The Florida State University community was treated to an authentic Korean experience as the Center for Global Engagement at FSU hosted Global Café: Korea, on Friday, Oct. 27, in tandem with the FSU School of Communication’s Media, Communication, and Cultural Studies: Asia-Pacific (MCCAP) Conference. 

The inaugural conference, which took place Oct. 26-27, focused on the phenomenon of Hallyu (the Korean wave of pop culture) and its impact on the global industry and encompassed the popular Korean cultural forms that have attracted global audiences in the past decades. The menu for Global Café: Korea featured a variety of Korean food for the FSU community and conference attendees to enjoy. 

“The conference was an interactive and exciting way to learn about the wave of Korean culture from experts in the field,” said Jaejin Lee, conference organizer and associate professor in the School of Communication. “Students had the opportunity to broaden their understanding of media from an international lens and find a basis for more research endeavors on the topic.

Conference attendees gained insights into the planning, creation and marketing of popular culture as well as genre, media production, advertising and promotion practices, media portrayals and audiences’ perceptions of the Korean wave.  

New York-based journalist Regina Kim served as the keynote speaker on Oct. 26 and presented on how Korean culture swept the world. She was followed by performances by Seoula System, a Tallahassee-based K-pop dance group.  

On Oct. 27, attendees heard from closing keynote speaker KyongYoon, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna, Canada, on rethinking the cultural hybridity of K-pop.  

“People at this conference engaged with the fascinating cultural phenomenon that is sweeping the globe,” said Steve McDowell, conference organizer and the John H. Phipps Professor of Communication, and assistant provost for International Initiatives at FSU. “From K-pop dances to guest speakers from South Korea, NYC, and Canada, there were many fun ways to experience the culture firsthand.” 

After the closing remarks at the MCCAP Conference, attendees received a Korean lunch in collaboration with the CGE’s Global Café: Korea. For $10, guests received a plate of dwaeji bulgogi, ssam (lettuce wraps), bean sprout salad, kimchi, steamed rice, a yakgwa (honey cookie) and a glass of boricha (barley tea), providing an opportunity for the FSU community immerse themselves in Korean culture. The event was hosted by Global Noles, a volunteer group supporting Global Exchanges, and the Center for Global Engagement. 

“Global Café is an exciting opportunity for students to experience and learn from other cultures through food, especially as we celebrate the importance of global experiences during International Education Month,” said Cindy Green, director of the Center for Global Engagement at FSU. “The collaboration with the MCCAP conference allows us connect our campus through internationalization and highlight FSU’s international community.” 

Applications to host a Global Café in spring 2024 are now open. International and multicultural groups interested in applying should email cge-programs@fsu.edu for more information.  

To learn more about the Center for Global Engagement and Global Café, visit cge.fsu.edu.  

For more information about the MCCAP conference, visit comm.cci.fsu.edu. 

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Florida State University Associate Professor of Communication Russell Clayton’s efforts to motivate students to discover their own creativity and excel in their careers have earned him the university’s most prestigious honor for teaching.

Clayton received FSU’s 2022-2023 Distinguished Teacher Award during the annual Faculty Awards Celebration April 25 at the Dunlap Champions Club. The award includes a $7,500 stipend.

“I have been fortunate to have several professors invest in me both professionally and personally during my academic journey,” Clayton said. “Because of these experiences, I recognize the value and importance of working with students in and out of the classroom. Facilitating their academic journeys and successes is extremely rewarding.”

Clayton’s student-centered approach to teaching allows students to take an active and participatory role in the learning process in courses such as Introduction to Mass Media, Quantitative Research Methods in Communication, Psychology in Advertising, and Mass Media Theory and Effects.

“The most beneficial and encouraging aspect of teaching has been helping unmotivated students discover their own creativity while designing research studies and creating industry-relevant projects,” Clayton said.

Also serving as director of the Cognition and Emotion Lab at the School of Communication, Clayton works to ensure students get applicable experiences outside the classroom. These experiences include conducting media psychophysiology studies, learning participant-researcher interaction skills, data extraction and analysis, and presenting at national and international conferences.

“Teaching should transcend the classroom,” Clayton said. “This is one reason as to why I work with undergraduate and graduate students in my research lab, where they can learn a variety of unique, hands-on skills while frequently serving as authors on journal submissions and conference presentations.”

