Graduate Student Professional Development

The Department of Communication provides a wide range of opportunities for professional development. In addition to the graduate coursework, many students actively participate in research labs and groups led by faculty mentors. Here are some examples:

• Communication and Emerging Media Lab co-directed by Drs. Nojin Kwak and Yini Zhang
• Media Psychology & Morality Lab directed by Dr. Lindsay Hahn
• Social Well-Being (Swell) Lab directed by Dr. David Lee
• The Media Effects, Misinformation, and Extremism (MEME) Lab directed by Dr. Yotam Ophir
• Communication Science Center directed by Dr. Mark Frank
• Narrative Lab directed by Dr. Melanie Green
• The Qualitative Research Understanding and Qualitative Method Inquiry (QRU-QMI) group directed by Dr. Kelly Tenzek 

We also host brown bag research colloquia on a regular basis, where we invite leading scholars to share their recent work in communication science and related fields with our faculty and graduate students. Examples of recent speakers include:

• Dr. Srivi Ramasubramanian, New House Professor and Endowed Chair at Syracuse University, “Data Justice Principles and Practices in Community-Engaged Communication Scholarship”
• Dr. Benjamin Sovacool, Founding Director of the Institute for Global Sustainability and Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University, “The Sociotechnical Dynamics of Negative Emissions, Carbon Removal, and Solar Geoengineering”
• Dr. Marie-Louise Mares, Professor of Communication Arts at University of Wisconsin-Madison, “Mutual Influence during Media Moments: LGBTQ+ Teens and Their Parents Use Media to Navigate Identity”
• Dr. Matthew Grizzard, Associate Professor of Communication at The Ohio State University, “Experimentally Testing Zillman’s Affective Disposition Theory: A 5-Year Research Program”
• Dr. Jiyoun Suk, Assistant Professor of Communication at University of Connecticut, “Networked Communication, Hashtag Activism, and Gender Justice”
• Dr. Laura Rickard, Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism at the University of Maine, “Fish tales: Exploring public support for (and opposition to) aquaculture through risk communication”
• Dr. Hoon Lee, Associate Professor of Journalism and Communication at KyungHee University in South Korea, “The Dunning-Kruger Effect of YouTube”

All MA and PhD students will be invited to join the Communication Graduate Student Association (CGSA) at the graduate program orientation and have opportunities to take an active role to serve the community in various positions. CGSA is affiliated with the Graduate Student Association (GSA) at UB and organizes academic and social events throughout the year. CGSA leadership also sends a representative to attend faculty meetings to help voice student concerns and advocate for beneficial causes. CGSA also works closely with the Director of Graduate Studies to design and facilitate professional development workshops. Recent workshops include topics such as:

• Job search within and beyond academia
• Qualtrics online research platform
• Attending professional conferences
• Building online scholarly profiles
• Developing Academic CVs
• Making compelling research presentations
• Stress management in graduate school