Faculty and Staff
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Tenure-Track Faculty
Zhuo Ban
Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
119C ARTSCI
Dr. Zhuo Ban studies processes of neoliberal globalization and marginalization from a Public Relations perspective. Her recent work explores how industrial workers in offshore manufacturing units in Southern China construct their identities as marginalized publics in the global diffusion of production. She is also interested in the study of global-local dialectics of sweatshop activism; from consumer-based activism in the US to grassroots organizing in sweatshop sites in China.
Omotayo O Banjo
Associate Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
121-A ARTSCI
Omotayo Banjo, PhD (Penn State University, 2009) focuses on representation and audience responses to racial and cultural media. Her work has been published in peer reviewed journals including Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Communication Theory, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Media and Religion, and Race and Social Problems. She has also presented her research at regional, national and international conferences which include the International Communication Association, National Communication Association, Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication, and the Collegium for African-American Research. Dr. Banjo teaches courses related to media theory, identity, and race. She is also an affiliate faculty of Africana Studies, Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, and Journalism.
Gail T. Fairhurst
Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
119B ARTSCI
Gail T. Fairhurst is a Distinguished University Research Professor of Organizational Communication at the University of Cincinnati. She specializes in organizational and leadership communication processes, including those involving paradox, problem-centered leadership, and framing. She is the author of three books, including Discursive Leadership: In Conversation with Leadership Psychology and The Power of Framing: Challenging the Language of Leadership. She has also published over 90 articles and chapters in communication and management journals and books, includingThe Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Human Relations, Management Communication Quarterly, Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, and Journal of Applied Communication Research. She is a Fellow of the International Communication Association, Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association, and Fulbright Scholar.
Chandra Nirmala Frank
Asst Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
EDWARDS 1 Edwards Center
Dr. Chandra Frank (she/her/hers) is a feminist researcher who works on the intersections of archives, waterways, gender, sexuality and race. Her curatorial practice explores the politics of care, experimental forms of narration, and the colonial grammar embedded within display and exhibition arrangements. Chandra earned a PhD in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies with an emphasis on queer and feminist studies from Goldsmiths, University of London. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and exhibition catalogues, including Feminist Review, the Small Axe VLOSA catalogue, The Place is Here publication and the collection Tongues. She recently co-edited a special issue on Archives for Feminist Review. Her curated exhibitions include Re(as)sisting Narratives (Amsterdam/Cape Town), Fugitive Desires (London), and Proclamation 73 (Durban) (co-curated with Zara Julius). Chandra curated the 2016 Archives Matter Conference at the Centre for Feminist Research at Goldsmiths. She is on the international editorial board of Palgrave Studies in (Re)Presenting Gender. In addition, she is the Project Manager of the Experiment Program in International Living, a summer program for US students focused on LGBTQ+ Rights and Advocacy in Amsterdam: https://www.experiment.org/experiment_blog/program-spotlight-the-netherlands-dutch-culture-and-lgbtq-rights/.
Chandra’s dissertation and book project looks at the everyday experiences of the transnational feminist and queer Black, Migrant and Refugee Movement in the Netherlands during the 1980s. Using an innovative methodology based on Dutch colonial water infrastructures, she looks at how water functions as a form of domination, border and control and how, at the same time, it offers a theoretical and methodological framework to look at queer diasporic subjectivities. She frequently is invited to deliver lectures and keynotes at international academic and art institutions. Chandra has taught at Goldsmiths, School for International Training, and California State University Los Angeles. Her areas of teaching include queer and feminist theory, popular culture, visual cultures and critical race studies. Currently, Chandra is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center at the University of Cincinnati.
In Fall 2020, Chandra is teaching COMM 4040: Cultural Studies, cross-listed with WGS 4001: Special Topics: Gender, Sexuality, and Visual Cultures. In Spring 2021, Dr. Frank is teaching WGS 4029/7029: Gender, Sexuality and Culture, with an emphasis on visual cultures. For further information, you can reach Dr. Frank at frankc6@ucmail.uc.edu.
Chandra’s dissertation and book project looks at the everyday experiences of the transnational feminist and queer Black, Migrant and Refugee Movement in the Netherlands during the 1980s. Using an innovative methodology based on Dutch colonial water infrastructures, she looks at how water functions as a form of domination, border and control and how, at the same time, it offers a theoretical and methodological framework to look at queer diasporic subjectivities. She frequently is invited to deliver lectures and keynotes at international academic and art institutions. Chandra has taught at Goldsmiths, School for International Training, and California State University Los Angeles. Her areas of teaching include queer and feminist theory, popular culture, visual cultures and critical race studies. Currently, Chandra is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center at the University of Cincinnati.
In Fall 2020, Chandra is teaching COMM 4040: Cultural Studies, cross-listed with WGS 4001: Special Topics: Gender, Sexuality, and Visual Cultures. In Spring 2021, Dr. Frank is teaching WGS 4029/7029: Gender, Sexuality and Culture, with an emphasis on visual cultures. For further information, you can reach Dr. Frank at frankc6@ucmail.uc.edu.
Abel Thomas Gustafson
Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
145A ARTSCI
Dr. Abel Gustafson is an expert on persuasive communication, human behavior, and public opinion -- specializing in topics related to sustainability and emerging technologies. His research studies the psychological and social roots of attitudes and behavior, and then uses these insights to develop and test persuasive communication strategies.
