University News

Carpenter to deliver the 24th Annual Wayne N. Thompson Lecture

September 19, 2016

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MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – The Western Illinois University Department of Communication has chosen Assistant Professor Christopher Carpenter to deliver the 24th annual Wayne N. Thompson Lecture, Monday, Oct. 10 and Tuesday, Oct. 11.

The lecture, "Using Social Network Analysis to Understand Who Becomes Popular in a First-Year Residence Hall," will be presented at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 10 in the Quad Cities Complex 2406. He will also present at 5 p.m. on Oct. 11 in the University Union's Sandburg Theatre. The events are open free to the public.

"I am extremely honored to be delivering the annual Wayne N. Thompson Professor Lecture. The Thompson endowment provided me with a course release, a graduate assistant, and money to pay research participants. With these benefits I was able to conduct cutting edge research on how first-year students form new social networks in a residence hall. In my lecture I'll be presenting the results of my nine-month study, and show how they formed an increasingly complex and interconnected network of friends."

Carpenter received his bachelor's degree in psychology in 2004 from North Central College in Naperville, IL, his master's degree in communication in 2006 from Northern Illinois University and his doctoral degree in communication from Michigan State University in 2010.

Carpenter was awarded the 2013 and 2016 winner of the College of Fine Arts and Communication's (COFAC) Scholarly Activity Award. He was also invited to participate in a debate about the value of social media in 2012 at the Oxford Union at Oxford University.

The Wayne N. Thompson Lecture is named to honor WIU alumnus Wayne Thompson, who was a former professor of speech communication. An endowment in his name helps sponsor a number of department programs to enhance learning and scholarship in the field of communication, including this lecture by a prominent scholar in the field.

For more information, contact the WIU Department of Communication at (309) 298-1507.

Posted By: Jade Tieman (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing