More U of M students heading south ... way south January 22, 2008
Students are filing into classrooms all over campus this week as the spring semester begins. At the same time, more University of Minnesota students will be flying to destinations across the globe to begin their semesters abroad. And a record number of them will be studying in Central and South America.
According to the Learning Abroad Center (LAC), the number of students studying abroad in Central and South America in the 2006 - 2007 academic year had risen 82 percent from the previous year. LAC hopes that the number will continue to rise through this academic year.
“Many students have a genuine interest in engaging with the world beyond campus, these programs offer them a way to improve language skills, work with local communities, study and travel,” associate director Martha Johnson said. “It is all part of their University of Minnesota experience."
Programs in Argentina, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Ecuador make up the Latin American programs. The strength of the dollar, an enhanced state of political stability and a growing interest in the Spanish language has boosted the popularity of the region.
LAC has made an effort to create programs such as service learning tracks in Mexico, the Minnesota Studies in International Development program in Ecuador, which places students with families in small communities, and a language-learning program for people with lower Spanish proficiency in Argentina. The programs are also attractive for university faculty and staff leading groups because the travel distance is shorter than other regions.
To interview Johnson, contact Elizabeth Giorgi at (612) 624-0214 or egiorgi@umn.edu.
Ever notice your boss acting like Simon Cowell or Donald Trump? A U of M professor’s new book can help answer why January 14, 2008
Reality TV’s marquee show, “American Idol,” begins its seventh season tomorrow night and, with the ongoing writers’ strike, networks are filling the airwaves with more and more unscripted, inexpensive reality programming. And, according to a University of Minnesota professor, watching the average Joe and Jane in primetime is creating vastly different social behavior standards.
In her new book, “Better Living Through Reality TV,” communication studies professor Laurie Ouellette analyzes how reality TV enforces a new set of behavior norms for viewers to compare themselves to.
“Reality TV dispenses a powerful prescription on how to live and conduct ourselves,” said Ouellette. “It teaches us to monitor, improve and ‘work’ on ourselves in accordance with these norms.”
For example, when watching Donald Trump’s boardroom tough-guy routine on “The Apprentice,” viewers learn to be ruthless and competitive. Or, according to Ouellette, “American Idol” generates new expectations on how to judge people when it combines objectivity with entertainment.
Ouellette is available for media to discuss her book, as well as reality TV’s evolution and how it has become so successful despite the predictions it would be a fad.
To interview Ouellette, contact Drew Swain at (612) 625-8962 or dswain@umn.edu or Elizabeth Giorgi at (612) 624-0214 or egiorgi@umn.edu.
U of M researcher shows why celebrity endorsements of U.S. presidential candidates matter on the eve of the Iowa caucuses January 2, 2008
Oprah Winfrey's recent endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has raised questions about the reach of celebrity appeal in American culture. Although a variety of political pundits and academics have dismissed celebrity endorsement in politics, University of Minnesota researcher Rebecca Kuehl says that Oprah endorsing Obama is significant based on her status as an American icon. In fact, Kuehl, a doctoral student and Graduate School Fellow in communication, has developed a theory of why celebrity endorsement in U.S. politics matters.
Video: Kuehl explaining her work
Kuehl theorizes four functions of celebrity endorsement and accounts for its influence on voters by using Social Comparison theory. Whenever we make important decisions, such as choosing who should be our country’s next president, we ask ourselves questions such as: Who do I respect? What do they think? Social Comparison Theory explains that in making decisions, individuals often compare their potential decision to the decision of others in their social group. They do so to validate their own decision or to reduce uncertainty about making the decision.
Social Comparison theory explains why people sometimes look to celebrities for insight, even about political candidates. The four functions of Kuehl’s theory of celebrity endorsement include:
• Celebrity endorsement increases awareness/publicity for the candidate. In the case of Obama, Oprah’s recent stumping in both Iowa and South Carolina has generated a lot of publicity for him.
• Celebrity endorsement transfers positive evaluations from the celebrity to the candidate. The positive views people hold about Oprah transfer to Obama with her endorsement.
• Celebrity endorsement influences undecided and independent voters to (re)consider the candidate. Oprah’s endorsement has influenced undecided and independent voters to (re)consider Obama, especially since women over the age of 50 (Oprah's largest viewing segment) typically tend to compose the highest percentage of undecided voters. These voters have shifted from supporting Hillary Clinton to considering Barack Obama.
• Celebrity endorsement has a greater impact if the celebrity is a first-time endorser. Oprah's status as a first-time endorser of a presidential candidate is persuasive to voters, because Oprah has nothing to gain from this endorsement and, in fact, has much to lose.
To interview Kuehl about her theory and celebrity endorsements, contact Justin Ware, News Service, (612) 626-1720, dswain@umn.edu or Drew Swain, News Service, (612) 625-8962, dswain@umn.edu.
Download this video for use in a newscast or on a Web site here.
