Michigan State School of Journalism Professor Howard Bossen and students Tony Cepak, Tara Mesyn and Matt Schmucker presented papers at the VisCom32 conference in La Jolla, California on June 20-24.
VisCom32 is a small annual conference sponsored by the Visual Communication Division of the AEJMC. Proposals are peer-reviewed, which Bossen said made it even more rewarding that all four papers were accepted.
Bossen's paper was based upon a piece of a chapter of his book, Molten Light: Photography, Steel and the Modern World. Bossen is close to finishing with the full book manuscript.
Cepak's project grew out a paper he wrote for Bossen's JRN 810 class, the Visual Journalism seminar. He expanded that paper into his M.A. thesis which he defended in May. Cepak is a PhD student.
Mesyn's presentation was on her professional project for the M.A. degree, which she hopes to defend at the end of August. Mesyn is an MA student who will enter the PhD program in the fall.
Schmucker's project grew out of research he conducted as Bossen's professorial assistant. This research is on Bossen and his wife's large collection of NASA photographs, press photographs, maps, concept drawings and other material all related to going to the moon. Schmucker is Bossen's professorial assistant and the first freshman Bossen has mentored who has had a paper accepted at a peer-reviewed professional conference.
These are the presentation titles and names: Bossen - Strikes, Lockouts and Negotiations, 1877-1991: Photography, Steel & the Modern World. Cepak,-An American Tune: Immigration Photography as Reinforcement of a National Identity. Tara Mesyn-Portraits and Perspectives of Vietnam Veterans. Schmucker-The Presentation of Race, Gender, and the Cold War: Photo Captions in the Space Age.