Dr. Gustafson's research has been published in premier academic journals such as Nature Energy, Nature Climate Change, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), and Journal of Environmental Psychology.
His first-authored research has been covered in New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Business Insider, VICE, Axios, and others. His co-authored research has also been covered in Reuters, ABC News, CNN, LA Times, Five Thirty-Eight, Forbes, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, and others including The Onion.
Before joining the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Gustafson was a postdoc at Yale University (Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2018-2020) and earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Communication, 2018).
Dr. Gustafson's research has been published in premier academic journals such as Nature Energy, Nature Climate Change, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), and Journal of Environmental Psychology.
His first-authored research has been covered in New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Business Insider, VICE, Axios, and others. His co-authored research has also been covered in Reuters, ABC News, CNN, LA Times, Five Thirty-Eight, Forbes, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, and others including The Onion.
Before joining the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Gustafson was a postdoc at Yale University (Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2018-2020) and earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Communication, 2018).
Stephen M Haas
Professor of Communication, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
145B ARTSCI
Stephen M. Haas (Ph.D., Ohio State University) is a tenured Full Professor in the School of Communication, Film, & Media Studies, and served as the Graduate Program Director from 2002-2007. At the national level, he has served as Chair of the Health Communication Division of the National Communication Association, and Vice Chair/Conference Planner for the Division. His national survey work on LGBTQ+ couples has been cited in the national discussion of same-sex marriage and LGBTQ equality and received the 2017 Monograph of the Year Award from the GLBTQ Studies Division of the National Communication Association. In addition, he and his colleagues development of the Online Negative Enabling Support Groups (ONESG) Theory (New Media & Society) (Sage) received national and international news coverage. Recently, a rigorous 20-year systematic review of the relationship maintenance academic literature identified Haas & Lannutti's 5-Year LGBTQ+ Couples Maintnenance Project (N = 2,944) with LGBTQ+ people from every US state as "exemplary in moving the field forward" (Olgolsky & Stafford, 2022, Personal Relationships, p. 15. DOI: 10.1111/pere.12429).
His teaching and research interests are in the areas of Health Communication and Interpersonal/Relational Communication. Much of his work has explored communication dimensions of: (a) Relationship Maintenance in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples (b) Social Support in Couples/Families Coping with Chronic Illness (e.g., HIV/AIDS), (c) co-author of Uncertainty Management Theory, and (d) the Patient Self-Advocacy Scale (PSAS) to assess patient participation in Doctor-Patient Communication. His research has been published in Communication and Medical Journals such as Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Health Communication, AIDS Care, Journal of Nursing in AIDS Care, Journal of Pediatric Nursing, and he serves on the editorial boards of the flagship journals Health Communication and the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Dr. Haas has been the recipient of 5 national-level research awards: the National Communication Association's Golden Anniversary Monograph Award recognizing the top scholalry journal articles/books published in the Communication discipline for his work as coauthor in orginating Uncertainty Management Theory (Communication Monographs, 2000) as well as receiving the Health Communication Distinguished Article of the Year Award from the Health Communication Division of the National Communication Association--an award that recognizes research with a significant impact on the field of Health Communication. In addition, he received the National Communication Association's Gerald R. Miller Dissertation Award for the top dissertation in the field of Communication in 1999, as well as receiving the joint National Communication Association/International Communication Association's top dissertation award from the Interpersonal Communication Divisions. Most recently, his work recieved the 2017 Monograph of the Year Award from the GLBTQ Studies Division of the National Communication Association.
His research has been funded by several National Institutes of Health (NIH) agencies, including; the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), and the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) AIDS Clinical Trials Division. He also is a former faculty member at Rutgers University.
His teaching and research interests are in the areas of Health Communication and Interpersonal/Relational Communication. Much of his work has explored communication dimensions of: (a) Relationship Maintenance in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples (b) Social Support in Couples/Families Coping with Chronic Illness (e.g., HIV/AIDS), (c) co-author of Uncertainty Management Theory, and (d) the Patient Self-Advocacy Scale (PSAS) to assess patient participation in Doctor-Patient Communication. His research has been published in Communication and Medical Journals such as Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Health Communication, AIDS Care, Journal of Nursing in AIDS Care, Journal of Pediatric Nursing, and he serves on the editorial boards of the flagship journals Health Communication and the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Dr. Haas has been the recipient of 5 national-level research awards: the National Communication Association's Golden Anniversary Monograph Award recognizing the top scholalry journal articles/books published in the Communication discipline for his work as coauthor in orginating Uncertainty Management Theory (Communication Monographs, 2000) as well as receiving the Health Communication Distinguished Article of the Year Award from the Health Communication Division of the National Communication Association--an award that recognizes research with a significant impact on the field of Health Communication. In addition, he received the National Communication Association's Gerald R. Miller Dissertation Award for the top dissertation in the field of Communication in 1999, as well as receiving the joint National Communication Association/International Communication Association's top dissertation award from the Interpersonal Communication Divisions. Most recently, his work recieved the 2017 Monograph of the Year Award from the GLBTQ Studies Division of the National Communication Association.
His research has been funded by several National Institutes of Health (NIH) agencies, including; the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), and the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) AIDS Clinical Trials Division. He also is a former faculty member at Rutgers University.
