Author: Francis Steen

Director of UCLA’s Communication Studies Archive (University of California, Los Angeles). He partakes in PRIO's NECORE project, in which he studies the international coverage of the terror attacks in Norway. He holds a PhD in English, and has published on the application of cognitive theories to literary studies.

Performing Grief

As we discuss the relationship between public and private mourning and grief, consider the emotional handling of the Newtown school shooting in 2012, where twenty children were killed at Sandy Hook elementary school. Such a traumatic event destabilizes people, creating a felt deficit in emotional support. When President Obama visited the community, his role was… Read more »

Framing the UCLA Shooting Event

Wednesday June 1st was my last day of Spring Quarter teaching at UCLA. At 9:50am, a BruinAlert trickled into my inbox announcing “Police Activity at Engineering Building 4. Avoid area until further notice” and a few minutes later “Shooting at Engineering 4. Go to secure location and deny entry (lockdown) now!” I did not notice,… Read more »