News and Events

March - Dr. Aisha Durham was invited to serve as a distinguished faculty speaker for the College of Arts and Science's Trail Blazers Lecture Series. She gave her talk, "Belonging: Life Matters of the Home," at the University Club in Tampa.

October - Dr. Aisha Durham was featured in an article with CNN, “New Black-led shows are popping up. But they aren’t solving TV’s problems.”

October - Dr. Marleah Dean Kruzel's article, “The Patient and the Researcher Shares Her Uncertain Future and Lessons She’s Learned,” was featured in the Inherited Cancer Registry (ICARE)’s Fall 2024 Newsletter as their Community Spotlight.

February - Dr. Mariaelena Bartesaghi was interviewed by Faculti about her article, “Why critique should not run out of steam: a proposal for the critical study of discourse.”

March - Dr. Diana Leon-Boys was featured on an episode of the culturalstudies podcast, "Diana Leon-Boys on Elena of Avalor, Disney, transformational flexibility, Spanish, and theme parks."

April - Dr. Aisha Durham was featured on an episode of the culturalstudies podcast, "Aisha Durham on belonging, intersectionality, hip hop, poetry, Black autoethnography, and Beyoncé."

July - The Center for Sustainable Democracy, headed by Dr. Joshua Scacco, published the first episode of its podcast, By Conduct and Example, "Can we really make democracy sustainable?"

November - Dr. Marleah Dean Kruzel was featured in the podcast Patient Stories, on the episode “Navigating the Uncertainty of a BRCA Mutation.”

July - Dr. Aisha Durham was featured in a Ms. Magazine article on women in hip-hop culture.

June - Dr. Aisha Durham was featured in a Washington Post video on the history and meanings of "woke".

May - Dr. Aisha Durham was featured in the documentary, “Black Hair Documentary: Professional, Personal, and Pretty.” 

February - Dr. Aisha Durham was interviewed by Insider to take a look at the past 50 years of hip-hop, its evolution, political significance, and the power it possesses coming from marginzalized communities.

February - Dr. Aisha Durham talks Pharrel, fashion and Hampton Roads Hip Hop for The Times of London!

January - Evgeniya Pyatovskaya was recently interviewed by a Montreal newspaper Le Devoir about a new law that went into effect in December 2022 in Russia. The law covers so-called “traditional values” of Russia as a state – what they are, why it is needed. 

January - Dr. Mariaelena Bartesaghi alum Dr. Amaly Santiago had their research cited in the USF College of Arts and Sciences news bulletin, The HUB, titled, “Is advice to corporate women reinforcing stereotypes?”

September - Dr. Aisha Durham was featured in CNN's article, "On TV, the Black South is finally getting its due."

May - Dr. Aisha Durham was featured in the NCA's "Concepts and Praxis in Communication" video series on CRT.

May - Dr. Sonia Ivancic was featured on the "Place-Based Narrative Labor" episode of Money on the Left. 

March - Dr. Josh Scacco was quoted in TampaBay.Com's article, "Florida Limits COVID data to every 2 weeks, state says via meme."

February - Dr. Josh Scacco was mentioned in Newsweek's article, "Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger Face-Off With GOP Leaders in Very Public Feud."

December - Dr. Diana Leon-Boys was interviewed for an article in Allure, titled "Are All These Diverse Dolls Actually Making a Difference for Kids' Self-Esteem?"

October - A Stanford University study named Dr. Eric Eisenberg, Dr. Patrice Buzzanell, and Dr. Art Bochner as among 54 faculty members from the USF College of Arts and Sciences who are in the top 2% of cited scientists in the world.

August - Dr. Aisha Durham served as an advisor for the National Museum of African American Hisory, to curate the first multimedia hip-hop collection, chronicling  the development of the cuture for the Smithsonian Institute. The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap.

September - Dr. Ambar Basu was featured in an episode of Communication Matters: The NCA Podcast, titled "The Politics of Health and Healthcare: Communicating about Health in a Presidential Election Year."

June - Dr. Joshua Scacco was interviews by Café con Tampa.

June - Dr. Aisha Durham was quoted by the Tampa Bay Times for their article, "What does a raised fist mean in 2020?"