Delaney Grace Harness
Asst Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
037A ARTSCI
Dr. Delaney Harness studies environmental governance, centering on interorganizational and collective action networks in sustainability and human rights initiatives. She focuses on how transparency and surveillance mechanisms impact environmental and social governance for corporate actors, NGOs, and governments in the face of current social justice issues and emergent regulatory frameworks.
She has received distinctions for her scholarship from the National Communication Association and International Communication Association. She was awarded the inaugural C-SPAN Graduate Fellowship for her work on norm entrepreneurship in US policy. She has previously worked on grant-funded projects with the Swedish Center for Environmental Research (MISTRA), looking at sustainability in market-based organizations, and on grant-funded research with the Omidyar Network to understand the role of democracy in digital spaces.
She has received distinctions for her scholarship from the National Communication Association and International Communication Association. She was awarded the inaugural C-SPAN Graduate Fellowship for her work on norm entrepreneurship in US policy. She has previously worked on grant-funded projects with the Swedish Center for Environmental Research (MISTRA), looking at sustainability in market-based organizations, and on grant-funded research with the Omidyar Network to understand the role of democracy in digital spaces.
Ronald L Jackson II
Professor of Communication, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
146C ARTSCI
Dr. Ronald L. Jackson II was awarded the 2020 Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Communication Association in November 2020, a prestigious lifetime research achievement award. He is Past President of the National Communication Association, Dean Emeritus of the College of Arts & Sciences at University of Cincinnati, Past Co-editor (with Kent Ono) of Critical Studies in Media Communication, and previous winner of the coveted Comic-Con International's Will Eisner Award for Best Academic Scholarly Work. His research explores empirical, conceptual, and critical approaches to the study of race, masculinity, identity negotiation, whiteness, and Afrocentricity. He is author of 17 books, including his most recent book (with Amber Johnson, Michael Hecht, and Sidney Ribeau) entitled African American Communication, and the well-received anthology Gladiators in Suits: Race, Gender, and Politics of Representation in Scandal, with Simone Adams and Kimberly Moffitt. He also is co-writing (with Tina Harris) a public speaking book to be published by Oxford University Press. The book will likely debut in 2021.
Eric Scott Jenkins
Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
144-C ARTSCI
Eric Jenkins, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Communication at the University of Cincinnati. He studies media technology and rhetoric, with a particular focus on emotion and affect. His theoretical perspectives include cultural studies, media ecology, affect theory, and critical theory. He is the author of two books, Special Affects: Cinema, Animation, and the Translation of Consumer Culture (Edinburgh University Press: 2014) and Surfing the Anthropocene: Digital Affect and the Big Tension (Peter Lang: 2020). He has published articles in Critical Inquiry, Quarterly Review of Film & Video, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Games & Culture, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, Quarterly Journal of Speech and Visual Communication Quarterly, among others, as well as presenting over 40 papers at national and international conferences. Eric teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in cultural studies, popular culture, digital media, visual rhetoric, postmodern media theory, and communication technology.
Nancy A Jennings
Professor, and Director of the Children's Education and Entertainment Research (CHEER) Lab, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
120CA ARTSCI
Dr. Jennings studies the impact of media on the lives of children and their families and public policies and practices involved with children’s media. Her research focuses on children's cognitive and social development and their use of media. She employs experimental design as well as qualitative methodologies to explore children’s relationships with media characters. She has also conducted evaluation research on educational media and outreach programs and content analyses and textual analyses of media content. She has authored Tween Girls and Their Mediated Friends (2014) and co-edited The Marketing of Children's Toys with Rebecca Hains (2021), and 20 Questions about Youth and the Media with Sharon Mazzarella (2018). Dr. Jennings has published on other topics including virtual environments, children’s advertising, families and media, and media violence. She provides parent education programs on children’s media use, directs the Children’s Education and Entertainment Research (CHEER) Lab, and has published peer-reviewed journals articles in journals such as New Media & Society, Journal of Family Communication, Journal of Children and Media, and Learning, Media and Technology. She has also published book chapters in the Handbook of Family Communication, the Handbook of Children and Media, and 20 Questions about Children and Media.
John A. Lynch
Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
144A ARTSCI
Dr. Lynch studies bioethics, health communication, and the rhetoric of science and medicine. He was previously the clinical research ethicist at the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training at UC’s College of Medicine, and he has collaborated for more than 10 years with faculty at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center to research social and ethical issues related to returning genetic research results to families and adolescents. He is the author or editor of three books and more than 40 essays and articles. His 2011 book, What Are Stem Cells? Definitions at the Intersection of Science and Politics, received the 2016 Distinguished Book Award from the National Communication Association’s Health Communication Division, and his most recent book The Origins of Bioethics: Remembering When Medicine Went Wrong received the Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine’s 2020 Book award.
Kelly Merrill Jr
Asst Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
037C ARTSCI
Dr. Kelly Merrill Jr. (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor of Health Communication and Technology in the School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati.
His primary research interests are at the intersection of health communication and communication technology. In particular, he is interested in stigmatization, marginalization, and disparities in both technological and health domains. Further, his research investigates the use of communication technologies for social, physical, and mental health benefits.
He has published several articles in various journals, including Journal of Medical Internet Research, Computers in Human Behavior, Telematics and Informatics, and Communication Research Reports.
His primary research interests are at the intersection of health communication and communication technology. In particular, he is interested in stigmatization, marginalization, and disparities in both technological and health domains. Further, his research investigates the use of communication technologies for social, physical, and mental health benefits.
