Kent State’s School of Communication Studies to Host Colloquium on Organizing Against the Ebola Crisis in Liberia

Joelle Cruz, assistant professor in Kent
State's School of Communication Studies,
will speak on organizing against the Ebola
crisis in Liberia on Nov. 6 in Taylor Hall,
Room 146.

Kent State University’s School of Communication Studies Colloquium Series continues with a presentation by Joelle Cruz, assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies, on Friday, Nov. 6, at 4 p.m. in Taylor Hall, Room 146 on the Kent Campus. Cruz will speak on the topic “Resilience at the Grassroots: Organizing Against the Ebola Crisis in Liberia” as part of the fall colloquium series. This presentation will provide an opportunity to learn more about crisis communication and how to be creative and resourceful when there is a lack of resources.

Cruz traveled to Liberia this past summer to study how one community served as a model in fighting Ebola.

“Students will learn how communication can help us resolve crisis in a context with no resources,” Cruz says. “The media represented communities as having no infrastructure, no doctors or nurses, everyone’s dying – there was a bias.”

The research examines how a community in Liberia served as a model taskforce for other communities in fighting Ebola. This Liberia community was so efficient in using its community resources that it had no deaths from Ebola. Its taskforce provided training in other communities so their success could be replicated.

The School of Communication Studies’ Colloquium Series provides an opportunity for faculty and graduate students to foster intellectual and collaborative discussions and to stay informed about current research efforts. All faculty and graduate students are invited to attend at no cost. Individuals unable to attend the presentation in-person can watch via live stream at http://bit.ly/1jI6cL0.

Additional details about the final fall colloquium, scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, will be available at www.kent.edu/comm at a later date. For questions or consideration for a future colloquium, contact Suzy D’Enbeau at sdenbeau@kent.edu.