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Who are the Communication Studies faculty?
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Theodore F. Sheckels is A. G. Ingram Professor of English and Professor of English and Communication Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in English from The Pennsylvania State University and has published on a range of literary and film topics, including book-length studies of South African literature, Canadian women writers, Australian film, and Canadian author Margaret Atwood. He has also published extensively in communication studies with textbooks on argumentation and political communication and book-length critical studies of Congressional debating and Maryland politics. He recently edited a collection of essays of the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign, and he is co-author of a forthcoming book-length study of political women who have failed to attract attention as presidential nominees despite their strong credentials. Recent articles and book chapters in the communication studies discipline are a discussion of NBA star Gilbert Arenas’ apology for bringing guns into Washington’s Verizon Center and an analysis of Barack Obama’s election night address in Chicago’s Grant Park. Sheckels teaches the rhetoric-oriented courses in the major. |
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Joan L. Conners is Associate Professor of Communication Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in mass communications from The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research is in the areas of political communication as well as television studies. Her work in political communication has involved election campaigns and the mass media. She has published articles and book chapters on political cartoon representations of political candidates, and has presented research on media coverage of presidential debates as well as political candidate online campaigning. She has also published book chapters on representations in reality television, and she is co-editing, with R-MC Sociology Associate Professor Denise Bissler, a collection of essays on representations of gender, race, and class in crime media. Conners teaches the media studies courses in the major. Sheckels and Conners have, with R-MC’s Associate Dean Lauren Bell, written Perspectives on Political Communication: A Case Approach. Sheckels and Conners have also served as co-hosts of the prestigious National Communication Association Institute for Faculty Development on the R-MC campus since 2007. |
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Marilyn J. Mattys holds an M.F.A. in Theatre from The University of Virginia. An actress and director, she teaches courses in the major that stress performance. |
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John B. Mingus holds an M.A. in English from The University of Delaware. A retired high school teacher and forensics coach, he has stage and television credentials. He teaches courses in the major that stress performance. |
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William J. Roberts holds an M.A. in communication studies from The University of Maryland, where he completed all the coursework necessary for a doctorate. Rather than write a dissertation, he went into broadcasting. He owns and manages—and performs on—a Richmond radio station located close-by in Ashland. |