UT Tyler Communication Professor Earns National Top Faculty Paper Award
August 28, 2023
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UT Tyler Communication Professor Earns National Top Faculty Paper Award
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Dr. Terry Britt, assistant professor of communication at The University of Texas at Tyler, earned a Top Faculty Paper award in the Communication Theory and Methodology Division at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference.
His paper, “Mediated Temporal Consciousness: Memory and Concepts of Time Through Engagement with Online News Archives,” introduces a new media theory examining how humans construct autobiographical memory from media content, according to Britt.
“We have so much access through the Internet and streaming applications to news and entertainment media from the past –– decades of it,” said Britt. “While we may remember some of those news events or programs and our experiences of it, we also remember experiences indirectly connected to a time or place, when or where we engaged with that information.”
Britt added the theory operates on both macro and micro levels in terms of news awareness and significance.
“For instance, those 30 and older probably have a lot of autobiographical memory about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But this theory also applies to more localized media experiences,” Britt said. “If you went to a county fair with your children in a certain year, a photo from that point in time will likely connect with autobiographical memory of that event and details about your experiences there.”
In 2022, Britt opened the first research facility for the UT Tyler Department of Communication. The Media and Communication Research Laboratory features equipment for psychophysiology and neuroscience studies involving news and media content. Britt has several studies planned for the MCRL this fall and in early 2024.
For more information or to inquire about upcoming study participation opportunities, contact Britt at tbritt@uttyler.edu or mcrl@uttyler.edu.
With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to nearly 10,000 students. Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.