surveys, coupled with an extensive literature review on the topic, gave them a comprehensive view of how Millennials interact with feminism. Boyle and O’Donnell also conducted two in-depth interviews, which they will utilize for a follow-up paper on the subject.

Both students credited their professor, Paul Ziek, with a reason for their achievement.

“I think our Investigative Research Methods class with Prof. Ziek helped us immeasurably,” O’Donnell said. “While our paper was written extracurricularly, the class jump-started the idea and gave us the tools to carry out our research.”