Communication Studies Faculty Explore Media Influence in April 25 Gonzaga Guild Lecture

SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga University communication studies faculty Heather Crandall and Kristina Morehouse will discuss “Media’s Influence on How We See the World” at 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 25 in the McCarthey Athletic Center’s Herak Club Room. The public is welcome; the $20 fee includes lunch. Reservations are required; to register call 443-7228.

Morehouse and Crandall will discuss the ways in which mass media influence public opinion. With a background in journalism, Morehouse will explore the concepts of “fake news,” “bubbles,” and “alternative facts” that served to intensify the public’s feelings of distrust and antipathy toward the media after the 2016 election. Crandall’s work in media literacy touches on the use of internet memes as they contribute (or don’t) to new ways of informing citizens. She also will discuss how “hashtag activism” informs our thinking amid this rapidly changing media landscape.

Morehouse, who has a master’s degree in journalism from University of Kansas, teaches full time in Gonzaga’s undergraduate communication studies program and part time in its master’s program in communication and leadership studies. In the summer, she teaches ethnography and storytelling in the Gonzaga-in-Cagli program in Italy. Her scholarly interests include media and culture, storytelling, speech communication, ethnography, and writing. Prior to coming to Gonzaga, she taught at Whitworth University and worked as an editor and journalist for daily newspapers in Spokane and Kansas City, Missouri.

Crandall earned an interdisciplinary doctorate from Washington State University Her areas of concentration are American studies, communication, and rhetoric. She is specifically interested in visual rhetoric and social change, media literacy, and communication pedagogy. Crandall teaches courses in theorizing communication, small group communication, interpersonal communication, rhetoric, organizational communication, and public speaking.

The Greater Gonzaga Guild is an organization dedicated to raising awareness of Gonzaga’s scholarly and cultural contributions to the region. The Guild is open to all people interested in learning.

For more information, please contact Mary Joan Hahn, Gonzaga director of public and community relations, at (509) 313-6095 or via e-mail, hahn@gonzaga.edu.