News and Awards
- Awards and Accolades
- In the News
- Past Events
In the News
In this Billboard article, Paul Grein mentions Associate Teaching Professor Patty Ahn's documentary BTS ARMY: Forever We Are Young, as it was featured in the Oscars Longlist for Documentary Feature Film. Their documentary was in the running for the Oscars shortlist, along with 200 other films.
The Theatrical Release of "Compensation" is Cause for Celebration
Rising from the shadows, Zeinabu irene Davis’ film “Compensation” was featured in an article in The New Yorker, as Richard Brody praises the independent drama film for its ability to capture and document cultural history.
“’Compensation’ has the rare virtue of both depicting and embodying the personal experience of history’s continual process of rediscovery and reclamation."
Leaders and Advocates in Inclusive Academic Excellence
Doctoral Candidate Marwa Abdalla was featured in an interview with the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Scholars Class of 2025, discussing the inspiration for her work, its rewarding aspects, difficulties, and her hopes for her research. Abdalla's work focuses on the "sanctioning and resilience of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism in U.S. American media and political discourses."
Why Are People Lining Up for Labubus? Professor Caroline Jack Breaks down the pop culture craze
To unpack how collectible fads like this catch fire, we spoke with Caroline Jack, an associate professor in the School of Social Sciences’ Department of Communication and author of the book “Business as Usual: How Sponsored Media Sold American Capitalism in the Twentieth Century.” Drawing on her expertise in advertising history and promotional culture, she breaks down the strategies that fuel the Labubu phenomenon.
Gary Fields: A Life of Activism
The Triton, an Independent, student-run news source at UC San Diego, covers Gary Fields' life of activism.
"Gary Fields is a very politically outspoken Communications professor. One who is engaging and means every word he says. The first time I encountered Fields was in the afternoon of April 2 at an SJP led walkout in response to the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil I was covering for The Triton. I stood in a crowd of protestors impressed by his 12-minute speech condemning Columbia’s inaction to the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil."
Documentary by Professor Patty Ahn Explores Global BTS Fandom
A new documentary directed by UC San Diego Communication faculty member Patty Ahn is headed to the big screen. “BTS ARMY: Forever We Are Young” opens in select U.S. and international theaters for a limited run beginning July 30.
Co-directed by Ahn with award-winning filmmaker Grace Lee, the documentary had its world premiere earlier this year at South by Southwest (SXSW). It offers a layered portrait of the massive, multilingual and multicultural fan community known as “ARMY” that helped propel K-Pop band BTS into global superstardom.
Living Chronically Podcast Launched in Winter 2025
UC San Diego’s Department of Communication launched “Living Chronically,” a new monthly podcast dedicated to highlighting the experiences of people living with chronic diseases. The first episode aired in January 2025. The Living Chronically course is taught by Matthew Dewey with Professor Brian Goldfarb as Managing Producer.
Professor Zeinabu irene Davis' film Compensation Inducted into National Film Registry
The UC San Diego Communication Department proudly celebrates Professor Zeinabu irene Davis as her groundbreaking film Compensation (1999) has been officially added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. This prestigious recognition honors Compensation as a film of cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance, cementing its place in the canon of American cinema.Compensation is a powerful and visually striking film that tells parallel love stories across two different time periods in Chicago—one set in the early 20th century and the other in the late 20th century. Through a unique storytelling approach inspired by silent-era Black filmmakers, the film follows the relationships between a deaf woman and a hearing man in each era, exploring themes of love, loss, accessibility, and the intersection of race and disability. By blending poetic intertitles with evocative imagery, Compensation offers a rare and vital perspective on the experiences of the Black Deaf community.
Abby Sherlock, Communication BA Class of 2019, named to Forbes' 30 under 30
Abby Sherlock, Associate Game Producer at Riot Games named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 - Games (2024).“There’s a saying in old school tech that ‘There can only be one girl in the room,’ and my ideology is the opposite of that,” said Sherlock, adding that she feels lucky to work at a company like Riot where there are many visible role models for women. “I don’t want to just be the one girl in the room. I want to smash open the door behind me so that many can come in after.”
