By Melissa Valentovic
Staff Writer

The 2016 Annual Student Research Symposium is accepting applicants through April 1.

Different types of presentations include oral, poster, and live performance art.

One person who highly encourages students to “take a risk” by applying for it is senior communication studies major Bari Antell.

Antell, who presented in the poster session portion in last year’s symposium, says the symposium was one of the highlights in her academic career at ESU.

Her presentation, which started out as a paper for Dr. Andrea McClanahan’s analysis of communication class in fall 2014, focused on the Coordinated Management of Meaning theory and how it related to the world of online dating.

The theory, according to Antell is when you define something based upon surrounding experiences, whether you know about it or not.

Antell explains the correlation between the theory and her research, saying that, “People who were viewers of ‘Catfish’ or anyone who participated in online dating would be impacted by what they saw or the experience they had and how that then impacted other people.”

To collect research, she watched the TV show “Catfish,” and asked people who watch the show or have had experiences with online dating what they would tell other people that were in the same situation that they were once in.

Aside from being an avid viewer, the television show had a vital role in her presentation.
“‘Catfish’ served as an example of negative experiences,” Antell explains.

“Often on the show people are deceived and find out when they meet the person that they might not have been who they thought they were talking to, however, depending on the episode you saw it could vary your opinion. On some episodes everything turns out great and people find the loves of their lives.”

After she presented at the symposium, Antell went on to present her project at the 2015 Pennsylvania Communication Association state conference in October.

Although she has already presented this project twice, Antell is not sure that her research is over just yet.

“I received a lot of feedback from people at the PCA conference in York. It was pretty positive and well received, and I had even received some advice on how I could take this even further, so, who knows. I might be doing even more research on this topic!”

Email Melissa at:
mvalentovi@live.esu.edu