Spring 2021

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the 41st edition of Comm-Entary, the undergraduate research journal of the University of New Hampshire’s Communication Department. Our dedicated team of editors has spent the past year collaborating and working hard to bring you this newest edition that features some fascinating pieces on media, rhetoric, and interpersonal studies. We are so excited to share it with you.

The annual publication of Comm-Entary is a time-honored tradition here at UNH’s Communication Department. Through this annual publication, we celebrate the academic excellence achieved by young scholars within our field of study. Comm-Entary has continued to grow over the past 41 years to provide a platform to share the unique perspectives of UNH’s Communication students with a global audience, reaching readers on six continents and in dozens of countries worldwide.

This year’s edition is especially fitting for the era of COVID-19, as the publication features more multimedia and digital works than ever before, a true testament to how digitized our communication has become in these times. We hoped to represent this important evolution of communication in this edition’s cover artwork: a digital drawing of one of UNH’s signature landmarks, Thompson Hall, surrounded by various motifs of digital communication.

In the year since the outbreak of COVID-19, our team has faced many unusual challenges, but took them head on with a sense of passion and determination that made me proud to be a part of this organization. The flexibility and commitment of our Editorial Board and student editors made the publication of the 41st edition such a success. And, of course, none of it would have been possible without the guidance and leadership of our incredible faculty advisor, Professor Michael Jackson. Thank you everyone for your hard work, dedication, and passion for learning that keeps this journal going year after year.

Comm-Entary is truly a celebration of scholarship and young minds coming together to create something lasting. From the Comm-Entary team to you, we thank you for celebrating with us and we hope you enjoy!

Sincerely,

Ellie Humphreys
Editor-in-Chief