He has published several articles in various journals, including Journal of Medical Internet Research, Computers in Human Behavior, Telematics and Informatics, and Communication Research Reports.
Shaunak Sastry
Associate Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
120A ARTSCI
Dr. Shaunak Sastry, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Cincinnati and Director of The Cincinnati Project, a center for community-engaged research. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of health and culture, globalization and health, and the cultural politics of infectious diseases. His work combines ethnographic and field-based methods with critical analysis of public discourses of health. His work has been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals like Health Communication, Communication Theory, Journal of Health Communication, Culture, Health & Sexuality, Frontiers in Communication, and Journal of International andIntercultural Communication, in addition to several book chapters and more than 40 paper presentations at national and international conferences. He is a senior editor of the journal Health Communicationand sits on the editorial boards of several other academic journals. He is the Chair-elect of the National Communication Association’s (NCA) Research Council and is immediate past-chair of the Asian and Pacific American Caucus at NCA.
Heather M. Zoller
Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
143 ARTSCI
Dr. Heather M. Zoller is a Professor in the School of Communication, Film, & Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati.
Her research focuses on communication and the politics of illness prevention. She investigates how illness attributions (diagnostic framing) facilitate or impede organizing to address the structural, root causes of health disparities, with a focus on occupational, environmental, and economic health. Theoretical concerns include power and resistance, corporate issues management, participation and dialogue, as well as health activism/social movements and social change.
Recent work focuses on worker participation in corporate accountability to promote workplace health and the worker-owned cooperative movement as a route to achieve an inclusive, sustainable, and health-supporting economy.
Her work appears in journals such as Communication Monographs, Communication Theory, Journal of Applied Communication Research, and Communication Yearbook. She co-edited the book "Emerging Issues and Perspectives in Health Communication: Meaning, Culture, and Power" with Mohan Dutta.
Dr. Zoller is the Editor-Elect of the Journal of Applied Communication Research. She has served as an Associate Editor at Human Relations and Management Communication Quarterly, and Senior Editor at Health Communication.
She is the Board President for Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund. She serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on PPE for Workplace Safety and Health.
Dr. Zoller teaches undergraduate and graduate courses such as Inroduction to Communicating Health, Science, and Environment, Communication and Health Politics, Organizational Communication: Power and Politics, Dialogue and Communication, and Qualitative Methods. She is the advisor for the Communicating Science, Health, and the Environment certificate.
Her research focuses on communication and the politics of illness prevention. She investigates how illness attributions (diagnostic framing) facilitate or impede organizing to address the structural, root causes of health disparities, with a focus on occupational, environmental, and economic health. Theoretical concerns include power and resistance, corporate issues management, participation and dialogue, as well as health activism/social movements and social change.
Recent work focuses on worker participation in corporate accountability to promote workplace health and the worker-owned cooperative movement as a route to achieve an inclusive, sustainable, and health-supporting economy.
Her work appears in journals such as Communication Monographs, Communication Theory, Journal of Applied Communication Research, and Communication Yearbook. She co-edited the book "Emerging Issues and Perspectives in Health Communication: Meaning, Culture, and Power" with Mohan Dutta.
Dr. Zoller is the Editor-Elect of the Journal of Applied Communication Research. She has served as an Associate Editor at Human Relations and Management Communication Quarterly, and Senior Editor at Health Communication.
She is the Board President for Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund. She serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on PPE for Workplace Safety and Health.
Dr. Zoller teaches undergraduate and graduate courses such as Inroduction to Communicating Health, Science, and Environment, Communication and Health Politics, Organizational Communication: Power and Politics, Dialogue and Communication, and Qualitative Methods. She is the advisor for the Communicating Science, Health, and the Environment certificate.
Educator Faculty
Suzanne Boys
Professor & Interim Head, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
137D ARTSCI
Suzanne received a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Cincinnati in 1996. She earned a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Cincinnati in 2002, writing a thesis on the discursive construction of the teacher role by international graduate students. She earned a PhD. in Communication from Texas A&M University in 2007. Her dissertation research on the Roman Catholic clergy sex abuse crisis developed a dialogical model for understanding crisis communication.
Her areas of expertise include organizational communication, organizational culture, and public relations.She currently teaches Organizational Diversity; Organizational Image, Identity, & Issue Management; and Public Relations Campaigns. She directed UC's Public Relations program from 2010-2021. She now serves as Interim Head of the new School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies.
Her areas of expertise include organizational communication, organizational culture, and public relations.She currently teaches Organizational Diversity; Organizational Image, Identity, & Issue Management; and Public Relations Campaigns. She directed UC's Public Relations program from 2010-2021. She now serves as Interim Head of the new School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies.
Michelle Lindsay Colpean
Asst Professor - Educator, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
ARTSCI
Steven J. Fuller
Educator Professor; Communication Undergraduate Director, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
140B ARTSCI
Steve teaches Interpersonal Communication (in-person and online), Persuasion & Civic Engagement, and Communication, Identity & Sport. His classes regularly incorporate experience-based learning projects designed to help students put academic theories and concepts to work in their communities.
Steve currently serves as the Communication Undergraduate Director, managing the program's curriculum and advising over 700 students (majors, minors, certificates).
Previously, he co-launched the Communication Co-op Program, founded Lambda Pi Eta—UC's chapter of the National Communication Association's honor society, co-launched the UC Online Communication BA, and hosted CommCeleb—the department's annual awards banquet.
