SIUE and SIUC’s Annual Global Fusion Conference an International Success
International attendance and engagement highlighted the 20th annual Global Fusion Conference co-hosted by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Department of Mass Communications and SIU Carbondale's College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.
The virtual conference was held Oct. 9-11 with the theme "(In)visibility in Global Communication: Connections & Inequities," and featured 67 presentations with participants from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States.
"In addition to a robust, high-quality discussions on global communication issues, we also presented the screening of '12 Days in Ferguson,' a documentary created by SIUC alumnus Fareed Alston," said Musonda Kapatamoyo, PhD, chair and professor in the SIUE College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Mass Communications. "We were able to cover registration fees for all international participants and moderators, as well as provide a monetary award for the Best Graduate Student Paper."
The recipient of the Best Graduate Student Paper was Gabrielle Ferreira. Ferreira is studying communication and culture at the Federal University of Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil, and is slated to graduate in spring 2021.
"The Global Fusion Conference was great! There were so many interesting presentations by participants from diverse backgrounds, and I learned a lot during the three days of conference," Ferreira said. "It's important to promote this kind of intercultural dialogue, especially in our field, as it creates a valuable space for sharing information about research outside of the United States."
Ferreira's scholarly interests include cultural studies, reception, audiovisual fiction, television, gender and Latin America.
"My paper is a part of my master's thesis which focuses on the Brazilian audience to identify the reasons why they choose to watch Turkish TV dramas instead of national telenovelas, which have been extremely popular since the 70s, and play an important role in Brazilian culture."
Ferreira collected data through an online questionnaire and discovered that the audience for these dramas in Brazil primarily comprises middle-aged catholic and evangelical women, who prefer Turkish TV dramas because they reflect their moral values better than Brazilian telenovelas. When compared to other regions of the world, such as the Middle East, these dramas are considered controversial, and received strong backlash from social and religious conservatives.
Ferreira plans to continue her research and investigate other global media phenomena. She notes that her award receipt has solidified her decision to pursue a doctoral program abroad.
The Global Fusion Conference is sponsored by a consortium of universities, including Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, SIU Carbondale, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Ohio University, University of Virginia and Temple University.
Photo: Global Fusion Conference Best Graduate Student Paper Award Winner, Gabrielle Ferreira
