Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State

08/18/2026

The Department of Communication Arts and Sciences is celebrating its graduating seniors this week! The undergraduate program wishes to recognize the following students for their academic success and many contributions to our learning community: Mariya Petrosky, Hari Thumati, Nayeli Torres, Shengxi Wu, and Gretchen De Krellis.

Congratulations to these CAS students on their college graduation! We are grateful for everything they have contributed, inside and outside of the classroom, to our undergraduate program and wish them much success in their future endeavors. Best wishes for a bright future ahead.

08/17/2026

The Communication Arts and Sciences Department is proud to announce that two of our former PhD students were ‘hooded’ at a graduation ceremony on Saturday, August 15. Dr. Nhung Vu was hooded by her advisor, Dr. Andy High. Dr. Michael Delayo was hooded by his co-advisors, Dr. Michele Kennerly and Dr. Debra Hawhee. (Image taken by Dr. Hawhee, who isn’t pictured.) Congratulations, Nhung Vu and Michael Delayo. Well done, advisors!

08/07/2026

A recent story published by the College of Liberal Arts profiles the students and CAS faculty who participated in the Culture of Democratic Deliberation in Ireland study abroad course this past May. Led by CAS Teaching Professor Jessica O’Hara and Associate Teaching Professor Johan Bodaski, Penn State students gained insight into Irish traditions and social practices that shape democratic life in that nation. To learn more about the study abroad course and the students’ experiences, visit

A group of 24 Penn State students traveled to Ireland this summer for the faculty-led program, “The Culture of Democratic Deliberation in Ireland.”

07/16/2026

Athena Lee successfully defended her M.A. thesis on June 10! The thesis was titled “A Rhetorical Analysis of Religious and Environmental Communication in the Laudato Si, Associate Professor Joshua Barnett served as Athena’s advisor, while Associate Professor Pamela VanHaitsma and Liberal Arts Professor Jeremy Engel rounded out her committee. Athena will continue in the CAS program this fall as a Ph.D. student.

07/15/2026

Sparks Professor Mary Stuckey has been selected as a finalist for the 27th Susanne M. Glasscock Book Prize for Remembering Jefferson: Who He Was, Who We Are. The Glasscock Book Prize is awarded each year by the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research at Texas A&M University. This prestigious award honors outstanding, original interdisciplinary research in the humanities that engages both scholarly and general audiences. The 27th prize will be awarded this fall to one of the five finalists. Congratulations, Mary, and good luck in the final round of evaluations.

Link: https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/glasscock/finalists-27bp/

07/14/2026

The CAS Department wants to congratulation Nhung Vu for two reasons. Nhung recently defended her dissertation titled, "The influence of individual mood, mood similarity, and mood convergence in supportive interactions", which considered multiple ways people's moods shape their perceptions of comforting conversations. The dissertation was advised by Professor Andrew High. She followed that successful defense by landing a job as an associate consultant in market research at ZS, which is a global management consulting and technology firm. Huge congratulations, Nhung!

07/01/2026

If you are looking for an opportunity to consider the United States’ founding over the holiday weekend, listen to these podcasts featuring CAS faculty!

Dr. Mary Stuckey was featured on the podcast “New Books in Political Science” for her book Remembering Jefferson: Who He Was, Who We Are (listen here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/remembering-jefferson.

Dr, Jeremy Engels was featured on a "Democracy Works" podcast for his book, On Mindful Democracy: A Declaration of Interdependence to Mend a Fractured World (listen here: https://www.democracyworkspodcast.com/episodes/jeremy-david-engels).

These books and the insightful commentary by their authors will give you plenty to think about over the weekend as you enjoy the fireworks and contemplate what democracy and nationhood mean.

06/29/2026

On June 18, MA student Dana Walden successfully defended her Master's Thesis, "Intercommunalist Pedagogy: A Rhetorical Perspective on the Education Practices of the Black Panther Party." Focused on the 1970s, the project examines the rhetorical history of the Oakland Community School and how its leaders negotiated the constrained potential of schooling as a vehicle for revolutionary change.

Dana was advised by Dr. Michael Steudeman with Dr. Rosa Eberly and Dr. Lisa Flores serving on her committee. Congratulations to Dana for her work on this project! We wish her well as she begins her PhD program with CAS this Fall.

06/26/2026

Over 25 CAS teaching faculty members attended the department’s second Faculty Homecoming celebration on June 17-19 in State College. The event brought residential and remote faculty members together for professional development and reflection upon teaching needs, opportunities, and challenges in CAS. Participants engaged their colleagues in discussions on the incorporation of generative AI and AI literacy in the classroom, maintaining high standards for academic integrity, strategies for grading and managing student feedback, best practices for self-reflection, and innovative activity ideas for teaching CAS 100. Faculty Homecoming was sponsored by the CAS department and the College of Liberal Arts.

06/26/2026

We are pleased to invite individuals to attend "From Households to Habitats: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Human–Environment Interaction," a day-long symposium on Friday, September 11, 2026. The symposium will feature four interdisciplinary research projects currently in process and four distinguished scholars working at the intersection of communication, science, and society.

Hosted by the Communication Arts & Sciences Department and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, this symposium will be an exciting way to kick off the academic year. We encourage anyone with interests in communication, science, and society, and interdisciplinary scholarship more generally, to attend.

Please RSVP by Friday, August 14, 2026. We hope to see you there. NOTE: If you have difficulty accessing the contents of the pdf please contact Allison Savage ([email protected]) for more detailed information.

Link to registration: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_245wS7IFs6yLFLU