Communication M.A. Graduate Wins Second National Award for Master's Thesis

University of Arkansas

E. Ashley Clayborn

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Elizabeth Ashley Clayborn, a 2018 graduate of the Department of Communication's master's program and a current doctoral student at the University of Georgia, has been named the winner of the National Communication Association's American Studies Division's Master's Thesis of the Year Award.

She was honored during the association's annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, in early November. The award marks the second time that Clayborn has received a national award for her thesis work, as she was named the winner of the National Communication Association's Master's Education Section's Outstanding Thesis Award in 2018.

Clayborn's thesis, "The Myth of Southern Atonement: Constructed Forgiveness in Public Spaces," was advised by Ryan Neville-Shepard, assistant professor of communication. Her project explained how public space throughout the regional South has been constructed to atone for sins of the past. Clayborn combined approaches to regional rhetoric, narrative and spatial analysis to examine public art in Fort Smith, the Billgrimage tour dedicated to the life of Bill Clinton, and the revitalized downtown of Wilson, Arkansas.

Associate professor Leslie Hahner of Baylor University, who served as the awards chair for the American Studies Division, praised Clayborn for her "wonderful thesis," and added that the "reviewers loved her beautifully written and smart insights." Emphasizing Clayborn's success, Neville-Shepard stated, "Winning one award is really amazing, but winning another is incredibly uncommon and shows that Ashley's scholarship is truly exceptional."

About the National Communication Association: The National Communication Association advances communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry. The association serves the scholars, teachers, and practitioners who are its members by enabling and supporting their professional interests in research and teaching. Dedicated to fostering and promoting free and ethical communication, the National Communication Association promotes the widespread appreciation of the importance of communication in public and private life, the application of competent communication to improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use of knowledge about communication to solve human problems. For more information, visit natcom.org.