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WIU Associate Professor of Communication Christopher Carpenter
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Carpenter to Deliver Thompson Lecture Oct. 14

October 13, 2020

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MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – The Western Illinois University Department of Communication will host its 28th annual Wayne N. Thompson Professor Lecture virtually at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The lecture, "Social Media and Jealousy: Who Keeps Commenting on My Partner's Pics," will be delivered by WIU Associate Professor of Communication Christopher Carpenter. The talk, open free to the public, will be delivered over Zoom, and can be found at wiu.zoom.us/j/95146354289.

Carpenter said the lecture gives him the opportunity to talk to WIU students and his colleagues about some of his newest and most exciting research.

"The lecture is going to discuss why some people become jealous of their romantic partners when they see certain kinds of people interacting with their partners on Facebook," said Carpenter. "It will also discuss why staying Facebook friends with your ex can make it harder to move on from the relationship."

Carpenter, who came to WIU in 2010, teaches communication on the University's Quad Cities campus. He received his bachelor's degree from North Central College in Naperville, his master's degree from Northern Illinois University and his doctoral degree from Michigan State University.

He also delivered the Wayne N. Thompson Lecture in 2016, entitled, "Using Social Network Analysis to Understand Who Becomes Popular in a First-Year Residence Hall." He has been recognized for scholarly publications and was awarded the 2013 and 2016 College of Fine Arts and Communication's Scholarly Activity Award, and the Provost's Award for Excellence in Scholarly Activity in 2016. In 2012, he was also invited to participate in a debate at the Oxford Union at Oxford University about the value of social media.

The Wayne N. Thompson Lecture is named to honor WIU alumnus Wayne Thompson, who was a nationally-recognized professor of speech communication, and who earned his undergraduate degree at WIU. 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, and the annual Thompson Lecture, which is presented by a prominent scholar in the field.

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



Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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