Steve is a well-respected lecturer and writer, speaking to a wide variety of groups and organizations. Steve's book, The Church Experiment, documents his experiences visiting 52 religious gatherings in 52 weeks. His podcast, Communication Junkie, shares practical communication skills to improve interpersonal relationships. His party game, Good vs Gooder, works as a great icebreaker activity inside or outside the classroom.
Please email Steve for more information about the Communication undergraduate program, his community-engaged approach to teaching, or any of his creative projects.
Steve currently serves as the Communication Undergraduate Director, managing the program's curriculum and advising over 700 students (majors, minors, certificates).
Previously, he co-launched the Communication Co-op Program, founded Lambda Pi Eta—UC's chapter of the National Communication Association's honor society, co-launched the UC Online Communication BA, and hosted CommCeleb—the department's annual awards banquet.
Steve is a well-respected lecturer and writer, speaking to a wide variety of groups and organizations. Steve's book, The Church Experiment, documents his experiences visiting 52 religious gatherings in 52 weeks. His podcast, Communication Junkie, shares practical communication skills to improve interpersonal relationships. His party game, Good vs Gooder, works as a great icebreaker activity inside or outside the classroom.
Please email Steve for more information about the Communication undergraduate program, his community-engaged approach to teaching, or any of his creative projects.
Amber K Gee
Educator Associate Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
149C ARTSCI
As a Communication graduate student in 2001, Professor Amber Gee began teaching Effective Public Speaking and has been teaching ever since. A member of the adjunct faculty since 2004, Professor Gee teaches public relations and business communication courses.
She has co-authored a public speaking instructor's manual and a journal article on the New Hampshire primary, which she attended in 2008.
Amber has served the Department of Communication as assistant speech course director, Interim speech course director, PR Writing course director, co-director of the Alice M. House Speech Contest, Committiee chair of the Teaahing and Community Groups. She now serves as the Director of Social Media and Promotions - the only faculty member in A&S to serve in such a role.
Occasionally, she writes as a freelance journalist for local papers. Her interests include: public relations, public speaking, teaching improvement, online teaching, writing and political communication. Professor Gee is a two time graduate of UC receiving her BA in English Literature (2000) and MA in Communication (2004).
She has co-authored a public speaking instructor's manual and a journal article on the New Hampshire primary, which she attended in 2008.
Amber has served the Department of Communication as assistant speech course director, Interim speech course director, PR Writing course director, co-director of the Alice M. House Speech Contest, Committiee chair of the Teaahing and Community Groups. She now serves as the Director of Social Media and Promotions - the only faculty member in A&S to serve in such a role.
Occasionally, she writes as a freelance journalist for local papers. Her interests include: public relations, public speaking, teaching improvement, online teaching, writing and political communication. Professor Gee is a two time graduate of UC receiving her BA in English Literature (2000) and MA in Communication (2004).
Jessica Graves-Rack
Assistant Professor Educator, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
149A ARTSCI
Assistant Professor, Educator
Basic Course Director - Communication 1071 - Introduction to Public Speaking
Basic Course Director - Communication 1071 - Introduction to Public Speaking
Evan R. Griffin
Educator Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
140 ARTSCI
Evan R. Griffin, Educator Professor in the Department of Communication, has taught at the University of Cincinnati since 1990. He directs the Introduction to Interpersonal Communication courses as well as teaching courses in Nonverbal Communication and Introduction to Communication Theory. Evan also assists in the leadership of the Navigators, the campus chapter of an international Christian missional community. In addition, Evan is the faculty advisor for Mission: Urban Development (M:UD), a student group that seeks to provide affordable housing and community for underresourced families in Walnut Hills.
Lisamarie Luccioni
Professor Educator, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
146B ARTSCI
Molly B. Mayer
Educator Professor, Business Communication Coordinator, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
149B ARTSCI
Molly B. Mayer, Educator Professor, joined the University of Cincinnati in1988. Her primary areas of focus are in Rhetoric and Public Address, and Organizational Communication. She currently teaches Professional Public Speaking, and Business Communication. Professor Mayer also serves the department as an Academic Advisor. She is the Business Communication Course Coordinator and a member of the Department of Communication Head's Advisory Team. Her committee work includes Teaching, Budget, Organizational Communication and COMM-Unity.
Maribeth S. Metzler
Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
037A ARTSCI
Maribeth S. Metzler, Educator Professor of Communication, Internship Director, earned her PhD in Communication and Rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1996. Her academic background is slightly electic, including an undergraduate degree in Literature (with multiple honors) and a master's degree in Environmental Science. She has professional experience as a technical writer, paralegal, environmental public relations specialist, hazardous waste site safety officer and trainer, and environmental consultant. Prior to joining the faculty at Cincinnati, she taught at Rutgers, SUNY Oswego, and Miami University. Her research interests include environmental and risk communication, the social implications of organizations, and communication ethics. Her recent work has appeared in the American Behavioral Scientist, Handbook of Public Relations (Sage), Communication Quarterly, Communication Studies, and the Encyclopedia of Public Relations, 2nd Ed (Sage). She is co-editor on a book about communication in the US nuclear weapons production complex with her UC colleague Steve Depoe, Brian Taylor, and Bill Kinsella. Dr. Metzler teaches courses in Public Relations, Organizational Communication, Communication Ethics, and Internships.
