Penn State students earn research recognitions at communications conference

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. — This March, nine Penn State Schuylkill students presented original research at the Eastern Communication Association’s (ECA) James C. McCroskey and Virginia P. Richmond Undergraduate Scholars Conference. Under the guidance of Valerie Schrader, professor of communication arts and sciences, these students, along with one University Park student, presented 21 individual research projects at the conference. Two Schuylkill students received awards at the conference: Sarah Tran earned a Top Paper Award and Lily Kreiser earned a Top Poster Award. Penn State Schuylkill was also recognized as having the second-highest number of students presenting at ECA’s Undergraduate Scholars Conference this year.

The ECA conference was held March 26-30 in Buffalo, New York. ECA is the oldest professional communication association in the country with a history of achievement in research, criticism, communication theory and teaching. Penn State Schuylkill’s undergraduate scholars have presented work at the conference since 2013, and in 2017, Penn State Schuylkill was recognized as a Top School at the Undergraduate Scholars Conference.

In addition to the students, two Schuylkill faculty members, Janelle Gruber, lecturer and program coordinator of corporate communication, and Valerie Schrader, professor of communication arts and sciences, presented work at the conference. Gruber presented on a work-in-progress project where she explores teachable moments in the children’s television show “Bluey.” Schrader presented on mentoring undergraduate students conducting research with the Applied Communication Interest Group, as well as a co-authored, in-progress piece on rewriting women’s history stories through musical theatre with Jessica Neu of Carlow University. A distinguished teaching fellow of the organization, Schrader also served as chair and respondent for several panels for different interest groups.

This year, in addition to attending and presenting at the conference, the students participated in a side trip to see Niagara Falls, where they viewed the falls from the observation tower at Niagara Falls State Park. This, as well as their travel, was made possible in part due to a fall funding campaign in which donors contributed to ECA student travel.

Erik Dubbs, a fourth-year student who will graduate with his bachelor of arts in corporate communication this spring, reflected on his participation in the conference.

“ECA was such a memorable experience,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect going there for the first time, but the academic environment gave me a new perspective on research. The conference was such a great experience, and I wish I had the opportunity to do it again.”

Schrader also commented on the value of working with the undergraduate researchers who attended ECA this year. 

“One of the greatest benefits of being at a small campus like Schuylkill is being able to work one-on-one with amazing students like my ECA undergraduate research team,” Schrader said. “They are incredible students doing important work in areas like health communication, rhetoric, media studies, and social movement leadership. I’m so proud to be their mentor, and we are very grateful to the donors who helped provide financial support for these students to participate in the conference this year.”

The 2025 Penn State Schuylkill ECA Undergraduate Scholars:

Ivy Daniels
Daniels presented a paper entitled “Applying Burkean Identification to ‘Modern Family’” on a panel called “Redefining Relationships and Realities: Exploring Identity, Class, and Inclusivity in Contemporary Media.” She completed this paper as part of her honors option in “CAS 404: Conflict Negotiation and Resolution.” 

Daniels is a fourth-year student majoring in nursing with a minor in communication arts and mass media. This was her first communication conference.

Erik Dubbs
Dubbs is the first Penn State Schuylkill student to present four different research projects at the same ECA conference. His first project, “Look At Me! I’m VIP!: Applying Facework to the Pressure for Prestige in Roblox’s ‘Dress To Impress’” was presented as part of a panel with the Media Communication Interest Group and his second project, “Every Family Has Its Flaws: Facework, Family Values, and Teenage Angst in ‘Beetlejuice,’” was presented as part of a panel with the Rhetoric & Public Address Interest Group. His third project, “Drag Battles in Schuylkill County: A Discussion of Public Memory” was presented as a poster and is based on research he is currently conducting in “CAS 204: Research Methods in Communication.” Dubbs’ final project, “It’s You. It’s Me. It’s ‘Us’: Applying Social Constructionism to Jordan Peele’s Horror Flick ‘Us,’” was presented on a panel entitled “Redefining Relationships and Realities: Exploring Identity, Class, and Inclusivity in Contemporary Media.” Dubbs completed this project in “CAS 303: Communication Theory” as a first-year student and revised and updated it for submission to the 2025 conference.

Dubbs is a fourth-year student majoring in corporate communication with a minor in psychology. This is his second communication conference; he previously presented work at the Pennsylvania Communication Association conference that was held at Penn State Schuylkill in September.

Isabella Frederick
Frederick presented a project entitled “‘All Alone in Your Busyhead:’ How Burkean Identification Fosters a Sense of Community in Noah Kahan’s 'Stick Season – Forever’ Album,” as a poster. Frederick worked on the research for this project outside of course credit under Schrader’s guidance.

Frederick is a second-year student double-majoring in neuroscience and English. This was her first communication conference.

