The following received medals in Rhetoric and Arts at the Spring 2009 Graduation ceremonies last week:

MEDAL FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A 4-YEAR COURSE
Rhetoric & Communications (4-year) 
Sara Breanne Armstrong

The University SILVER MEDAL for the second highest standing in Arts (4 year course)
Sara Breanne Armstrong

MEDAL FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A GENERAL COURSE
Rhetoric & Communications (General) 
Ahniko (Jill Ann) Handford

Outstanding achievements by Rhetoric students:

• Kendra Magnusson had been accepted to the UW's Masters of Arts in English with a Focus in Cultural Studies Program. She has been awarded the UW Graduate Student Assistantship, and is working with Professor Heather Milne.
• Maria Monica de Castro will present her paper, “Exploring Family Dynamics of the Weasleys: Challenging the Ideal Family”, at Azkatraz 2009: A Harry Potter Symposium in San Francisico (July 18 to 21, 2009).
• Marissa Dudych and Jill Taylor presented papers in a panel called "'I Know Mrs. Turner!': How a Short Fiction Represents 'The Real World'" at the CarolShileds Symposium, May 9, 2009.
• Kelly Nickie, a Rhetoric student, presented her short story, An Ideal Moment, for the University of Regina's Trash Talkin': New Directions in Popular Culture and Contemporary Writing conference.
• Gil Richards, Deanna Ng, Cameron Tindall, and Doja Shoyoye authored “Effectiveness of Rhetorical Practices Used in the 2008 American Election” for the 2009 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Meeting in New Orleans , Louisiana , April 8th-11th. Regretfully, none of the authors' were present at the conference.
• Alison Sutherland & Cindy Doyle authored “Improving Pedagogy in Canadian Education” — An abstract accepted for publication in the International Journal of Management in Education (IJMIE) special issue on "Quality Assurance in Education Management."
• Darlene Meakin & Ahniko Handford authored “After the March: Now What?” for a presentation at the International Conference on Gender-based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Health, 15-18 February 2009, Mumbai, India. Both authors were not present, but their poster presentation was displayed.
• Maggie MacAulay, Kendra Magnusson, Christopher Schiffmann, Jennifer Hamm, and Arlen Kasdorf co-wrote a journal article for Penn State Berks.

except from the "Presentation Summaries" for Azkatraz 2009: A Harry Potter Symposium:

There have been many studies about family development, relationships, and dynamics that it almost seems redundant to discuss it again. However, the importance of family is still essential to many people's lives in that “even in the face of emotional or physical abuse, most people still return to family in times of trouble,” which is partly the reason for this presentation. Rather than studying families in the “real world,” we will examine the family dynamics of one living in the “surreal world” of JK Rowling's Harry Potter, the Weasley family. This presentation examines the Weasley family dynamics of how they function and how they interact with one another through the use of communication theories such as Relational Dialectics, Interactional View, Uncertainty Reduction Theory, and Social Penetration Theory. The presentation seeks to determine whether the Weasleys are a portrayal of the author's “ideal family.” The conclusion suggests for people to challenge the accepted meaning of the “ideal family.”