UCLA Communication

Comm Undergraduate Information Session
2025-11-12 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce 162

CPG Speaker: Marc André Bodet
2025-11-12 15:00 - 16:30 | Rolfe 2125
Accent as a factor of differentiation in a pluralistic society
Marc André Bodet, Professor, Université Laval
Abstract. There exists substantial research on the impact of various characteristics on the definition of national identity. Factors such as skin color and other phenotypical characteristics associated with race and ethnicity have played a central role along cultural and religious symbols. Language acquisition has also been a strong indicator of integration. In this article, we focus on an understudied area that often signals otherness, namely the importance of accent as a factor of differentiation. We focus on the impact of standard versus nonstandard accents, alone and in combination with ethnic cues. Making use of a preregistered online experiment conducted in the Canadian province of Québec, we randomize the ethnicity and accent of a person making a political statement and test whether these two characteristics are associated with differentiated evaluations of two types of statements about diversity (one more intercultural and one more multicultural), as well as assessments of the speaker’s belonging to the majority group.
Part of the Communication and Politics Group speakers series.

Department Speaker Series: Eunji Kim - Columbia University
2025-11-13 11:00 - 12:30 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303
How social media creators shape mass politics: A field experiment during the 2024 US elections
Eunji Kim, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
Part of the Department of Communication Speaker Series, and co-organized with the Communication and Politics Group.

Department Speaker Series: Idan Blank - UCLA
2025-11-20 11:00 - 12:30 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303
Understanding ‘Understanding’ in Large Language Models
Idan Blank, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Linguistics, UCLA
Part of the Department of Communication Speaker Series.

Department Speaker Series: Safiya Noble - UCLA
2026-02-26 11:00 - 12:15 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303
Data In Society, Not Data As Society
The landscape of information is rapidly shifting as new imperatives and demands push to the fore increasing investment in digital technologies. Yet, critical information scholars continue to demonstrate how digital technology and its narratives are shaped by and infused with values that are not impartial. Technologies consist of a set of social practices, situated within the dynamics of race, gender, class, and politics, and in the service of something — a position, a profit motive, a means to an end. In this talk, Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble will discuss her book, Algorithms of Oppression, and delve into issues ranging from marginalization and misrepresentation in commercial information platforms like Google search, to the profound power struggles that violate civil, human, and collective rights through AI and machine learning projects.
___________
Safiya U. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of Gender Studies, African American Studies, and Information Studies at UCLA.

Department Speaker Series: Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook - UC Merced
2026-04-09 11:00 - 12:15 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303

Natalie Kahn Speaker Series: Sol Hart - University of Michigan
2026-04-16 11:00 - 12:15 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303

50th Anniversary Celebration of UCLA Communication
2026-04-17 17:00 - 21:00
Save the date for our second installment of the 50th anniversary celebration of Communication at UCLA! We will have several speakers from our history and a reception. Details to come!

LaGina Gause, UCSD
2026-04-21 14:15 - 16:00 | Rolfe 2125

Department Speaker Series: Nancy Molina-Rogers - UCLA
2026-04-30 11:00 - 12:15 | Comm Conference Room – Rolfe 2303

Department Speaker Series: David Reby, University of Saint Etienne, France
2026-05-21 11:00 - 12:15
Beyond speech: Exploring diversity in the human voice

Jennifer Merolla, UCR
2026-05-21 14:15 - 16:00 | Rolfe 2125

Department Speaker Series: Eloise Pedersen - USC
2026-10-08 11:00 - 12:15
Who Should I Ape? Simultaneous Conflicting Social Learning Strategies in Children and Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
