The University of Tennessee College of Communication and Informatio will continue a tradition of 29 years with its annual research symposium in the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 16. 

This year's theme is "Passport to the Future: International and Intercultural Research in Communication and Information." The program will showcase research from students and faculty in all areas of communication and information.

"Our theme this year focuses on the international and intercultural areas of research, but the topics presented will cover many areas," said Carol Tenopir, interim director of research for the College of Communication and Information and head faculty member organizing the conference.

Presentations will be given by faculty members and undergraduate, master's and doctoral students from universities such as UT, Eastern Illinois University, Florida State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and George Mason University.

Each submission with be judged and awards will be given to the best faculty-student collaborative paper, best doctoral student paper, best master's student paper and best poster.

The symposium will consist of four different sessions: poster sessions, themed contributed paper presentations, an international journalists panel discussion and a presentation by Ronald E. Rice, the president of the International Communication Association.

Rice earned a master's degree and a doctorate in communication research from Stanford University. He has taught at the University of Southern California and Rutgers University, and currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Rice has served as associate editor for Human Communication Research and for MIS Quarterly. He maintains a position on the editorial board of several communication journals, including Communication Monographs and the Journal of Communication.

The main focus of Rice's presentation will be international communication.

"I was fortunate to be awarded a Fulbright Professorship last year, so from mid-March through July I was mostly in Finland," Rice said. "I will first talk a bit about the Fulbright program, Finland, the Baltic and my activities."

The rest of the presentation will detail Rice's two cross-country collaborations with a Norwegian professor and three Korean professors, each detailing how college students use new media to communicate. 

"Both studies talk about use of various new media such as mobile phones, email, IM [instant messaging], SMS [short message service], etc.," Rice said.

A luncheon will accompany Rice's speech. The meal is $15 dollars for faculty members and $8 for students. There is no charge to attend the sessions.