Yamada International House

Communications and Development Studies celebrates 20 years with student-run conference

By Maria Gallucci
Communications Assistant

Flying over country borders and driving past state lines, practitioners and alumni traveled to Athens to celebrate with students and faculty the 20 th anniversary of the Communication and Development Studies at Ohio University. All enjoyed lectures, workshops and presentations as part of “Communication and Sustainable Development in Intercultural Context,” a conference run by graduate students, held April 12-14.

The program at Ohio is developed and well established, and its 20 years of existence are evidence to its success, said Rafael Obregon, director of Communication and Development Studies.

“I think (the program) is an example of the tremendous commitment the university has to internationalism and to social change and development worldwide,” he said, adding that the added value of the conference includes the increased visibility of the program and university and the possibilities to expand professional networks with peers, colleagues and alumni.

The conference featured keynote speaker Denise Gray-Felder, the president and CEO of Communication for Social Change Consortium (CFSC), whose address was broadcast on a live Web cast via the program’s site, www.ohio.edu/commdev, and discussed the “issues of communication approaches followed in sustainable development in intercultural contexts.”

Among the proceeding experts panel was Gray-Felder and other board members of the CFSC, including: Luis Peirano, the dean of the College of Communication, Catholic University, Peru; Maria Celeste Cadiz, former dean of the College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines, Los Banos (UPLB). Scholars and practitioners from places such as Philadelphia, St. Vincent, Denmark and the Philippines viewed the inaugural session and panel via the Web cast.

“The expert panel was very strong,” said Maureen Magee, graduate student in the program who helped organize the event. “(The speakers) stressed a need to bridge the gap between research and practice, the need to incorporate culture as an ally, and the need to approach development at the community level through participation.”

The conference also featured a live video conference between the Ohio program’s graduate students and those from the Development Communication program at UPLB. Students from the universities shared their program’s curricula and research activities, and discussed how to maintain interaction using the Internet, said Masudul Biswas, a graduate student and academic coordinator for the conference.

The 15 student-moderated panels presented some of the 52 research abstracts (including four video documentaries) selected from Ohio , other universities and developmental organizations within and outside the United States . The session themes included “Media, Society and Marketplace of Ideas,” and “Health and Population Communication” among others.

The conference feedback was very positive, and the people who helped organize the event felt a sense of satisfaction from being part of something big, said Lauren Brown, a graduate student and conference coordinator. Throughout the conference, people discussed the program’s 20 years as a milestone and marker for maturity.

“Communication and Development Studies graduates have the benefit of coming from a program that has been around and has survived a lot,” she said. “(Graduates) really make a name for themselves around the world and demonstrate their dedication to social change.”

Obregon said the event was an opportunity for all programs involved to show their commitment to this particular field. Program support came from the Center for International Studies, the Scripps College of Communication and Ohio University.