Professor Eleonora Diamanti Edits "Student Voices" Section of Mediapolis Journal

Communications professor Eleonora Diamanti edited a Student Voices section of the peer-reviewed journal Mediapolis. The issue features the work of three JCU students enrolled in Professor Diamanti’s Urban Media course (CMS/SOSC 327), which is cross-listed between the Department of Communication and Media Studies and the Department of Psychological and Social Sciences.

In the introduction to the issue, Professor Diamanti discusses designing the syllabus, assignments, and assessment methods as well as class activities and readings. Drawing from interdisciplinary areas such as urban media studies and urban cultural studies, “Urban Media” is a 300-level undergraduate course designed to bring together students from different subjects. The course maps and explores critical scholarship as well as practice-based research methods that span the diverse fields involved in such an interdisciplinary approach.

In “Artifacts of Urban Digitization: The Digital Commoditization of the Urban Environment in Rome,” Kaitlyn Adèle Barrett-Gullion uses visual ethnographic methods to analyze photographic practices at a series of “Instagrammable” locations in Rome. Kaitlyn holds a degree in Humanistic Studies with minors in Communications and International Affairs from John Cabot University. She now works on developing communication strategies to promote sustainable agricultural practices globally.

In “TV Representation of Female Drug Abuse Within the Urban Night,” Ava DeAngelis compares the representation of female drug abuse and the urban night in two television series, Euphoria and Gossip Girl. Ava is a senior studying Political Science and Communication Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. who spent the Spring 2024 semester studying in Rome at John Cabot University.

In “Fear On and Off Screen: Constructing Women’s Fear of the Urban Night in Film,” Marica Loffreda explores how the female fear of the urban night is reproduced by screen representations of sexual assault. A recent graduate of John Cabot University with a dual degree in Communications and International Affairs, Marica is a passionate writer with a keen interest in social and political issues. 

Says Marica, “Publishing an essay for an academic journal was challenging but also very rewarding. I had already written an essay on the topic but it needed to be completely restructured to fit the journal’s focus and expectations. After submitting, the peer review process brought constructive feedback that pushed me to refine my arguments, sometimes in ways I hadn’t anticipated. It was a learning experience to see my essay evolve and strengthen with each iteration. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to contribute to the academic conversation in the field. I would like to thank Professor Diamanti for this amazing opportunity and for all of her invaluable help during this process.”