Joe Freeston
Freeston presented a project entitled, “Black Mirror, Clear Reflections: Narrative Theory and Dystopian Storytelling in the TV Series ‘Black Mirror,’” as a poster. Freeston worked on the research for this project outside of course credit under Schrader’s guidance.

Freeston is a third-year student majoring in psychology at University Park. This was his first communication conference.

Lily Kreiser
Kreiser presented three projects at the ECA conference this year: “Dressed, But Not Impressed: Bullying in Roblox’s ‘Dress to Impress’” as part of a panel with the Media Communication Interest Group, “‘I’m the Ghost with the Most, Babe:’ Relational Dialectics in ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’” as part of a panel with the Rhetoric & Public Address Interest Group, and “Examining Hegemony in Medical Ethics through a Rhetorical Analysis of ‘Miss Evers’ Boys,’” which she presented as a poster. Her poster was ranked third out of all 43 posters presented at the conference, and she received a Top Poster Award at the Undergraduate Scholars Dinner.

Kreiser is a second-year student majoring in nursing with a minor in communication arts and mass media. This is her second communication conference; she previously presented work at the Pennsylvania Communication Association conference that was held at Penn State Schuylkill in September.

Mikayla Kupstas
Kupstas presented two projects at the conference. Her first project, “Examining Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory in the Prevention of Suicide in ‘Call the Midwife’: A Rhetorical Analysis,” was presented as a poster and is based on research she is currently doing for her honors option in “CAS 215: Argumentation.” Her second project, “Changing the Pattern of Maleficence Using Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’” was presented on a panel entitled “Navigating Ideologies, Power, and Identity in Popular Culture: Critical Perspectives on Media, Myth, and Morality.” She completed this paper as part of her honors option in “CAS 404: Conflict Negotiation and Resolution.”

Kupstas is a fourth-year student majoring in nursing with a minor in communication arts and mass media. This was her third communication conference, as she presented research at the 2023 ECA conference in Baltimore, Maryland and the 2024 conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Lily McDonald
McDonald presented a poster entitled “Socially Constructing the Devil and his Mistresses: A Rhetorical Analysis of ‘The Witch’” at the conference. She is currently completing this project as part of her “CAS 496” honors independent study focusing on social constructionism and health communication.

McDonald is a fourth-year student majoring in biology with a minor in communication arts and mass media. This was her third communication conference, as she presented research at the 2023 ECA conference in Baltimore, Maryland, and the 2024 conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jenalise Muir
Muir presented three projects at the conference: “Five Stars or Bust: Digital Validation in Roblox’s ‘Dress to Impress’” as part of a panel with the Media Communication Interest Group, “‘All You Gotta Do is Say His Name:’ Burkean Identification in ‘Beetlejuice: The Musical’” as part of a panel with the Rhetoric & Public Address Interest Group, and “Burkean Identification and ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’” as a poster.

Muir is a second-year student majoring in nursing with a minor in communication arts and mass media. This was her second communication conference; she previously presented work at the Pennsylvania Communication Association conference that was held at Penn State Schuylkill in September.

Scarlet Tejada Rodriguez
Tejada Rodriguez presented a paper entitled “Daenerys Targaryen’s Use of Radical Feminism and Social Movement Strategies in ‘Game of Thrones’” on the panel “Navigating Ideologies, Power, and Identity in Popular Culture: Critical Perspectives on Media, Myth, and Morality.” She completed this project in “CAS 215: Argumentation” as part of her honors option when she was a first-year student; she revised and updated the paper for submission to the 2025 conference.

Tejada Rodriguez is a fourth-year student majoring in nursing. This was her first communication conference.

Sarah Tran
This year, Tran presented three projects at ECA: “Discussing Death: ‘Beetlejuice,’ Invitational Rhetoric, and Engaging in Conversations about Death” as part of a panel with the Rhetoric & Public Address Interest Group, “The Strength of Bonds: A Rhetorical Analysis of Friendship in ‘Dead Poets Society’ through Rawlins’ Relational Dialectics” as a poster, and “Steps to Inclusivity and Correcting Harmful Stereotypes in Televised Drag Shows: A Rhetorical Analysis of Relational Dialectics and Burkean Identification in ‘Dragula’” as a paper on the Top Four Paper Panel of the Undergraduate Scholars Conference. Tran wrote this paper as part of her honors option in “CAS 404: Conflict Negotiation and Resolution.” Her paper was ranked among the top four papers out of the 51 papers presented at the conference and she received a Top Paper Award at the Undergraduate Scholars Dinner.

Tran is a fourth-year student majoring in biology with a minor in communication arts and mass media. This was her third communication conference, as she presented research at the 2023 ECA conference in Baltimore, Maryland, and the 2024 conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

To learn more about the Penn State Schuylkill ECA Undergraduate Scholars Team, please contact Schrader. Information about ECA can be found on the ECA website, and details about undergraduate research opportunities at Penn State Schuylkill can found online.