Autumn Leigh Miller
Associate Professor Educator, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
146A ARTSCI
Autumn earned her MA degree from UC’s Department of Communication and her Ph.D from the University of Utah. She studies ways we can use strategic communication (e.g., PR, advertising, marketing, social media) to help the public good, particularly in the areas of human health and the environment. She is the director of UCommunicate, a student-led consulting and communication services firm. Autumn has experience working and consulting in the academic, business, and nonprofit sectors and has been teaching in higher education for the last 13 years. She also has expertise in online teaching.
Michael J. Woeste
Associate Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
037B ARTSCI
2008 – Present Field Service Associate Professor:
Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences
Design and teach undergraduate courses in Introduction to Communication
Theory, Intercultural Communication, Advanced Intercultural Communication, and Seminar in Integrated Intercultural Communication to classes averaging 30 - 40 students.
Design and teach special topics courses for the University of Cincinnati Honors
Program in Urban Poverty and Intercultural Communication (349H), Appalachian Culture and Intercultural Communication (395H), and Global Poverty and Intercultural Communication (363H) to classes averaging 25 students.
Design and teach special topics courses on Philanthropy, Urban Poverty
and Intercultural Communication (349S) serving the homeless and addicted communities.
Coordinate and facilitate experiential components for intercultural courses
(349/449/549) with community agencies/partners.
Coordinate and direct students enrolled in 392 (Projects in Communication)
Direct and advise select Communication Honors student’s research projects
Advise students matriculated as communication majors in course selection and
related matters.
Advisor: Cincinnati Community Outreach, Student group serving the Greater
Cincinnati area with service projects.
Advisor: Serve Beyond Cincinnati, Student group serving communities in
multiple local, regional and international locations.
2003 – 2009 Field Service Assistant Professor:
Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221
Design and teach undergraduate courses in Introduction to Communication
Theory, Introduction to Intercultural Communication, Intercultural Communication, Advanced Intercultural Communication, and Seminar in Integrated Intercultural Communication to classes averaging 20-30 students.
Design and teach special topics courses for the University of Cincinnati Honors
Program in Urban Poverty and Intercultural Communication (349H), Appalachian Culture and Intercultural Communication (395H), and Global Poverty and Intercultural Communication (363H) to classes averaging 25 students.
Coordinate and facilitate experiential components for intercultural courses
(349/449/549) with community agencies/partners.
Coordinate and direct students enrolled in 392 (Projects in Communication)
Direct and advise select Communication Honors student’s research projects
Advise students matriculated as communication majors in course selection and
related matters.
Serve as the Chair of Curriculum Committee for Interpersonal Communication
Theory
Serve as the Coordinator of Service Learning for the Department of
Communication.
Member of the University of Cincinnati Service Learning Advisory Council
Appointed member of the University of Cincinnati Honors Program Council
Advisor: Cincinnati Community Outreach, Student group serving the Greater
Cincinnati area with service projects.
Member of Search Committee: Director of the University Center for Community
Engagement
Member of Search Committee: Director of Academic and Community
Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences
Design and teach undergraduate courses in Introduction to Communication
Theory, Intercultural Communication, Advanced Intercultural Communication, and Seminar in Integrated Intercultural Communication to classes averaging 30 - 40 students.
Design and teach special topics courses for the University of Cincinnati Honors
Program in Urban Poverty and Intercultural Communication (349H), Appalachian Culture and Intercultural Communication (395H), and Global Poverty and Intercultural Communication (363H) to classes averaging 25 students.
Design and teach special topics courses on Philanthropy, Urban Poverty
and Intercultural Communication (349S) serving the homeless and addicted communities.
Coordinate and facilitate experiential components for intercultural courses
(349/449/549) with community agencies/partners.
Coordinate and direct students enrolled in 392 (Projects in Communication)
Direct and advise select Communication Honors student’s research projects
Advise students matriculated as communication majors in course selection and
related matters.
Advisor: Cincinnati Community Outreach, Student group serving the Greater
Cincinnati area with service projects.
Advisor: Serve Beyond Cincinnati, Student group serving communities in
multiple local, regional and international locations.
2003 – 2009 Field Service Assistant Professor:
Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221
Design and teach undergraduate courses in Introduction to Communication
Theory, Introduction to Intercultural Communication, Intercultural Communication, Advanced Intercultural Communication, and Seminar in Integrated Intercultural Communication to classes averaging 20-30 students.
Design and teach special topics courses for the University of Cincinnati Honors
Program in Urban Poverty and Intercultural Communication (349H), Appalachian Culture and Intercultural Communication (395H), and Global Poverty and Intercultural Communication (363H) to classes averaging 25 students.
Coordinate and facilitate experiential components for intercultural courses
(349/449/549) with community agencies/partners.
Coordinate and direct students enrolled in 392 (Projects in Communication)
Direct and advise select Communication Honors student’s research projects
Advise students matriculated as communication majors in course selection and
related matters.
Serve as the Chair of Curriculum Committee for Interpersonal Communication
Theory
Serve as the Coordinator of Service Learning for the Department of
Communication.
Member of the University of Cincinnati Service Learning Advisory Council
Appointed member of the University of Cincinnati Honors Program Council
Advisor: Cincinnati Community Outreach, Student group serving the Greater
Cincinnati area with service projects.
