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  • Page ID
    247432
    • Victoria Newsom and Desiree Ann Montenegro
    • Olympic College and Cerritos College

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    VictNewsom_Photo.jpgoria Newsom, Ph.D. is a Professor of Communication Studies at Olympic College. She is the primary author of all materials in this course, and provides them at no cost to students as part of the Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative. Dr. Newsom teaches a variety of courses at Olympic College, including Introduction to Communication, Public Speaking, Small Group Communication, Introduction to Popular Communication, Digital Communication, Gender Communication, and Intercultural Communication. In addition to her teaching duties at Olympic College, Dr. Newsom also serves as faculty advisor to students at Olympic College interested in pursuing degrees and careers in communications.

    Dr. Newsom grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, which gave her insight that helps guide her interest and focus on political communication and rhetoric. Setting out to be a political journalist, her undergraduate work was a double major in political science and history, with a minor in broadcast communications. Her undergraduate work and multiple internships in DC area media institutes led her to pursue more documentary and performative approaches to political and historical analyses. After completing her B.A., she worked for a time as a professional historical interpreter and character performer at Colonial Williamsburg, an internationally renowned living history museum in Williamsburg, VA. There, she was sought out and invited to apply into the Bowling Green State University Master's program in Popular Culture Studies, where she completed both her M.A. in Popular Culture, and went on to complete her Ph.D. in Communication Studies. From there, she moved to Los Angeles, where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses at several universities, before joining the faculty at Olympic College.

    Dr. Newsom is a prolific researcher in the Communication Studies academic field. Her research centers on the negotiation of power, gender, and identity in performative and communication contexts. Her current projects include work in media activism, peace studies, Islamophobia studies, postcolonial feminism(s), performative pedagogies, fan and media studies, and cultural studies-grounded analyses of transnational policy making. Along with presenting at regional, national, and international conferences, she has published articles in, among others, International Journal of Communication, Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Global Media Journal, Communication Studies, Communication Yearbook, Journal of International Women's Studies,Feminist Media Studies, iMex: México Interdisciplinario / Interdisciplinary Mexico, French Journal for Media Research, and Women & Language.Victoria's current research and activist interests focus on the preservation of human rights and human dignity, and the intersection of post-truth media and consumerism. Victoria is also particularly dedicated to curriculum and pedagogy development and assessment in the areas of digital and critical literacies.

    Dr. Newsom is also leading several current initiatives on understanding the communication processes involved in navigating the novel coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic. She currently serves as a co-investigator in an international study on the "Impact of Media Reporting and Public Health Communication on Risk Perceptions and Health Behaviors about Novel SARS-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-Cov-2) and the COVID-19 Pandemic." She is also serving as a co-editor for an academic journal initiative in Covid-19 research, "Strategic Narratives in Political and Crisis Communication: Responses to Covid-19." More information on that project is available at https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/13663/strategic-narratives-in-political-and-crisis-communication-responses-to-covid-19. 143

    DesirePhotograph of Desiree Ann Montenegro, MAe Ann Montenegro, MA is an instructor at several Universities and Colleges in California and affiliate faculty with the California Department of Corrections. Desiree specializes in working with underprivileged, first-generation, and at-risk student populations, including students with disabilities. Desiree earned her MA in Communication Studies, at California State University of Los Angeles, where she began to focus her instructional and activist interests in at-risk populations. As an instructor in the greater Los Angeles area, Desiree focuses her teaching and research on reaching at-risk, and particularly prison-based populations. Desiree has also worked to promote disability awareness in General Education instruction, beginning when she worked closely with the general education coordinator at CSULA to provide all adjunct faculty and student teachers Disability Awareness Training while still a graduate student. Desiree has presented guest lectures at numerous universities on topics including Disability Awareness Communication and Social Support for Women at Risk, Gender, and effective/strategic communication restoring peace and security in turbulent times.

