Laid to the Side - with a chapter by SOC's Whitney Harris Christopher

Adrienne Massanari’s paper "Playing at politics: why polarization researchers need to understand games culture" was accepted for presentation at ICA’s P³: Power, Propaganda, Polarisation post-conference in Brisbane, Australia. She also had a paper accepted for presentation at IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) in Christchurch, New Zealand, "#Gamergate @ 10: The death of the playful, vernacular web.”

Adrienne will be giving a talk on April 4 at George Mason University, "From Nerd to Tech Bro to Trumper: Geek Masculinity, the Cult(ure) of Silicon Valley, and the Far Right,” which discusses her forthcoming book, Gaming Democracy: How Silicon Valley Leveled Up the Far Right (MIT Press, October 2024). 

Adrienne was also quoted in a Wall Street Journal profile about the CEO of Reddit, Steve Huffman, in anticipation of its IPO offering. 

Finally, Adrienne has been invited to participate in a symposium, Crime Refracted?: Online Deviance in the New Platform Ecosystem in Copenhagen Denmark on June 10-11. Hosted by MOD-Lab (Microsociology of Online Deviance Lab) and the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Sociology, this interdisciplinary event will bring together a select group of 15-20 academic colleagues to provide a forum for theoretical, methodological, and empirical presentations and discussions that will contribute to further developing this novel concept of an emerging, refracted ecosystem of crime and deviance.

Margot Susca's book was featured in a Boston Business Journal column by Larry Gennari, who is a corporate law partner and adjunct law professor at Boston College. He wrote: "Susca names names and makes a persuasive case. The future of news truly is at stake." 

Margot also was featured on the Laid Off and Looking podcast started by Emmy Award-winning executive producer Domenic Camia and journalist Jenna Flanagan. There are numerous ways to listen/watch: SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube

The Washington Post also interviewed Margot about Gannett and McClatchy's decisions this week to drop AP coverage from its pages. 

The AU Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America recently hosted their annual MOCKTAILS event and featured alums and experts from Google, Deloitte, The Washington Commanders, The Clyde Group, the Veterans Administration,  R360, Leidar, FleishmanHillard, and the Center for Coalfield Justice. The event was held at the Bridge and featured an introduction by Jennifer Collins, AU Alum, former PRSSA President, and member of the Dean's Council. 

Earlier this month, Gemma Puglisi, SOC's Director of Inclusion and Professor, initiated a new venture: "Celebrating DEI Excellence in the Community: Area DMV Colleges & Universities Share their Work and Successes from the Classroom & Beyond." The Saturday morning event featured various faculty, administrators, staffers and a provost from area DMV universities and colleges including American, Howard University, the University of Maryland, Gallaudet University, Trinity University, Catholic University, George Mason University, The University of the District of Columbia, Marymount, and Towson University who discussed their respective programs, projects, initiatives and classes that emphasized excellence in DEI. Dr. Nkenge Friday, AU's new Vice-President of Inclusive Excellence, was also on hand to greet the participants.  Thanks to Dean Leena Jayaswal; Kati Vera; Tia Milledge; graduate student Molly Schacter; Adele Schmidt; Jacob Audouin; the SOC Diversity Committee; and Kristi Plahn-Gjersvold.  Special thanks to SOC's presence and participation including Priya Doshi, Jane Hall, and Aarushi Sahejpal.  

Gemma's PR Portfolio class also coordinated a panel discussion and book signing for Diane Foley, the mother of slain journalist James Foley at the National Press Club last week. The class is collaborating with Foley, Etruscan Press, and the James Foley Legacy Foundation, promoting her new book, "American Mother." Co-written with best-selling novelist Colum McCann, "American Mother" shares the journey of Diane Foley learning of her son's abduction by ISIS, his horrible murder by the terrorist group, her forming the nonprofit in his memory, and then meeting one of her son's murderers in a Virginia courtroom years later. James Foley was a reporter with GlobalPost and was covering the Syrian conflict. In 2014, after two years in captivity, ISIS beheaded the journalist, videotaped his brutal murder and then posted it on YouTube. Diane's work has helped bring home over 100 nationalists. The students are also working on a Satellite Media Tour, a webinar, and a possible book signing here at AU.  

Molly O’Rourke participated in a panel discussion for the Sine Institute this week with former Maryland governor and current Sine Fellow Larry Hogan and former publisher & CEO of The Washington Post Fred Ryan. The panel was entitled “American Politics:  How Do We Fix it?” and focused on identifying new and better ways to engage young Americans in campaigns and policy debates that will affect their lives.

Patricia Aufderheide participated in an expert panel held by the Producers Guild of America, "Best Fair Use Practices for Documentary & Non-Fiction Programs," on March 21 (early morning March 22 in Korea, sadly).