May - Brianna Cusanno was quoted by the Florida Phoenix for their article, "Fighting for living wages."

April – Dr. Joshua Scacco was quoted by WUSF NEWS for their article, "Census Officials: Delay Necessary For Accurate Population Count."

April – Dr. Wayne Garcia wrote a featured article for 83Degrees, titled "How USF faculty, students transition to online learning in the time of coronavirus."

February - Dr. Josh Scacco was featured in an episode of Communication Matters: The NCA Podcast, titled "2020 Iowa Caucus, Reflection from Campaigns & Elections Field Research."

January – Dr. Joshua Scacco was featured in a USF News article on his research trip with five USF students, to study the February Iowa caucuses.

December 19th - Rachel E. Dubrofsky has been mentioned in the Washington Post.

December 13th - Rachel E. Dubrofsky has been quoted by Gizmodo in the article Holy Shit, Reportedly regarding the harvest of data form mobile apps.

October 11th - Aisha Durham is participating in a three-year grant funded by The Glasscock Center for Humanities Research at Texas A&M University. The seminar grant, “#MeToo and the Transnational Politics of Social Media Feminism,” is directed by TAMU professors, Vanita Reddy (English) and Chaitanya Lakkimsetti (Sociology).

October 9th - Aisha Durham hosted author Angie Cruz during her campus visit October 7, 2019. Good Morning America announced the selection of Cruz’s new novel, Dominicana, to launch its new “Cover to Cover” Book Club.  Durham “produced” the video of Cruz that aired.

April 4 - Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky has been quotedby the Washington Post in the article Formal and casual White House photos show distance between Trump and increasingly diverse nation.

February 13 - Dr. Aisha Durham has been interviewed for the Oracle. The article titled Inclusive and Influential, discusses how Dr. Durham addresses the issues of women of color through what she and other scholars call ‘hip-hop feminism.’

January 22 - Dr. Aisha Durham was interviewed by 10 News discussing the petition she started which gained more than 30,000 signatures. 

January 9 - Faculty member Dr. Joshua Scacco was quoted in Pacific Standard Magazine about the president’s Oval Office address.

Dr. Aisha Durham was interviewed at the Tampa Theatre for WTSP10 by Emerald Morrow who wanted to discuss the cultural significance of the 2018 film, Black Panther, for the news broadcast. Sage tweeted "An Introduction to the Autoethnographic Method" by Dr. Aisha Durham. An Introduction to the Autoethnographic Method - SAGE Research Methods.

Dr. Navita James moderated and interviewed Harry Belafonte— and facilitated audience interaction--for the 2018 USF MLK Jr. event. View the USF article.

The Guardian article Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky was interviewed for was mentioned in today's edition of NCA Member News

Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky was interviewed by the Guardian for an article on "hipsterised racism"

Dr. Josh Scacco  was quoted in an article on ageism in local politics

Dr. Josh Scacco was quoted in a Washington Post article concerning the Florida U.S. Senate race.

Dr. Josh Scacco was featured on ABC Action News, to speak on the politicization of Red Tide.

Aph Ko makes the New York Times with her research and advocacy work about race and veganism.

Dr. Aisha Durham's book, Home with Hip Hop Feminism, is included on the "Lemonade Syllabus" under Black Feminist Studies. The syllabus was used at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's "Lemonade Week," exploring the topics explored in Beyonce's visual album.

Dr. Aisha Durham is featured on a WTSP discussing the importance of the new Wonder Woman movie.

Dr. Aisha Durham spoke with reporter Emerald Morrow of Tampa Bay's WTSP 10 News in an interview discussing the meaning and significance of Beyonce's "Formation" video and halftime performance at Super Bowl 50.

Dr. Aisha Durham took part in an interview with Tampa Bay's WTSP 10 News in which she discussed blackface and Halloween costumes

Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky was quoted in "Why are 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette' so white? Lifetime's 'UnREAL' explores the issue," an article in The Los Angeles Times.

Dr. Marleah Dean Kruzel had her story, "Marleah: Inspired By My Mom," featured by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Bring Your Brave" campaign. The campaign, centered around the experiences of young women affected by breast cancer and with an elevated genetic risk for breast cancer, seeks to to raise awareness and provide important health information for young women.

