Jorgensen speaks at ICA Conference

In late May, Dr. Rebekah Jorgensen, program coordinator of the master's degree in Media Communications, traveled to Puerto Rico, where she spoke at the International Communications Association (ICA) “Communication Across the Life Span” conference on her long-term longitudinal research on the influence of foreign media on Romanian adolescents.  The research, which has also been presented in Romania and elsewhere, looks at the perception and stereotypes which people of one culture create about others when their primary sources of information are the media, has global applications.  The recent study was particularly important because it identified what factors have remained consistent in media perceptions in the 25 years since the Ceausescu era, in spite of major political, cultural, economic and social shifts in the country.

Dr. Jorgensen’s session, “Innovative International Media Research”, was moderated by Abu Hassan Abu Bakar, U of Utara, Malaysia, and focused on methods of conducting social media research under difficult circumstances.  Other panelists focused on research in Iran, Israel and Korea.

During her visit in Puerto Rico, Dr. Jorgensen also had the opportunity of speaking to local university faculty and administrators about the importance of Latino students in the Geneva community.  Many of the upcoming media campaigns and projects Webster Geneva students are designing with the UN and NGOs have significant Latin American components.