Terrie Wong, right, received a Best Article Award from the National Communication Association in 2023.
MEDIA, Pa. – Terrie Wong, assistant professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State Brandywine, received a National Best (Published) Article Award and an International Top Faculty (Conference) Paper Award in 2023. Awarded in May and November, respectively, Wong noted how much she loves doing the work she does and said she was humbled to receive the awards.
“I am honored and humbled that my work received positive recognition this year,” Wong said. “These awards give me direction and purpose to know that I wrote things that resonate with people. I also feel like winning both national and international research awards allowed me to help put Brandywine on the map.”
The Top Faculty (Conference) Paper Award is an international-level award for original research, awarded by the Intercultural Communication Division of the International Communication Association, an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. The co-authored conference paper was competitively peer-reviewed and recognized by other scholars as the top paper for the annual conference within the author's specialization in 2023.
To receive a Best Article Award from the National Communication Association, one’s research must first be rigorously peer-reviewed and then deemed suitable for publication. The published work is submitted to a second round of rigorous peer review before being awarded as the Top Publication of the Year by the author’s peers in their specialization and discipline. Senior scholars in each specialization recognize one journal article to represent the best work in their area for the year.
I love representing Penn State Brandywine at all these conferences and being able to say, ‘Hey, I’m from Penn State Brandywine, and I love doing this work.’—Terrie Wong , assistant professor of communication arts and sciences, Penn State Brandywine
To compare the scale of the National Best (Published) Article award, Wong said it’s the equivalent of some of the biggest awards in Hollywood, but for writers in higher education and research.
“In short, the significance of the best article award for scholars is on par with receiving an Emmy, a Golden Globe or an Academy Award in the movie industry,” she said. “This is a national-level award that signifies peer recognition for quality of work.”
Both papers Wong published revolved around culture, identity and communication. Her papers, titled “Countering the Global Authenticity Crisis: A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of Race as Spatially, Historically, and Geopolitically Contingent” and “Crazy, rich, when Asian: Yellowface ambivalence and mockery in Crazy Rich Asians,” both focused on how Asians are represented in media around the world.
“The papers historicize all the contemporary things we’re seeing about race and communication," Wong said. "They allow readers to think about race in different contexts on different issues.”
Wong stated her favorite parts about attending conferences and presenting her work are representing Penn State Brandywine wherever she goes and putting herself into the work she does.
“I love representing Penn State Brandywine at all these conferences and being able to say, ‘Hey, I’m from Penn State Brandywine, and I love doing this work,’” she said. “I feel like when I write something, I try to bring a little bit of myself into it. Being able to do research enables me to do that while being self-reflective, analytical, intentional and thoughtful about life. I’m very privileged to have this job.”