Clayton’s research examines how people cognitively and emotionally interact with and respond to various media and technologies using psychophysiological, behavioral, self-report, and memory measures. The goal of his research is to provide recommendations into how media content and technologies can be used to advance human health and well-being. His award-winning research has been published in the leading journals in the field and he also serves on the editorial board for multiple flagship journals.

Clayton, who joined the faculty of the School of Communication in 2015 after earning his doctoral degree from the University of Missouri, previously received the FSU Undergraduate Teaching Award and the FSU Transformation Through Teaching Award, both in 2018.

“Students admitted in our school should all try to take a class with Dr. Clayton,” said Patrick Merle, associate professor and director of the School of Communication. “It will enhance their curriculum and test their limits. He sets high standards and helps students raise up to that level.”

Clayton said the most rewarding part of teaching is when students thank him for teaching them concepts that directly apply to their jobs.

“Many of the university teaching awards I have won are student-nominated,” Clayton said. “For students to perceive me as having a positive impact on their lives and to feel compelled to nominate me for this award and others is truly humbling and really special.”

Other outstanding FSU faculty members recognized at this year’s faculty awards were:

Outstanding Undergraduate Advising Award

Timothy McGann, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science
Mary Correia, College of Motion Picture Arts

Outstanding Teaching in the Major

Jamila Holcomb, Department of Human Development and Family Science
Marin Wenger, College of Criminology & Criminal Justice
Ed Hansen, Department of Psychology
Ronald E. Doel, Department of History
Tyler Towne, Psychology (Panama City)
Wendy Ritz, Business (Panama City)
Brenda Garner, Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship
Doug Norton, Department of Economics
Kari Adams, College of Music
Nathan Line, Dedman College of Hospitality

Foundational Course Excellence

Christopher Holmes, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science
Carrie Lee, Department of Economics
Michael Furman, Department of Classics
James Frederich, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Mark Zeigler, School of Communication

Outstanding Graduate Teaching

Jennifer Proffitt, School of Communication
Jonathan Epstein, College of Fine Arts
Eric Ludwig, College of Education
Nancy Gerber, Department of Art Education
Nancy Rogers, College of Music
Jeffrey Springer, College of Music
Jenny Root, College of Education
Jessi Halligan, Department of Anthropology

Community Engaged Teaching

Jessica Ridgway Clayton, Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship
Hank Bass, Department of Biological Science
Lyndsay Jenkins, College of Education

Inclusive Teaching and Mentoring

Charles Fleischer, College of Medicine
Tarez Graban, Department of English
Christine Andrews-Larson, College of Education
Rasheda Haughbrook, Department of Psychology

Innovation in Teaching

Zach Weston, Dedman College of Hospitality
Michael Bishop, Department of Philosophy
Matthew Pietryka, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy

Distinguished Teaching

Russell B. Clayton, School of Communication

Honors Thesis Mentor

Emily Lemmon, Department of Biological Science

Undergraduate Research Mentor

Patricia Born, College of Business

Graduate Faculty Mentor

Adrian Barbu, Department of Statistics
Hank Bass, Department of Biological Science
Pamela Keel, Department of Psychology
Lara Reglero, Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics
Lingjiong Zhu, Department of Mathematics

Distinguished Research Professor

James Kimbrell, Department of English
Washington Mio, Department of Mathematics
Kimberly Hughes, Department of Biological Science
Markus Huettel, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science

Developing Scholar

Justin Kennemur, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Derek Nee, Department of Psychology
James Palmer, Department of History
Alina Dana Weber, Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics

Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor

Lilian Garcia-Roig, Department of Art

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Florida State University will host a talk on Mamie Till-Mobley’s significant contributions as a public educator and activist during the second annual Emmett Till Archives Lecture Series.

Brandon M. Erby, assistant professor of writing, rhetoric and digital studies at the University of Kentucky, will present the “Educational Legacy of Mamie Till-Mobley” from 5:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in the Broad Auditorium at FSU’s Claude Pepper Center.

Erby’s research includes African American rhetoric, literacy and language studies, critical pedagogy and rhetorical history. He is currently writing a book about the activism, pedagogy and legacy of Till-Mobley.

Till-Mobley joined a national speaking tour sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) after the death of her son, Emmett Till, in the fall of 1955. She was determined to teach audiences about who her son was, how she raised him and how his story connected to a larger history of racism, violence and justice in the United States.

Erby’s talk will trace the pedagogical performances of Till-Mobley and insists she was a fervent believer in two things: teaching others and promoting educational initiatives to make sure her son’s name remained culturally relevant.

