Four Communication M.A. Graduates Win National Thesis Awards

Four recent graduates from the Department of Communication's nationally-recognized Master of Arts program were honored with outstanding thesis awards at the 2025 National Communication Association Conference in Denver, Colorado. Notably, the department swept the M.A. thesis awards category for NCA's Master's Education Section.

Breanna De Leeuw, who graduated from the M.A. program in 2024, received the Master's Education Section's Top Thesis Award in Quantitative Methods for her project, "Motives for and Consequences of Deception in Romantic Relationships." In her thesis, advised by professor Lindsey Aloia, De Leeuw examines how deception influences relational intimacy, commitment and satisfaction. De Leeuw is now a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Breck Gillespie, a 2024 graduate of the M.A. program, received the Master's Education Section's Top Thesis Award in Qualitative Methods for her project, "Gender Bias and the Long Shot Launch Advertisement." The thesis, which analyzed audience perceptions of online ads employed by women underdog candidates in the South, was co-advised by professors Rebecca Leach and Ryan Neville-Shepard. The thesis was also the 2024 winner of the U of A Graduate School and International Education Outstanding Thesis Award. Gillespie is now a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication the University of Missouri.

Madison McBride, a 2025 graduate of the M.A. program, received the Master's Education Section's Top Thesis Award in Rhetorical Methods for her project, "#Girls Gone Viral: Girlification Trends and the Digital Postfeminist Sensibility." Advised by professor Meredith Neville-Shepard, McBride's thesis offers a timely and theoretically innovative investigation of "girlification" discourse on TikTok by examining the viral trends of "girl dinner" and "girl math." McBride is now a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication Studies at Colorado State University.

Additionally, Amy Whiteside, a 2025 graduate of the M.A. program, received the Argumentation and Forensics Division's Top MA Thesis Award for her project, "Victims of Stage and Screen: Parasocial Savior Rhetoric and Coded Social Critique at the Convergence of Celebrity and Conspiracy Cultures." The thesis, which examined conspiracy theories in celebrity fandom, was advised by Dr. Ryan Neville-Shepard. Whiteside is now a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nebraska.

Matt Spialek, chair of the Department of Communication, notes, "The M.A. program has a long history of producing award winning graduate research, and this makes nine years in a row of our program winning national thesis awards." Spialek continued, "Winning four in a single year, though, is just amazing news. It shows that we are not only recruiting some of the best students in the country, but that the advising work of our graduate faculty is consistently excellent."

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