Director's Note

Happy New Year! The semester started off with back-to-back snowstorms and extreme cold temperatures, so it has not felt much like spring until this week. We’re finally seeing some sun, and everyone seems to be back into the rhythm of the semester.

Despite the cold and snowy start, we’ve been busy in SJMC. We kicked off the 2024 election season with a panel discussion about the Iowa Caucus and a workshop on democracy reporting with The Guardian US. We also co-sponsored a public lecture and student lunch with David Brooks (NYT columnist) and Anne Snyder (Editor-and-Chief, Comment Magazine).

We have two featured stories this month.

First, we’re pleased to announce that Jamil Marques will be joining SJMC in Fall 2024 as an associate professor of journalism students. Jamil will teach courses in journalism studies, global media, political communication, and research methods.

                          Jamil Marques                              

Second, we’re thrilled to announce that SJMC and The Daily Iowan are collaborating to produce a photo and essay book chronicling this celebrated Iowa women’s basketball season. The book will feature photos taken by student photographers, essays from campus and national experts and thought-leaders in women’s athletics, and stories written by students about this significant moment in Iowa athletics and women’s basketball. Students in Sports Writing and Social Media Marketing attended the most recent Women’s Basketball game against Nebraska and had the chance to report on gameday and to shadow staff from UI Athletics. The book is available for pre-order and will be released shortly after the end of the season. Proceeds from the book will support hands-on learning experiences for our students.

If you have a story to share, please send it to sjmc@uiowa.edu.

Melissa Tully, Director

Faculty News

Professor Gigi Durham published "Decolonizing bodies and the ethics of care: On the significance of embodied vulnerability as the future of cultural studies." The article was published in the International Journal of Cultural Studies. She also co-hosted a conversation with author Mary Pipher in a Prairie Lights Zoom event about Pipher's new book A Life in Light: Meditations on Impermanence.

Associate Professor Rachel Young and Professor Melissa Tully co-authored “Barriers to mediation among U.S. parents of adolescents: A mixed-methods study of why parents do not monitor or restrict digital media use” with a team of researchers from public health and education. This study draws on focus group and survey data to explore why parents do not monitor or limit adolescents’ digital media use.

Graduate Student News

Abubakar Ibrahim’s novel When We Were Butterflies was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award.

Katy Biddle and Associate Professor Brian Ekdale published the article “Beyond ‘Lulz’ and ‘Keyboard Warriors’: Exploring the Relationship Between Trolling and Radicalization.” The article, co-authored with Andrew High (Penn State), Ryan Stoldt (Drake, SJMC PhD 2021), and Raven Maragh-Lloyd, was published in Information, Communication & Society as part of the Algorithms and Culture Research Group.

Munachim Amah received a T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Research Fellowship for this summer. Muna will be using the fellowship to conduct interviews with Nigerian journalists to understand how they view the gap between the ideals and the practice of journalism when it comes to covering the issue of poverty.

Undergraduate News

Students from Adam Kempenaar's Narrative Sports Podcasting class produced Game Faces: Unmasking Mental Health in College Athletics. This series seeks to destigmatize discussions around mental health within the athletic community.

Event Management students work behind the scenes on gamedays in Carver Hawkeye Arena as interns, student workers, volunteers, and members of the spirit squad.

SJMC Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary in 2024

As an alum, student, faculty, staff, and friend of SJMC, you’ve experienced what it means to be part of this school, and we hope you’ll consider supporting us as we start our next 100 years. To do so, I’d like to invite you to contribute to the 100th anniversary fund and attend the anniversary dinner on April 13, 2024 in Iowa City. Contributions to SJMC support student experiences, including trips to professional conferences and media companies, networking events, workshops, study abroad, internships and research.