Dr. Jason Magabo Perez, Communication PhD 2016 and Associate Professor at CSU San Marcos, named 2023-24 Poet Laureate for the City of San Diego
The Poet Laureate serves as an ambassador and advocate for poetry, spoken word and the literary arts. During the two-year term, the appointed Poet Laureate produces engaging and conceptually rich original works inspired by and in response to San Diego. Charged with cultivating critical thinking, connection, and appreciation of the art form, the Poet Laureate participates in public events and leads a poetry project that broadens the audiences for poetry. Most importantly, the Poet Laureate is the city’s poet, a civic poet - the people’s poet, whose role is to elevate an already thriving literary arts scene and enhance San Diego’s cultural richness.Lilly Irani, Ph.D., and her team work to support United Taxi Workers San Diego
Lilly Irani, Ph.D., and her team work to support United Taxi Workers San Diego in their efforts to create a more equitable model for on demand transport to support both workers and their passengers. She also helps San Diego communities gain more control over the surveillance infrastructures that the City of San Diego installs in their neighborhoods. A member of the TRUST Coalition steering committee, she ensures the city has advice on the impacts of surveillance technology before investing money in overpriced technologies that could harm communities. Award-wining journalist Marco Werman broadcasts from UC San Diego
Marco Werman, host of the international news program "The World" by GBH and PRX, joined UC San Diego in spring 2022 as the school’s first journalist-in-residence. Over his 40-year career, Werman has done freelance reporting for the BBC World Service as well as other public radio shows, receiving numerous awards for his work along the way. UC San Diego Magazine sat down with him to learn more about what this new position entails and his impression of campus thus far. Dr. Lilly Irani will be the inagural faculty director at UCSD Labor Center
Dr. Lilly Irani (Communication) will be the inaugural faculty director, guiding the Labor Center through the process of hiring a Center Director in the coming months and building the center's initial program. The Labor and Community Advisory Board (to be invited) and Faculty Leadership Council guides the center. The inaugural Faculty Leadership Council is Andrew Jolivétte (Ethnic Studies), Yến Lê Espiritu (Ethnic Studies), Isaac Martin (Urban Studies and Planning), Daphne Taylor-Garcia (Ethnic Studies), and Danny Widener (History).
Caroline Collins The Washington Post OpEd - Black Americans have deep ties to the Pacific - but they've been erased
Caroline Collins is a University of California president’s postdoctoral fellow in the department of history at UC Irvine and an affiliated researcher at UC San Diego. Her upcoming public history project on the Black Pacific is supported by California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Caroline Collins' Interview with PBS Cinema Junkie: "Black People An A Sense of Place"
Post-doc Fellow Caroline Collins was interviewed about films that look to Black people and a sense of place."We discuss films such as "Daughters of the Dust," "Eve’s Bayou," "Get Out," "Sorry To Bother You," "Last Black Man in San Francisco," and "Black Panther," and look to how each of those films defines a connection to the land or a place. She says, "There's just so much that we learn about ourselves and each other through the medium of film and through popular culture. [I hope you] watch films that you might not feel are something you would normally watch and really think about 'How are these films helping to shape your understanding of your rootedness or disconnectivity to a place?' And how might you be able to rethink your own relationship to your place through the films that you're watching?"
Alumni Startup Successfully Funds Launch on Indiegogo
A team composed entirely of UCSD undergraduate students from Communication, Cognitive science, and Mathematics, has successfully funded their project using Indiegogo. This sleep technology project called Paq involves a new kind of alarm clock called VibeRise which combined with their app promises the ability to “Wake up effortlessly, naturally, and with more energy than ever before – all on silent. VibeRise can save your mornings, your mood, and even your relationships. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
“We launched the campaign during the finals week of the Spring Quarter and were completely backed within the first week. We, as fellow tritons, believe that sharing our story with the UCSD community will showcase the resilience of the students of this great institution. We’re proud to be able to show the accomplishments that UC San Diego students can make.” ~ Chief Technology Officer, Samarth Aggarwal, Class of 2020.
Read more about our alumni’s fascinating project on their website.