Dr. Joan L. Conners has joined the R-MC speech communication faculty. Dr. Conners holds the B.A. and M.A. from Marquette University and the PhD. From the University of Minnesota. She previously taught at Regis College in Denver. Her specialization is media studies
Dr. Theodore F. Sheckels has recently published essays on the rhetoric of Nelson Mandela (Howard Journal of Communication, April-June 2001), the rhetoric of Thabo Mbeki (Howard Journal of Communication, April-June 2004), and on the 1998 Maryland gubernatorial campaign (Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Fall 2202).
Dr. Theodore F. Sheckels and Dr. Lauren Cohen Bell (Political Science) have recently published an essay, “Character versus Competence: Evidence from the 2000 Presidential Debates and Election,” in The Millennium Election (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).
Dr. Joan L. Conners has recently published an essay, “Color TV?: Diversity in Prime Time TV,” in Considering Diversity Across Audiences, Content and Producer (Allyn & Bacon, 2004).
A political communication anthology edited by Dr. Theodore F. Sheckels and others will soon by published by Strata Publishing.
At the November 2003 NCA convention, Dr. Theodore F. Sheckels presented papers on the 2002 Maryland gubernatorial election and on the television program The West Wing; at the same conference, Dr. Sheckels and Dr. Joan L. Conners presented a paper on how R-MC is incorporating speech communication instruction in the new First Year Course.
Dr. Theodore F. Sheckels presented a paper on Maryland Governor Tobert L. Ehrlich's first one-hundred days in office at the April 2004 Eastern Communication Association meeting in Boston.
Dr. Theodore F. Sheckels and Dr. Joan L. Conners will attend the Summer 2004 NCA Summer Faculty Development Institute at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa.
Dr. Theodore F. Sheckels will present papers on Thabo Mbeki's "I Am an African" Speech and Alabama Governor George Wassace's campaigns in the 1964 and 1972 Maryland Democratic presidential primaries at the November 2004 NCA convention in Chicago. Dr. Sheckels and Dr. Joan L. Conners will co-present a paper on models for a small college communication curriculum.
Dr. Theodore F. Sheckels is one of two nominees for First Vice President Elect Select of the Eastern Communication Association. From that office, one eventually rises to the organization's presidency. The election will be held in the fall.
