Kate Dunsmore was selected by the Distinguished Dissertation Committee, Association of Canadian Studies in the US, as the recipient of this year’s biennial award for her thesis, Mediating alliance: The role of the press in sustaining reciprocity in the US-Canada relationship. Kate’s dissertation utilized the US-Canada relationship as an exemplar of international alliance.
This study demonstrated the active role of the press in both countries in sustaining the essential quality of reciprocity in the relationship. Most notably, in multiple cases, the press was found to pass up opportunities for their preferred simple, conflict-oriented news framing in favor of coverage supportive of bilateral understanding and cohesion.
Kate received her doctorate from the Department of Communication in December 2008. She was appointed to a tenure-track position at Fairleigh Dickinson University in the Department of Communication Studies last year.