(DePaul University/Randall Spriggs)
Several DePaul faculty members recently earned national recognition for their work. In addition, Big Shoulders Books and the Pop Culture Conference celebrate 10-year anniversaries. Read on to learn more about their accomplishments.
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication awarded Sydney Dillard, associate professor and graduate director of DePaul University's Public Relations and Advertising MA program, an
Inaugural American Journalism/American Journalism Historians Association grant. Her areas of expertise include advertising creativity; diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; health campaign development and sustainable university-community partnerships for social change. Dillard's project will preserve oral histories of underrepresented industry professionals who have led the art direction of some of the nation's most influential advertising campaigns, including such brands as Google, McDonald's, Walmart, Toyota, Comcast, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Walt Disney World. The project will provide deeper insight into the challenges and opportunities for better addressing disparities currently found within the multi-billion-dollar advertising industry.
Journalism/Sports Communication adjunct
Jay Cohen of The Associated Press had his coverage of the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal awarded Story of the Year honors in the annual contest for AP staffers judged by the Associated Press Sports Editors. The judges said Cohen's story on former Blackhawks assistant coach Brad Aldrich "could have been an ESPN '30 for 30' episode detailing how a lack of oversight led to a sexual predator being put in a position to coach young people in his hometown." Judges said the package "was a creative, audience-forward approach to something that affects everyone, a great example of the intersection of sports and culture and how to present that information to a great number of people."
The Health Humanities Consortium recently honored Craig Klugman, a professor of health sciences at DePaul, with the Health Humanities Lifetime Achievement Award. A bioethicist and medical anthropologist, Klugman was recognized for being a co-founder and co-president of the HHC, for co-editing foundational volumes in the field and for contributing significantly to the profession through his extensive research.
10-year anniversaries
Big Shoulders Books
2023 is a meaningful year for
Big Shoulders Books, a nationally recognized social-justice publishing venture out of the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Established by Chris Solis Green, Miles Harvey and Michele Morano, the press marks their 10th year as what one national magazine calls "a Chicago press for the people." They celebrated their anniversary, their impact (over 100,000 readers and counting) and new book, "Virus City," at an event in January.
The press publishes titles by or about Chicagoans whose voices might not otherwise be heard and focuses on issues of social justice. The books are distributed free of charge, and students — undergraduates and graduates from DePaul's
Master of Arts in Writing and Publishing —work intimately on every stage of the manuscripts, from editing and design to publicity.
DePaul Pop Culture Conference
The
DePaul Pop Culture Conference also celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2023. Established by Associate Dean Paul Booth in the College of Communication in 2013, the conference is a free, annual academic event that hosts thoughtful discussions with fans, scholars and media makers from around the world to engage in conversation about popular culture and cult media. Each year's event is themed for an important pop culture moment. This year's conference will be held on Saturday, May 20 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Loop, Daley Building, eighth floor, and it will be a "Celebration of Time Travel."
The conference has published five books (soon to be six), featured hundreds of speakers and the work of many faculty and students, raised thousands of dollars for charity and has hosted many illustrious attendees over the years. Come to the conference this year and see what it's all about!