2021: LMC’s Year in Review

Posted December 21, 2021

As we come to the end of another semester in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC), and the end of another year filled with twists and turns, we want to take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments in 2021.

This summer, we welcomed Melissa Ianetta as interim chair to lead us through the next year while we conduct an international search for a new chair. The summer also saw the release of the second edition of our book-length “calling card,” Humanistic Perspectives in a Technological World. The book features essays from faculty addressing various topics in their fields including Black media studies, media arts, and communication, writing, and technology

In the fall semester, we celebrated the return of in-person performances by our student-run theater, DramaTech, and their production of Love & Information.

Our faculty were recognized numerous times for their innovation and leadership. Here are just a few highlights. Marion L. Brittain Fellow Julia Tigner was awarded the Georgia Tech Sustainable Communities Teaching Awards: People's Choice Selection by Serve-Learn-Sustain, Director of the Writing and Communication Program Andy Frazee was named a Provost Fellow for Faculty Development, and Ianetta received the Maxwell Award with Lauren Fitzgerald, director of the Wilf Campus Writing Center at Yeshiva University.

Our alumni also distinguished themselves in their professional careers. Steven Norris, M.S. Global Media and Cultures-French 2021, had his documentary film Euromerica debut as part of the Academy Award-qualifying Out on Film festival in Atlanta. Nettrice Gaskins, Ph.D. Digital Media 2014, had quite the year, from being named a 2021 Ford Global Fellow, publishing her first full-length book, helping to launch a performance-based artificial intelligence (AI) app, and having her artwork on display in the FUTURES exhibition at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building.

The Writing and Communication Program demonstrated its successes by bringing home awards such as the 2020 Diversity Champion Unit Award, the 2021 Regent’s Teaching Excellence Award for Department or Program, and the 2021-2022 CCCC Writing Program Certificate of Excellence.

Black Media Studies continued to grow, including the launch of the HipHop2020 Innovation Archive and the grant for André Brock’s Project on Rhetoric of Equity, Access, Computation, and Humanities (PREACH) Lab, finally culminating in the approval of the Black Media Studies minor by the Georgia Tech Faculty Senate in October.

Finally, our faculty amplified their impact by sharing research, insights, and expertise in publications including Atlanta Magazine, Wired, The Inquiry, ArtsATL, USA Today, Flash Forward, InStyle, BKReader, Bored Panda, Inside Higher Ed, CBS News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more.

Our most-read news stories across the College this year were:

1. Georgia Tech’s Science Fiction Experts React to the U.S. Space Force’s New Uniforms
2. LMC’s André Brock Receives Grant for Lab to Study ‘Race, Difference, and Computation’
3. Interdisciplinary Team Awarded $1 Million NSF Grant for Youth Advocacy and Disaster Resilience
4. Aliens? You’ve Heard This Story Before, Regents Professor Lisa Yaszek Says
5. Georgia Tech Hip Hop Scholar Featured in Google Arts & Culture’s Atlanta Page

On our website, the most popular stories were:

1. New Speculative Fiction Magazine Hivemind Continues Georgia Tech’s Sci-Fi Tradition
2. Two Ivan Allen Faculty Named Provost Fellows for Faculty Development
3. Remembering Acclaimed Writer, LMC Advisory Board Member, Kathleen Ann Goonan
4. Ivan Allen College’s Ilya Kaminsky Featured in ‘Great Immigrants, Great Americans’ Campaign
5. Black Media Studies Minor Approved by Georgia Tech Academic Faculty Senate

We’d like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this year a success for the School of Literature, Media, and Communication. We wish you all a safe and happy holiday and a happy New Year!

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