“Although Emmett Till’s death played a major role in how Till-Mobley is remembered and influenced the work that she would later do, it’s important to know her as more than a grieving mother who left her son’s casket open for the world to see,” Erby said. “I look forward to discussing this aspect of Till-Mobley’s legacy and highlighting how Till-Mobley’s work and memory continue to inform views about race, education and justice in the United States.”

This lecture was funded by the Emmett Till Lecture and Archives Fund, established by Davis Houck, Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Rhetorical Studies in the School of Communication at FSU.

“As a Tougaloo College graduate in the state capital of Jackson, Dr. Erby’s involvement with Mississippi’s civil rights history is personal,” Houck said. “With the recent Hollywood films putting Mamie Till-Mobley at the very center of her martyred son’s story, Dr. Erby’s re-centering of her in public and academic scholarship is much needed and most timely.”

Houck collaborated with FSU Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives to develop the Emmett Till Archives, which includes newspapers, magazines, oral histories, the records of civil rights organizations, photographs, government records, scholarly literature, creative works and other materials documenting the Till case and its commemoration, memorialization and discussion in scholarship and popular culture.

The archives are open to the public, with some materials currently available at bit.ly/TillDigitalArchives.

To learn more about FSU Libraries and Special Collections, visit lib.fsu.edu. To RSVP for The Emmett Till Archives Lecture, visit bit.ly/TillSeries2023.

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Florida State University’s Department of Art History, School of Communication and College of Communication and Information are co-sponsoring a series featuring short films produced by Indigenous filmmaking teams from around the world.

The series aims to honor Native American and Alaska Native heritage by exploring Indigenous relationships to place, kinship and reciprocity.

Seven episodes from the “Reciprocity Project” will be shown at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 23, in the Student Life Cinema. Initially scheduled for November 2022, the event was rescheduled due to Hurricane Nicole. Discussion will follow the screening, and a link to a recorded conversation between the filmmakers and producers will be provided.

The event is in-person, free and open to the public.

Facing a climate crisis, the “Reciprocity Project” embraces Indigenous value systems that have bolstered communities since the beginning of time.

Comprised of Taylor Hensel, Adam Mazo, Kavita Pillay and Tracy Rector, the series’ producing team believes that healing requires recognizing our relationship with Earth, “a place that was in balance for millennium.”

“I’ve never been a part of a project like this where it’s so collaborative,” Hensel said. “There’s so much love and joy as a part of the process. It sets a precedent for what’s possible, how these stories should be told.”

This short film series, made in partnership with Indigenous storytellers and their communities worldwide, invites learning time-honored Indigenous ways of being.

“These beautiful award-winning films were made by Indigenous filmmaking teams from around the world sharing dynamic stories of Indigenous resurgence and relationships to place and family,” said Kristin Dowell, associate professor of Indigenous Art & Film. “These films will move audiences and inspire everyone to think about creating more sustainable ways of being in the world.”

As citizens of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, Brit Hensel, director of “ᎤᏕᏲᏅ” (What They’ve Been Taught), and Taylor Hensel share a mutual devotion to their community. The devotion extends to all members of the Reciprocity team.

“It is important that this film included the perspectives of western and eastern Giduwa (Cherokee) people. Although our communities are separated by distance, our collaboration on this film offers a balanced perspective of what reciprocity means to our people and how it’s actualized in our lives,” Brit Hensel said. “This film was brought to life by a team of all Giduwa people, in front of and behind the camera, and was shot on lands that have shaped us.”

Episode 1: Diiyeghan naii Taii Tr’eedaa (We Will Walk the Trail of our Ancestors)
2021, Princess Daazhraii Johnson and Alisha Carlson (Gwich’in)

Episode 2: ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)
2022, Brit Hensel and Keli Gonzales (Cherokee Nation)

Episode 3: SŪKŪJULA TEI (Stories of my Mother)
2022, David Hernandez Palmar and Flor Palmar (Wayuu Iipuana)

Episode 4: Weckuwapasihtit (Those Yet to Come)
2022, Geo Neptune and Brianna Smith (Passamaquoddy)

Episode 5: Weckuwapok (The Approaching Dawn)
2022, Jacob Bearchum, Taylor Hensel, Adam Mazo, Chris Newell, Roger Paul, Kavita Pillay, Tracy Rector, and Lauren Stevens

Episode 6: Ma’s House
2022, Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock)

Episode 7: Pili Ka Moʻo
2021, Justyn Ah Chong and Malia Akutagawa (Kānaka Maoli)

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