05/10/11 jb

HAYS, Kan. -- Dr. Carrol Haggard, associate professor of communication studies at Fort Hays State University, and Margaret Miller Butcher, Online Education Consultants, Dodge City, presented the paper "Ethnocentrism and Intercultural Willingness to Communicate in U. S. College Students" at the National Social Science Association convention in Las Vegas, Nev.

The paper examines several variables that might affect student's ethnocentrism and their intercultural willingness to communicate.

Dr. Pelgy Vaz, professor of sociology and social work, and Rosa Maria Castaneda, instructor of modern languages, presented the paper "Ancestral Traditions, Modern Economies: Sustainability and Empowerment of Rural Communities in the Andes." Vaz, a member of the Executive Board of the National Social Science Association, also served as chair of the session on the use of technology in the social sciences.