Meet a Grad Student

MEET A GRAD STUDENT: ROWAN MCMULLEN CHENG

McMullen Cheng left a job in the industry to devote time to research.

❙INTERVIEW BY AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES

Rowan McMullen Cheng is a second-year M.A. student. She is a qualitative journalism studies scholar focused on sociology of work and technology. Her thesis work focuses on journalistic distributed labor. She has presented her work at global conferences, including the annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference and the bi-annual Cardiff University Future of Journalism conference. She has also served as a TA and an RA. Prior to pursuing her academic career, Rowan worked in private and nonprofit communication teams.

Q What have you found to be some of the best features of the Hubbard School MA program?

A The community has been above and beyond expectations. The HSJMC is an inviting and collaborative community that focuses on supporting each other and providing an intellectually stimulating program. There is an outstanding peer mentorship program in addition to the experienced faculty advising that really helps students socialize into the program and value each perspective.

Try to focus

your attention

on identify-

ing what you

can lose time

reading about,

what you want

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about and what

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society.

Q What parts of your current research projects excite you?

A I thrive in the process of research. While I enjoy pursuing my own interests, the process of producing excellent scholarship is like a fine art that takes patience and attention to detail. Each stage of the research process is a little bit different, but as you move through the process the broad implications and societal impacts slowly clarify into why the research is important. It’s these subtle moments of clarity and the intentional simplicity of effective writing that encourages me to continue researching.

Q What has been one of your most favorite accomplishments?

School grad students developed a Graduate Student Organization (GSO) dedicated to helping new graduate students socialize, work together and host events. One of these events is an annual conference. During my first year as an M.A. student, I took a leap and presented a preliminary proposal for my thesis idea. I was stressed out because it was the first time I had presented in front of the many faculty that I admired, and it’s vulnerable to open yourself up to constructive feedback. The whole process went well, and I received some really insightful and supportive feedback that ultimately helped sculpt my thesis into what it is today. Presenting my work like that was one of my favorite accomplishments because it set the stage for me to present at other conferences outside of the program, like the Cardiff Future of Journalism Conference and the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference. I can’t thank the GSO and Hubbard School faculty enough for encouraging and supporting my research.

Q What Hubbard School professors have inspired your work, and why?

A Huge shout out to Dr. Carlson and Dr. Bélair-Gagnon. Their mentorship, advising, professionalism and scholarly contributions have illustrated how to be an incredible faculty member. Dr. Bélair-Gagnon has taught me invaluable lessons about what it means to be professional in academia, how to answer all these research questions I have through methods, and how to demonstrate genuine respect for students, among so much more.

I would likely not be at the Hubbard School if it weren’t for Dr. Carlson. I read his book Journalistic Authority when I was still working