College of Communication and Information
![Traveling Stanzas: poets share their stories](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/poetry.reading-ka.jpg?VersionId=UEs9MgrjMvPBge2T_NLCTzuwo7PAC_Y3&h=bde28bee&itok=wdk0TsV8)
A unique poetry partnership is helping to spread the “word” about migration, literally. Powerful and inspiring words are ringing throughout 11 cities in the United States.
![Kent State students traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to learn about human trafficking and local organizations working to eradicate it.](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/Trafficking.png?VersionId=9wCKpD8_NPxtrfZZ_9YRwakQaIwuGViG&h=98bdeb58&itok=UeJPOEJL)
![Kent State's Delta Zeta Chapter](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/Delta%20Zeta%20group.jpg?VersionId=A1JQccfpAnW0ORH0QXN1Xq592DKyVcly&h=13a585c7&itok=yEXddO8f)
![Jessica Barness (right), assistant professor of visual communication design at Kent State, reviews a student’s work in the Art Building. Jessica Barness (right), assistant professor of visual communication design at Kent State, reviews a student’s work in the Art Building.](https://www-s3-live.kent.edu/s3fs-root/s3fs-public/styles/1_5_2_thumbnail/public/article/ScholarBarness.jpg?VersionId=pnXDY37pCndcOO1oI26GAkqrTZun0lQS&h=ec98a0f6&itok=OdkXlgWO)
Scholar of the Month
Jessica Barness
Assistant Professor of Visual Communication Design
College of Communication and Information
2012-present
The word “communication” likely makes you think of language, but November’s Scholar of the Month has spent her entire career researching design as a language of its own.
Across various media, Jessica Barness, an assistant professor in Kent State University’s School of Visual Communication Design, creates her own design-based research model that merges the making of artifacts with critical inquiry.