CCI’s Annual Research Symposium
RIC hosts the College of Communication and Information’s Annual Research Symposium as a valuable opportunity to showcase CCI’s research and simultaneously inspire students to engage in their own research endeavors.
48th Annual Research Symposium – March 18, 2026
Research in Action: Communication, Information, and Creative Inquiry
The Annual Research Symposium is held in the spring of each year. The symposium showcases the research and creative achievements of the college’s talented faculty, staff, and students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The symposium provides interactive opportunities for researchers to share their knowledge and their experiences.
Plan to join us in person at CCI for the Symposium
Research Project Presentations will be conducted in Scripps Lab in the Communication and Information Building, Room 402, and live streamed via Zoom. Complete this form to access the sessions if you are using a non-UTK.edu email address or an audio-only phone number. Trivia via Kahoot! app (download the Kahoot! app).
Zoom link for Symposium livestream
Agenda
| Time | Presentation Title | Additional details |
|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. | Welcome | Associate Professor and CCI Interim Associate Dean for Research Emily Paskewitz |
| 9:10 a.m. | Building Bridges in a Time of Polarization: An Exploratory Study of Braver Angels’ Depolarization Campaign | Assistant Professor Oluseyi Adegbola and Abbey Warbington, PhD student |
| 9:20 a.m. | It Just Means More: Identity in SEC College Athletic Recruitment | Jenna Pauly, PhD student, and Assistant Professor Ryan Beaty |
| 9:30 a.m. | Navigating Uncertainty: How AI Confidence Disclosures Shape Human Verification and Trust in LLM-Assisted Fact-Checking | Qian Yang, PhD student and Assistant Professor Jiangen He |
| 9:40 a.m. | Journalistic Coverage of PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin (2001) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in U.S. Men’s Professional Golf, 1997-2023 | Aman Misra, PhD student |
| 9:50 a.m. | Trivia with prizes | Trivia via Kahoot! App (download the Kahoot! app) |
| 10 a.m. | The Balance Act: Media Start-Ups are Seeing Normative Roles and Audiences in a New Light | Abiose Adams, PhD student |
| 10:10 a.m. | “Young Lady”: The Role of Women in the Production of the Oak Ridge Journal, 1943-44 | Professor Amber Roessner, Joel Moroney, PhD student |
| 10:20 a.m. | Can Ethnic Appeals Facilitate Image Repair? An Experiment. | Assistant Professor Oluseyi Adegbola |
| 10:30 a.m. | Positive Norm Development in Philanthropic Organizations | Aurora Silavong, master’s student, and Assistant Professor Ryan Beaty |
| 11:10 a.m.-12:10 p.m. | Keynote: “Polarization and Connection in the Digital Media Age” – sponsored by Information Integrity Institute | Guest speaker Professor Natalie (Talia) Stroud |
| 12:15-1:15 p.m. | Lunch and Research in Progress Roundtables – CCI Scripps Lab, Ed Ingle Theater, COM 402 | Aiden Starcher (Children and Families) Md Ibnun Sarwar Rafi (Children and Families) Josie Dummer (Technology and Ethics) Nadia Khalique (Technology and Ethics) Professor Mark D. Harmon (Communication with Publics) Traci Lively (Communication with Publics) |
| 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Poster Session and Research Mixer – fourth floor SIS lobby in the Communication and Information Building | Variety of presenters |
| 2:30 p.m. | Diversity on BookTok: A Counterhegemonic Solution to Lack of Diverse Authors in Traditional Publishing | Kiimberly Showalter, PhD student |
| 2:40 p.m. | Shaping Health Identity: Supportive Communication for Young Breast Cancer Survivors | Sana Boghani, master’s student |
| 2:50 p.m. | Consumer Cognitive Motivation in Sustainable Product Purchase | Mokhlisur Rahman, PhD student |
| 3 p.m. | Understanding The Effects of Customer Aggression: The Untold Abuse Within Our Customer-Facing Service Industries | Matthew Billings, Undergraduate student |
| 3:10 p.m. | Trivia with prizes | Trivia via Kahoot! App (download the Kahoot! app) |
| 3:20 p.m. | Developing a Role for Communication Professionals at Institutes of Higher Education | Amanda Womac, PhD student |
| 3:30 p.m. | Holding the Rhythm: Trust, Failure, and Growth in Leadership Transition | Traci Livey, PhD student |
| 3:40 p.m. | Artificial Intelligence and Congressional Website Items | Professor Mark Harmon and Lindsey Cormack, Stevens Institute of Technology |
| 3:50 p.m. | Metadata Matters: DarwinCore Implementation for Biodiversity Data | Professor Wade Bishop and master’s students Emily Braker, Talia Karim, Kit Lewers |
| 4 p.m. | Close | Associate Professor Emily Paskewitz |
Research Advisory Committee for 2026
- Jeannette Iannacone
- Oluseyi Adegbola
- Awa Zhu
- Jiangen He
- Martin Riedl
- Shiyu Yang
- Ryan Beaty
- Elizabeth Carlson
- Ariel Newell
- Kat Capstick
- Emily Paskewitz
Past Research Symposiums
- 47th Annual Research Symposium – March 27, 2025
- 46th Annual Research Symposium – February 8, 2024
- 45th Annual Research Symposium – February 23, 2023
- 44th Annual Research Symposium – February 24, 2022
- 43rd Annual Research Symposium – March 1, 2021
- 42rd Annual Research Symposium – February 11, 2020
- 41st Annual Research Symposium – February 11, 2019
- Additional past symposiums
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