Department of Communication Studies at U of Iowa

08/26/2026

Department chair Kembrew McLeod came into the Communication Studies office today wearing a Dolly Parton shirt, and he was pleasantly surprised to find a shrine to the Queen of Country, her music playing in the background, and two colleagues were also wearing shirts in her honor. We will always love you, Dolly!

05/12/2026

Iowa alumni win 2026 Pulitzer Prizes for memoir, fiction. Yiyun Li (left) and Daniel Kraus (right) take top honors; two other graduates were named finalists in fiction and history.

Kraus graduated in 1997 with a BA in communication studies and is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film.

What a great testament to our program, faculty, and literacy excellence at Iowa!

05/09/2026

“Loud budgeting” is gaining traction as people become more transparent about their spending choices, setting boundaries, prioritizing goals, and rethinking financial habits.

In a recent WalletHub article, Professor Kate Magsamen-Conrad of the Department of Communication Studies at U of Iowa offers perspective on how communication influences these decisions, and why openly talking about money is becoming more common.

05/08/2026

04/29/2026

Big congrats to our own Associate Professor Rachel McLaren on receiving a highly competitive Collegiate Teaching Award! 🎉

The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences honored six faculty members for outstanding impact in the classroom and beyond — and McLaren’s work stands out. Through experiential, discussion-driven teaching, she equips students with communication skills they carry into real life: relationships, workplaces, and communities.

Well deserved! 👏

04/24/2026

Meet our Internship Spotlight: Avah! ✨

Avah is spending her summer with Mortenson as a Solar Marketing Intern, supporting both the marketing and business development teams. From planning events and creating graphic design materials to conducting market research, she’s gaining hands-on experience across multiple areas. She’s also collaborating across teams and partnering with organizations, building strong communication and project coordination skills along the way. Through this experience, Avah is becoming more confident and adaptable in a fast-paced team environment as she prepares for her future career.

We love seeing our Comm Studies students thrive!

04/14/2026

Last month, several of our graduate students attended the 2026 Society for Cinema & Media Studies annual conference. Each student gave presentations at the conference, highlighting their work and research in the field.

We're proud to see their hard work, creativity, and perspectives in action! Congratulations to all who presented and keep up the great work!

03/30/2026

Today is the official release of Professor Emerson Cram's podcast Disability Ecologies!

The podcast will center around telling the story of the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm in Iowa City. Several topics will be discussed throughout, including historical land use, disability culture, food justice, and more. It includes five episodes, which are narrated/written by Professor Cram, and will be released weekly.

Tune in today for part one of episode one at noon, followed by part two at 1pm!

03/16/2026

New podcast alert! 🎧🎙️

Associate professor Emerson Cram will soon be releasing weekly episodes for a new podcast series: Disability Ecologies!

Disability Ecologies tells the story of the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm by reconstructing the networks of medicine, law, and social services that shaped its lifespan, and efforts by the county and community since the 1970s to preserve its stories and imagine the site anew.

Professor Cram will then use the work for future projects, one for disability studies/environmental humanities scholars, and the other targeted for public humanities researchers interested in using podcasting as a public humanities method.

The trailer comes out today with the first episode --- History is a Story --- releasing on March 30.

Great work, Emerson! We cannot wait to listen!!

Tap the Linktree in our bio to listen to the teaser.

03/11/2026

Mark your calendar! One Day for Iowa, the University of Iowa's 24-hour online giving day, is Wednesday, March 25! 1day.uiowa.edu