Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, NCA’s fall 2020 public program series, “Communicating During a Presidential Election Year,” was reimagined as a special series of Communication Matters: The NCA Podcast and a series of videos on NCA’s YouTube page. The series included three public programs: “The Politics of Health and Healthcare: Communicating about Health in a Presidential Election Year,” “Communicating about the Role of Race and Social Change in Politics,” and “VEEPS 2020: Kamala Harris vs. Mike Pence.”
“The Politics of Health and Healthcare: Communicating about Health in a Presidential Election Year” focused on a variety of topics related to healthcare, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the presidential election, including the politicization of COVID-19 communication, the role of educators in countering misinformation about the pandemic, how journalists can respond to the spread of misinformation, and how exposure to political rhetoric about the virus has influenced voters.
Moderator: Trevor Parry-Giles, Executive Director, National Communication Association
Panelists:
- Ambar Basu, University of South Florida
- Eduardo J. Gómez, Lehigh University
- Susan Mello, Northeastern University
- Heather Zoller, University of Cincinnati
“Communicating about the Role of Race and Social Change in Politics” addressed matters pertaining to race, social movements, and politics, including how protests may change after the November election, the importance of intersectionality, the role of scholars in amplifying the voices of protestors through teaching and research, and the effects of systemic oppression on political participation.
Moderator: Trevor Parry-Giles, Executive Director, National Communication Association
Panelists:
- Glenn Bracey, Villanova University
- Josue David Cisneros, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Lisa A. Flores, University of Colorado Boulder
- Isaac Hale, University of California, Davis
“VEEPS 2020: Kamala Harris vs. Mike Pence” featured a panel of political communication experts who analyzed the Harris-Pence vice-presidential debate. In the process, panelists addressed the politics of gender and race, and compared Harris’ performance with the women who stood on the debate stage before her, navigating stereotypes of women as “angry,” “ambitious,” and “unlikeable.”
Moderator: Trevor Parry-Giles, Executive Director, National Communication Association
Panelists:
- Karrin Vasby Anderson, Colorado State University
- Darrian Carroll, University of Maryland, College Park
- Sumana Chattopadhyay, Marquette University
- Kimberly Hannah-Prater, Community College of Baltimore County (Maryland)
- Shawn J. Parry Giles, University of Maryland, College Park
- Kristina Horn Sheeler, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis
- Mary Douglas Vavrus, University of Minnesota
- Tammy R. Vigil, Boston University
“VEEPS 2020: Kamala Harris vs. Mike Pence” was co-sponsored by the Mark and Heather Rosenker Center for Political Communication and Civic Leadership at the University of Maryland and the Communication Research Center at Boston University.
Listen to these programs as episodes of Communication Matters: The NCA Podcast or watch them on NCA's YouTube channel.