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COMM Department Members Excelled at ICA!

June 18, 2025 College of Arts and Humanities | Communication

PR Scholars at ICA

ICA's 75th Conference was held in Denver, CO

The International Communication Association (ICA) held its 75th Annual Conference June 12-16, 2025, in Denver, Colorado. This year's theme was "Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research." 

Members of our COMMunity presented research, won awards, and networked with other scholars.

  • Graduate Student Felicity Dogbatse presented, "Techno-agency and Techno-expressionism: Ghanaian women’s assertion of agency in digital media spaces."
Felicity Dogbatse presenting at ICA
Felicity Dogbatse Headshot at ICA
  • Assistant Professor Dr. Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour presented, "Visual Narratives, Activism, and Social Change: A Case Study of the 'Occupy Julorbi House Protest' in Ghana." He explores how the Occupy Julorbi House Protest was one of the most impactful youth-led demonstrations in Ghana's history. 
Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour at ICA
Photo of scholars at ICA

COMM Scholars at ICA. L to R: Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour, Brooke Fisher Liu, Lahne Mattas-Curry

  • Assistant Professor Dr. Becca Beets presented research for the Environmental Communication division titled, "A Mixed-Methods Study of Public Understanding of Scientific Uncertainty."
  • Professor Brooke Fisher Liu and Ph.D. alum Duli Shi won Top Paper from the ICA PR Division for "Theorizing Forgotten Crisis Publics: COVID Long Haulers' Information Marginalization." The other co-authors are from the UMD College of Information. 
COMM Members winning PR Award at ICA

L to R: Brooke Fisher Liu, ICA PR Division Head Timothy Coombs, and Duli Shi

  • Graduate Student Taufiq Ahmad presented research, “Mapping the Growth of Network Research in Public Relations: A Bibliometric Analysis,” co-authored with Assistant Professor Dr. Yan Qu in the Public Relations Division. They analyzed 103 research articles published in ten leading PR and communication journals (1987–2025), using content and bibliometric analysis to uncover the "invisible college" of network research in public relations.
     
Qu and Ahmad at ICA

Dr. Yan Qu and Taufiq Ahmad

Ahmad Photo at ICA

Taufiq Ahmad at ICA

  • Associate Professor Ganga Dhanesh presented on two panels in the PR Division, served as the respondent for the PR Division's student top paper awards, and won the Top Reviewer Award at the PR Division.
Ganga Dhanesh Award at ICA
ICA Group Photo
ICA Group Photo 2

It was also an exciting reunion for Maryland PR faculty and students, past and present!

PR Scholars at ICA

We are proud of your achievements! Congrats to all.