Member of Search Committee: Director of the University Center for Community
Engagement
Member of Search Committee: Director of Academic and Community
Affiliate Faculty
Jeffrey Layne Blevins
Professor, Dept. of Journalism; and School of Public and International Affairs, A&S Journalism
22 B ARTSCI
Dr. Blevins is a Professor in the Department of Journalism (51%); and School of Public and International Affairs (49%). His Scholarship is grounded in U.S. telecommunication law and policy and engages critical political economy theory. His recent book, Social Media, Social Justice, and the Political Economy of Online Networks (University of Cincinnati Press, 2022) explores the role of social media in social justice and political campaigns. Some of Dr. Blevins' other published research has examined media ownership regulation, First Amendment jurisprudence on media ownership regulation, Internet media policy and the politics of the telecommunication policymaking process. He has provided expertise on electronic media regulation and Federal Communications Commission policymaking to international, national, regional and local news media. In 2009 Dr. Blevins served as a federal grant reviewer for the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program administered by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce. He is a frequent opinion-editorial columnist for major news outlets, including USA Today, The Cincinnati Enquirer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and other venues.
Jeffrey Blevins CV
Jeffrey Blevins CV
Emeriti Faculty
Cindy L. Berryman-Fink
Professor Emerita, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
ARTSCI
Having received her Ph.D. in interpersonal and public communication from Bowling Green State University, Cynthia Berryman-Fink teaches courses in gender communication, organizational communication, organizational diversity, applied communication research methods and interpersonal communication.
Her program of research examines gender-related communication practices in organizational and interpersonal contexts: perceptions and preventions of sexually harassing communication; attributions of communication competence of women managers; and communication styles in managing conflict. Among the books she has authored, co-authored or co-edited are Communication, Language, and Sex (1980); Research in Speech Communication (1981); The Manager's Desk Reference (1989 & 1996); Communication and Sex-Role Socialization (1993), and Inter-Act, 11th ed. (2006). Professor Berryman-Fink has published numerous articles in communication, psychology, personnel, and education journals, and has served as a consultant to many companies, professional associations, and governmental institutions, including Procter & Gamble, Marathon Oil Company, Cincinnati Bell, International Paper, the Drees Company, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Internal Revenue Service.
She headed the Department of Communication from 1987-1992, and served as Acting Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs from 1994-1996 Acting Head of the Department of Judaic Studies in 2003-04, and Interim Dean of McMi cken College of Arts and Sciences in 2007. She served as president of the Central States Communication Association in 2001 and was co-founder of the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender in 1978. She has received a teaching award from the Central States Communication Association (1983), the UC Just Community Award (1999) awards from the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender (2002 & 2005) and the UC Panhellic Professor of the Year Award (2006).
James Wilbur Crocker-Lakness
Professor Emeritus, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
120 ARTSCI
Dr. James W. Crocker-Lakness, Professor of Communication, received his PhD from Kent State University (1974) where he specialized in rhetoric and small group communication. He now teaches courses in rhetorical theory and criticism in the Department of Communication. His research interests are communication pedagogy and religious and spiritual communication. He has published in Communication Education, Journal of Communication and Religion, Communication Quarterly, Personnel and Guidance Journal, The Ohio Speech Journal and The Kentucky Journal of Communication Arts and has a book chapter on spirituality and communication. He has co-authored position statements on communication assessment published by the National Communication Association including communication competencies recommended for college sophomores and guidelines for assessment programs. He is the co-founder of the Spiritual Communication Division of the National Communication Association and has been the Executive Secretary of the Religious Communication Association. He has made numerous presentations at professional conferences.
Steve Paul Depoe
Professor - Adj Ann, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
146 ARTSCI
Stephen P. Depoe, PhD (Northwestern, 1986), is a Professor of Communication. He is currently the co-editor of a book series on Media and Environmental Communication published by Palgrave MacMillan. He was the founding editor of ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION: A JOURNAL OF NATURE AND CULTURE (www.tandfonline.com/renc) from 2007-13, and was also the founding chair of the International Environmental Communication Association (IECA) (http://theieca.org). His research areas include environmental and risk communication, particularly the role of the public in environmental decision-making; and public communication. His recent work includes the co-edited volumes VOICE AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION (Palgrave MacMillan, 2014); NUCLEAR LEGACIES: COMMUNICATION, CONTROVERSY, AND THE U. S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX (Lexington Press, 2007) and COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION MAKING (SUNY Press, 2004). Dr. Depoe teaches courses in Environmental Communication, Communication and Sport, Rhetoric of Social Movements, Rhetorical Research Methods, and Advanced Rhetorical Theory.
Kristina Tabor Galyen
Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
Kristina Tabor Galyen, Field Service Professor, joined the Department of Communication in 1989. Professor Galyen is the Director of Public Speaking Courses including Effective Speaking, Professional Speaking,and Persuasive Speaking. In her role as Speech Course Director, she also trains and mentors graduate teaching assistants in the department. She is responsible for the annual Graduate Teaching Workshop, held each fall, in which she trains graduate students to teach in the classroom.
Professor Galyen is also the Director of the annual Alice M. House Speech Contest, a century old tradition in the department.
Although Professor Galyen has taught many courses for the department, her primary teaching interest is in the area of Rhetoric and Public Communication. She teaches Introduction to Rhetorical Theory (306)as well as Theories of Argument (302). She has co-authored the book Advanced Public Speaking: Persuasive Strategies (Thompson Learning, Custom Publishing, 2000), with colleagues Rudolph Verderber, Lisamarie Luccioni and Wendy Larcher.