Dr. Aisha Durham discussed Home With Hip Hop Feminism: Performances in Communication and Culture as the featured scholar in an interview with New Books in Pop Music.

Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky was featured in an article in The Washington Post examining "hate-watching" as it relates to reality television

Dr. Aisha Durham discussed the intersections of technology and race in Complex's "Why Do All the Snapchat Filters Try to Make You Look White?"

Dr. Aisha Durham's work on hip-hop feminism was included as one of six "need-to-know" concepts contributing to feminist thought in a recent article by Resist Media

Dr. Aisha Durham was featured on a SAGE research methods tutorial video, outlining the autoethnographic method and sharing a demonstration of performance autoethnography.

Dr. Keith Berry discussed bullying and his new book, Bullied: Tales of Torment, Identity, and Youth, in an interview with Bay News 9

Dr. Marleah Dean Kruzel was featured on Tampa Bay's local Bay News 9 Station regarding her participation in the Center of Disease Control's (CDC) new Young Women & Breast Cancer campaign called "Bring Your Brave." Read the Bay News 9 story.

Dr. Aisha Durham describes Halloween minstrelsy for Haaretz, a leading international Israeli newspaper akin to the New York Times. Published in its Hebrew edition, the interview is based on Durham's recent Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies publication, "While Black: Millennial Race Play and the Post Hip-Hop Generation."

Luis Batista, a 2011 USF graduate, developed an app titles Idino

Aphrodite Kocieda's web series, "Tales from the Kraka Tower," is the subject of an article in Slate magazine. The online publication's article, "Awkward Black Girl Meets Academia in a Hilarious New Web Series," highlights Aphrodite's no-holds-barred examination of race, gender and class issues within institutions deemed to be free of them. In Kraka Tower's case, it is the Diversity department of a university where Aphrodite's character is a new arrival and the revelations about culture and humanity begin with her very first elevator ride.

Dr. Art Ramirez was quoted in a special to CNN, entitled "Why it's really possible to fall in love online."

Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky is quoted in Salon.com on Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 in an article on "The hipster racism of reality TV."

Hannah Prince was featured in Creative Loafing in a spotlight on her improv performances in Tampa Bay.

Chris Patti was interviewed by the USF Library for an article, "A Family Shares Its Stories with USF and the World," on a Holocaust survivor he interviewed and her family. The interview was part of the Holocaust Survivors Oral History Project developed in partnership with Carolyn Ellis and several of her graduate students. "It's not too late," Patti said, "and every story matters, not just for the traditional reasons of preventing [genocide] in the future but it matters because this is a human being who had this experience."

Kari Goetz was featured in a Tampa Bay Times article on playing a role in A.R. Gurney's Sylvia.

Sara Dykins Callahan (PhD 2010), 2011 visiting instructor with the Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies at USF, received media attention for her course, "The Ethics of Food Production."

Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky was quoted in the Lakeland Ledger regarding "Reality TV"

Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky was quoted in USA Today and the Montreal Gazette regarding "Reality TV."

Dr. Lori Roscoe's dissertation work received attention in a story in the Tampa Tribune. She analyzed dozens of Dr. Jack Kevorkian's assisted suicide cases as part of her research on end-of-life care.

Dr. Carolyn Ellis and her graduate class on "Communicating Grief, Loss, and Illness," which focused on the Holocaust and Holocaust survivors in the Tampa Bay area, was featured in this month's USF Magazine. The story, "In Their Own Words," starts on page 28 of the electronic version of the magazine.

Elissa Foster (PhD 2002) was interviewed by the National Communication Association's E-zine Communication Currents on "Talking with your Doctor."

Amanda Dawson Baker (BA, December 2003) was selected by the Tampa Bay Business Journal for its "30 under 30" list of the most outstanding young business people in the Tampa Bay area under the age of 30.

Dr. Stacy Holman Jones was interviewed for the Wisconsin Public Radio show, "To the Best of Our Knowledge." The subject of the show was "The New Feminism" and featured the work of Katha Pollitt, Susan Faludi and Wangari Maathai (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004). She discussed "torch singing" and feminism, and of course, her book, Torch Singing: Performing Resistance and Desire from Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf (Alta Mira Press, 2007). Her portion of the interview begins at 27:11 and runs through 39:34.