Lambda Pi Eta Lecture Series

The Choice Scholar Lecture is given annually by one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of communication—an individual who has not only contributed a great deal of scholarly literature, but whose work has greatly impacted society by bridging communication theory and research to practice. The Lambda Pi Eta members select, invite, and host the annual presenter, as well as organize the reception following the Lecture. Lambda Pi Eta is the Department of Communication's Chapter of the National Lambda Pi Eta Honor Society.

The past LPE presenters are

2008 

Ellen A. Wartella: "Infants, Toddlers, and Screen Media"

2009 

Judee Burgoon: "Lie to Me: What We Really Know about Deception and Its Detection"

2010 

Charles Atkin: "Strategic Media Campaigns to Stop College Alcohol Problems"

2011 

Scott Poole: "A Contingency Theory of Organizational Response to Paradoxical Requirements"

2012  

Michael Roloff: "People Are Annoying, They Are Difficult to Change, and It Does Matter: Why Arguing Is Often Futile"

2014

Steve Wilson: "Complex Family Conversations: How do Family Members Talk with Returning U.S. Military Service Members about Seeking Mental Healthcare?"

2015

Janet Fulk: "Social Media and Collective Expertise in Organizations"

2016

Noshir Contractor: "Leveraging Computational Social Science to Address Grand Societal Challenges"

2019

Stephanie Tong: "Communication and Artificial Intelligence"

2020

Sarah Jackson: "#HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice"

2021

Jeff Hancock: "Can AI Mediate Communication? Understanding AI in Human-to-Human Interaction"

2021

Travis Dixon: "The Centrality of Media Stereotyping: How Media Imagery Impacts the Functioning of our Society"

2022

Sonia Livingstone: (London School of Economics and Political Science): “A Child Rights Perspective on Designing for Children's Play”

2023

Bruce Bimber (UCSB Political Science): “How does the Internet Harm our Democracy?”

2024

Prateekshit (Kanu) Pandey (UCSB Communication): “How Humor Makes Us Think about Politics”