Two PLU communication professors win top awards

Two PLU communication professors, Dr. Justin Eckstein and Dr. Amy Young, received top paper awards at the recent National Communication Association Conference in Washington, D.C.

of Forensics Dr. Justin Eckstein’s paper, “Yellow Rain: Radiolab and the Acoustics of Strategic Maneuvering” highlighted what Eckstein calls “the acoustics of strategic maneuvering which describes the way sound itself acts as a presentational force in the service of standpoint.” It was presented in the Argumentation and Forensics Division.

Dr. Amy Young, Associate Professor of Communication, received the award for her paper “Beyond Supreme: Retired Supreme Court Justices as Public Intellectuals”, which deals with the increasingly vocal, political and mediated role we’ve seen Stevens, Souter and O’Connor play since their respective retirements.  It was presented in the Communication & the Law Division.

Young’s paper specifically critiqued the elitism of the judiciary, the role of the court, certain decisions (e.g. Citizens United), and the more partisan nature of the Court. Case examples included John Paul Stevens’ appearances on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and in a speech to the Clinton School at the University of Arkansas. The paper’s co-author, Jeremiah Hickey, is from St. John’s University in Queens, NY.

The National Communication Association is nearly a century old and the most prestigious organization in the discipline of communication. NCA “promotes the widespread appreciation of the importance of communication in public and private life, the application of competent communication to improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use of knowledge about communication to solve human problems.”