The Eastern Communication Association (ECA) hosted its 116th annual convention the last weekend of March, and four SUNY Brockport undergraduate students were in attendance to present their work.
Caitlyn DeLuca, Taylor Boehm, Jadyn Brummert and Paige Kingsley accompanied communications associate professor and chair Dr. Elizabeth Thorpe to the ECA convention in Buffalo to showcase their research papers and network with other undergraduate presenters. This was also an opportunity for the students to meet faculty from other institutions to consider their options for graduate school and future careers.
The undergraduate research portion of ECA is highlighted as the main opportunity for students to showcase their work in the field of rhetoric and communications studies. There are poster sessions to give visual versions of long-term research, and oral presentations to convey abbreviated outlines of papers as long as 25 pages. The four SUNY Brockport students in attendance all were part of the oral presentations.
The topics for the papers varied from studies on specific pop culture media to political rhetoric and messaging, but each of the students that submitted work to this conference had worked long and hard on their papers. DeLuca, for example, had initially written her rhetoric theory paper for communications class.
“I wrote a paper for my theories of rhetoric in the fall 2024 semester for Dr. Thorpe’s class, and she thought that I did such a good job that I might be able to submit it to this conference. I wasn’t sure about it, but then I looked into it and realized it would be really great for my resume,” DeLuca said.
DeLuca presented her own personal rhetorical theory on a panel of four other undergraduate scholars, grouped together by their common themes of propaganda and persuasion studies. This is how all the undergraduate sessions were organized, and it presented the opportunity to immediately network with those that had similar academic interests and goals.
Many think communications is a field of study that is widely misunderstood because of how vague it can be. However, this is what makes the field so versatile. It can be personal rhetorical theory, or it can be political rhetoric applied to current events or it could be an analysis of pop culture as a propaganda tool. All these concepts were represented in the SUNY Brockport presentations at ECA with passion.
This was the first time that these students had presented work in such a professional setting. Taylor Boehm, who had written his paper on Wonder Woman as feminist propaganda, was nervous about the event because of how new the experience was.
“Presenting at the conference was definitely a whirlwind of emotions. I was excited and terrified, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that everyone is there to learn and not judge. It felt like a very safe space to present,” Boehm said. “This was my first time ever submitting work outside of a class, so it was very nerve wracking. Having it be accepted to a conference where they are looking for academic excellence was so validating.”
Dr. Thorpe, the professor that advised these students in their submissions, also attended the conference to present her own work and respond to other panels. The majority of her time, of course, was also spent supporting her mentees in their first convention presentations and being their biggest cheerleader.
“There are a lot of things I like about my job. But my favorite thing about my job is probably watching students figure out that learning is valuable, and even enjoyable. There are hours of going over papers, and meetings, and looking through sources, but the payoff is immeasurable,” Thorpe said.
For these students, the conference had them considering what was going to come next in their career, whether that meant more schooling or finding a job in their prospective fields. This was the case for a lot of the students, not just those from SUNY Brockport, so there was a graduate studies fair at the convention.
This graduate studies fair also happened in tandem with the poster presentations sessions from both graduate and undergraduate scholars. DeLuca, as a double major in sports management and communications, took this opportunity to really network within the communications part of her studies.
“My main goal for coming here was to branch out into the communication field because I’ve kind of surrounded myself with the sports field these last four years. That was my primary major at first and then I made communications my second major. So, this weekend I just wanted to see what the field was about more and what I might do with it,” DeLuca said.
With plenty of panels to attend and scholars to rub elbows with, everyone had a pleasant experience hearing from their peers at other institutions and engaging in intellectual conversations within the communications field.
“The conference was an amazing experience, hearing so many students and professors present their research was inspiring. I left having gained an incredible amount of knowledge,” Boehm said.
If you’re curious about the work that brought these students to the ECA convention, you’ll have a chance to hear some of their work at a panel on Scholar’s Day. The panel will take place at 2 p.m. April 9 in the Fannie Barrier Williams Liberal Arts Building, so stop by if you’re interested and want to support your peers!
