Her work on a research project has earned Grace Burns a trip to the Central States Communication Association National Conference.
Burns, a senior at Midland, will be presenting on her findings during the conference, set for April 1-6 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
As part of her COM 496: Research class from the 2024 spring semester, Burns spent around 8 hours per week during the semester gathering and processing information for her final project. Under the advice of her instructor, Dr. Adam Knowlton, Professor of Communications, Burns opted to submit the paper to a handful of conferences, seeing if any of them would be interested in using it for submission.
After submitting her paper to the CSCA in the fall, she learned in January that it had been accepted. She will attend the conference and give a 10-15-minute presentation on her findings, how she collected her research, and her topic selection.
“I had submitted the paper a couple different places and wasn’t hearing back, so I was very excited when I got the news they had accepted it,” Burns said. “I knew it would be a hefty paper, but I really enjoyed working through the process.”
The 25-page report is titled Fast Fashion and the Change it Conveys: A Critical Analysis of Social Movements and Changing Expectations within Fast Fashion. The report centers around aiming for change through exploring environmental concerns, poor labor wages, and poor working environments in the fashion industry.
“Fashion has always been interesting to me, but I’m not a designer,” she said. “This allows me to work on the communication side and see how I can make things better for individuals working in the industry.”
Her research also helped her land an internship over the summer working with Omaha Fashion Week. “It was good to have some of that background information before I went into my interview,” she said. “I think that certainly helped me land the internship.”
Along with her presentation, Burns will also have the opportunity to hear from guest speakers and attend other seminars and breakout sessions during the conference.
“I’m looking forward to sharing my research,” Burns said. “It’s a topic that people aren’t very aware of, so I’m excited to share and hopefully people will want to learn more.”
A native of Fremont, Nebraska, Burns is a double major in Arts Management and Communication Studies and is also a member of the Midland Dance team. After graduation in May, she is planning to get her Masters degree in Sports Management.