    In 2012, she entered civil service working for the U.S. government first for the Marine Corps and then for the Air Force, specializing in Communication Processes and Public Affairs. First assigned to the Marine Corps Installations West (MCIWEST) at Camp Pendleton in California. Desiree worked as a consultant in Information Technologies providing critical support at a time of organizational change. In her next assignment at Cannon Air Force Base, 27th Special Operations Wing in Eastern New Mexico she served as a Public Affairs Specialist and community liaison producing accurate and timely content for national and international distribution. Her work received national recognition as she was awarded the title Wing Staff Civilian of the Quarter for her local accomplishment and Air Force Civilian Print Journalist of the Year in the United State Air Force Media Contest, as well as contributing to her department receiving the Website in the Air Force award. As a woman and minority civil servant, she learned firsthand the justification for reaching and serving at-risk populations through education and effective communication efforts and how limits and challenges could be eliminated through the successful implementation of these processes. As a communication expert and educator, she continues to work in the college, university, and correctional education systems to contribute to facilitating access to education and the betterment of at-risk populations.

    Contributing Authors and Content Creators

    Lara Martin Lengel, Ph.D. is a professor in the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she served as department Chair from 2007-2011 and where she teaches online and face-to-face upper-level undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. Lara is dedicated to social and economic justice and is therefore excited to participate in the production of Open Educational Resource materials.

    Michelle F. Yeung, Ed.D. is a Research and Educational Applications Analyst and Intercultural Pedagogy Consultant at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. She works with faculty and administrators to improve research, instructional technology usage, and operationalization of technologies on campus, as well as creating and implementing policies and protocols. She is dedicated to accessible educational technology use.

    Select Recent Publications

    Newsom, V. (in press, 2021). Contained Empowerment: The Liminal Nature of Contemporary Feminisms and Activisms. Gender and Activism Book Series edited by Loubna H. Skalli & Kathalene Razzano. Book under contract with Lexington Books.

    Newsom, V., & Lengel, L. (Eds.). (in press, 2021). Embodied Activisms: Performative Expressions of Political and Social Action. Book under contract with Lexington Books.

    Lengel, L., Montenegro, D., Newsom, V., & Tolofari, A. (in press, 2021). Risk Mitigation for Gender-Based Violence Prevention During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Women’s NGOs in Nigeria. Journal of African Media Studies.

    Newsom, V., Lengel, L., and Yeung, M. (2020). Alt-right masculinities: Construction and commodification of the ethno-nationalist anti-hero. Women & Language.

    Montenegro, D. (2020). Reaching at-risk student populations during a pandemic: The impacts of Covid-19 on prison education. Frontiers in Communication.

    Lengel, L. & Newsom, V. (2020). Contested Border Crossings in Shifting Political Landscapes: Anti-Invasion Discourses and Human Trafficking Representations in US Film and Politics. iMex: México Interdisciplinario / Interdisciplinary Mexico, 9, 18.

    Lengel, L., Newsom, V., & Cassara, C. (2019). Transcending Essentialisation and Discursive Strategies of In/Visibility: Gender mainstreaming and MENA women in the media / Transcender l’essentiel et les stratégies discursives d’in/visibilité: Politique d'intégration du genre et des femmes du Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord dans les Médias. French Journal for Media Research, n°11/2019. ISSN: 2264-4733.

    Newsom, V., Yeung, M. & Newcomer, H. (2019). Democratizing Evidence in Evaluating Learning: Assessing Impacts of Academic Support Services on Student Outcomes. Online Repository of the American Educational Research Association Annual Convention.

    Newsom, V., Lengel, L., & Kowalski, A. (2018). Strategic Narratives and Essentialising Visualisations: A Decade of the Affective, Embodied Activism of FEMEN. In Bakan, U. (Ed.). Visual Production in the Cyberspace: A Theoretical and Empirical Overview (pp. 1-36). London: Macro World Publishing (MWP), Communication Series. Lead Chapter after introductory chapter.

    Newsom, V., Yeung, M., & Herman, A. (2018). Critical Forensic Literacy: Pathways to Implementation. EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Meeting 2018 Resource List. Electronic publication, https://events.educause.edu/~/media/...ementation.pdf.