In February 2007, Professor Galyen was awarded for her dedictation and committment to UC students by The African American Cultural and Research Center. In 1995 and 1996 Professor Tabor was awarded and recognized by the Department of Communication for outstanding instruction in meeting PIRT (Project Initiative to Reward Teaching) goals.
Professor Galyen is also President of her own consulting compnay, Power Presenters. She serves as a Presentations Consultant/Coach to several high-profile firms in the Cincinnati area.
She holds an M.A. in Communication from the University of Cincinnati.
Professor Galyen is also the Director of the annual Alice M. House Speech Contest, a century old tradition in the department.
Although Professor Galyen has taught many courses for the department, her primary teaching interest is in the area of Rhetoric and Public Communication. She teaches Introduction to Rhetorical Theory (306)as well as Theories of Argument (302). She has co-authored the book Advanced Public Speaking: Persuasive Strategies (Thompson Learning, Custom Publishing, 2000), with colleagues Rudolph Verderber, Lisamarie Luccioni and Wendy Larcher.
In February 2007, Professor Galyen was awarded for her dedictation and committment to UC students by The African American Cultural and Research Center. In 1995 and 1996 Professor Tabor was awarded and recognized by the Department of Communication for outstanding instruction in meeting PIRT (Project Initiative to Reward Teaching) goals.
Professor Galyen is also President of her own consulting compnay, Power Presenters. She serves as a Presentations Consultant/Coach to several high-profile firms in the Cincinnati area.
She holds an M.A. in Communication from the University of Cincinnati.
Kurt J. Neuwirth
Associate Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
137 ARTSCI
Dr. Kurt Neuwirth, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and an associate of the Center for Health and Environmental Communication. Dr. Neuwirth specializes in mass communication and research design and methods. . Dr. Neuwirth's research examines the effects of media content on people's perceptions of hazards, their emotional reactions to risk, and changes in their behaviors. In addition, his work examines the role the media play in forming and changing public opinion, especially when information about hazards influences wider social and political processes. His most recent research focuses on the relationship between values and the perception of risk and benefit.
Lisa H. Newman
Educator Professor, Department of Communication, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
Lisa Newman has focused her career on helping others' to improve their communication skills. She teaches and researches in the areas of Public Relations, Diversity, Interviewing, Organizational, Group, Gender and Nonverbal Communication. Professor Newman is Director of the Department of Communication Undergraduate Program and on the Communication committee for the UC President's Diversity Council and steering committees for the Just Community Initiative, the UC Diversity Conference, the C-Ring Award and the Strategic Enrollment Management Success Committee. She is actively engaged in the First Year Experience, serving as a regular speaker for the Peer Leader program, Freshmen Seminar Instructor and Learning community adviser. She is the recipient of numerous awards including: named as one of the 2013 PR1ZE Mentors of the Year; a 2012 Greater Cincinnati Top 100 Minds Thought Leaders by Loth, Inc.; the 2010-2011 Inaugural Department of Athletics’ Legion of Excellence Student-Athlete Faculty Impact Award, the 2011 Sarah Grant Barber Outstanding Faculty Adviser Award, Four Darwin T. Turner Scholars, Jerome S. Jackson Breakfast of Champions Medals, the 2007 Student Choice Faculty Woman of the Year award, the 2005 National Conference for Community and Justice (NCJJ) award for helping to improve Human Relations in the Greater Cincinnati Region. In 2004, she received the Just Community Faculty Award and the McMicken Dean's Award for Distinguished Service. Ms. Newman puts theory to practice as an organizational communication consultant to area businesses on team-building, interviewing and presentation skills. Founder of Tri-State Litigation Consulting helping attorneys to select juries, prepare witnesses for trial and write opening and closing arguments for area law firms.
Michael S Porte
Professor Emeritus , School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
3513 French Hall
Michael S. Porte specializes in communication, media, and film studies. He has consulted with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Centers for Disease Control, GE, Proctor and Gamble, and Loews. He currently teaches The Jew in American Film, Cinema Divinite: Religion and the Bible in Film, Tai Chi, and Meditation.
Teresa Sabourin
School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
146 ARTSCI
Dr. Teresa Sabourin is a Professor of Communication at the University of Cincinnati. Her primary teaching and research area is interpersonal communication. She specializes in family communication, with an emphasis on domestic violence, homelessness and recovery processes.
Dr. Sabourin has been a member of the faculty in the Department of Communication at the University of Cincinnati since 1984. She was the graduate director from 1992 to 2002. She was the Department Head from 2002-2011.
She has published a number of articles and book chapters on family communication including the book, The Contemporary American Family: A Dialectical Perspective on Communication and Relationships (Sage).
Dr. Sabourin has been a member of the faculty in the Department of Communication at the University of Cincinnati since 1984. She was the graduate director from 1992 to 2002. She was the Department Head from 2002-2011.
She has published a number of articles and book chapters on family communication including the book, The Contemporary American Family: A Dialectical Perspective on Communication and Relationships (Sage).
Staff
Ashley D. Hutchison
Business Administrator, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
ARTSCI
Ekaterina Katzarova
Program Manager, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
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Amanda M. Powell
Financial Administrator 2, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
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