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The Faculty

The Speech Communication faculty at The University of Georgia are a diverse group of scholars focusing primarily on processes of rhetoric and public deliberation, interpersonal communication, and social influence.

Active Faculty

Dr. Barbara A. Biesecker Department Head	Barbara A. Biesecker (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 1990) teaches and writes at the intersections of rhetorical theory and criticism, feminist theory and criticism, and cultural studies. Her most recent work addresses the rhetoric and politics of WWII remembrance at the end of the 20th century and the rhetoric and politics of 9/11 and the War on Terror today; as always, she continues to study the relation of rhetoric and social change. Dr. Biesecker is currently the editor of “The Forum Series” published in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, serves on the editorial board of several of the field’s major journals, and was the 2007 recipient of the Douglas Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award.[Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Celeste M. Condit	Celeste Condit is currently conducting research on human genetic variation and its influence on public discourse about race. She has done research in women's health rhetorics (especially abortion and artificial conception) and the rhetoric of equality, especially regarding race. Dr. Condit employs whatever method needed at the moment to address the question she is asking and to deal appropriately with the audience she is addressing, but these have included Burkean methods, ideographic analyses, metaphor studies, audience studies, focus groups, and survey research. She works from a theoretical perspective that incorporates insights from post-structuralism into American pragmatism and scientific and economic materialism. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Vicki Freimuth	Vicki S. Freimuth is a Professor who holds a joint appointment in the Department of Speech Communication and the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She received her B.S. from Eastern Illinois University, her M.A. from the University of Iowa, and her Ph.D. from Florida State University. Her teaching and research interests focus on health communication, specifically the role of communication in health behavior change programs. She has published books on health information seeking and on HIV communication. Her research articles address issues such as mass media health campaigns, health disparities, and cancer communication and have appeared in a wide range of health and communication journals including Journal of Health Communication, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Social Science and Medicine, and Health Behavior Research: Theory and Practice. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Jerold L. Hale	Jerold L. Hale (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is a Professor in the Department of Speech Communication. His research areas are Relational communication, social influence, small group communication. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Kelly Happe	Kelly Happe (PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2003) is interested primarily in the rhetoric of science, feminist rhetorical theory, cultural studies, and environmental communication. Her work has been published in Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Journal of Medical Humanities, New Genomics and Society, and Patterns of Prejudice. Dr. Happe is currently working on several projects, including an article on the rhetoric of race in contemporary genetics, biomonitoring and social movements, and a book manuscript about heredity and ideology in the discourse of reproductive cancer research. [Curriculum Vitae]
Casey Harrigan	Casey Harrigan is the Associate Director of Debate for the University of Georgia Debate Union. Casey completed his B.A. in International Relations from Michigan State University in 2006. While at Michigan State, Casey earned two first round bids to the National Debate Tournament (NDT) and won the 2006 NDT. Casey recently completed his M.A. in Communication Studies at Wake Forest University, where he coached the 2008 NDT champions. In addition to his coaching duties, Casey is a member of the faculty in the Department of Speech Communication. [Curriculum Vitae] [University of Georgia Debate Union]
Dr. Tina M. Harris	Tina M. Harris (Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 1995) is an Associate Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. Prof. Harris is a communication scholar who has special research interests in the area of qualitative methodology, interracial communication, and racial identity construction. The fundamental goal of her research is to explore race as a socially constructed phenomenon that impacts our communicative experiences. More specifically, she explores individual understandings of race and their influence on how people communicate about race and non-race related topics or issues. She has made professional and national presentations on the topic of race and has several publications on racial identity and the media, pedagogy in the interracial communication course, interracial dating, religious faith and genes, health and genes, and race and pharmacogenomics. She is currently working on projects examining the impact of racial identity on communication about genes and race. Her recent grant activity has expanded her research into the area of media, genetics, race, health communication, and religion/spirituality. She has been a co-investigator on two federally funded grants (NIH and CDC) designed to explore how the lay public communicates about genetics and race. Her professional service includes serving on several editorial boards for a wide variety of academic journals. Her major teaching responsibilities include Business and Professional Communication and Interracial Communication, among other upper level courses in the department. She is co-author of the leading text in Interracial Communication with African American communication scholar Mark P. Orbe of Western Michigan University, Interracial Communication: Theory to Practice (2001, published by Wadsworth). She has also been recognized by various UGA student organizations (Housing, Student Government, NAACP) for excellence in teaching and presentations on communication and/or race. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Thomas M. Lessl	Thomas M. Lessl (Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, 1985) has spent much of his career studying the rhetoric of science, especially the interface between scientists and their nonscientific publics. His forthcoming book, Rhetorical Darwinism: Religion and the Evolution of the Scientific Identity, 1600-1900, is concerned with the role played by religious rhetoric in shaping the historical ethos of science. His work has been published in The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Communication Theory, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, The Western Journal of Communication, The Journal of Communication and Religion, the Oxford Review and various other outlets. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Jennifer L. Monahan	Jennifer L. Monahan (Ph.D., University of Southern California, 1993) is a Pprofessor of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. She is also a Fellow in the Institute for Behavioral Research. One of her major research interests is in understanding how alcohol consumption affects interpersonal communication behaviors. Specifically, her research examines how drinking alcohol affects individual's perceptions of sexual risk and sexual interest and individuals respond to sexual risk cues in conversations. A second research area is in understanding how emotions affect person perceptions and judgments made in social interactions. Her research has been published in Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and a variety of other sources. She is on the editorial board of Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, and Health Communication. Monahan teaches graduate courses in Communication Theory, Communication Methods, Communication and Emotions and Health Communication. At the undergraduate level, she teaches such classes as the Advanced Interpersonal Seminar, Research Methods, Interviewing, and other classes. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Edward Panetta	Edward Panetta (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 1988) does research and teaching in the area of argumentation. One of his long-standing commitments is the work associated with the development of a nationally visible intercollegiate debate program. In this capacity, he reads on the topic selected for national debate tournament competition and prepares the UGA teams for tournaments. He publishes theory pieces that are intended to influence the practice of intercollegiate debate in the United States. A second element of his research is the assessment of public argument in political campaigns and in environmental controversies. [Curriculum Vitae][University of Georgia Debate Union]
Dr. Jennifer A. Samp	Jennifer A. Samp (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999) is Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. Her programmatic research on message production in close relational contexts centrally locates her within scholarship on interpersonal communication. Broadly construed, her research focuses on how communicators’ thoughts about themselves and their relationships influence what they say during conversations with close friends and romantic partners. Additionally, some of her current work examines how perceived and actual alcohol use affects decisions about relational problems and the behaviors enacted during discussions about those problems. Her research has been acknowledged by several top paper awards at national conventions and publications in a variety of journals within the communication discipline including Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Western Journal of Communication, and Communication Studies. Dr. Samp teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses on interpersonal communication, personal relationships, conflict, communication theory, and quantitative research methods. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Lijiang Shen	Lijiang Shen (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2005) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. His primary area of research considers the impact of message features and audience characteristics in persuasive health communication, message processing and the process of persuasion/resistance to persuasion; and quantitative research methods in communication. His research has been published in Communication Monographs, Communication Research, Journal of Personality Assessment, Journal of Genetic Counseling, and the Handbook of research on electronic surveys and measurements. Dr. Shen teaches courses in persuasion, health communication and quantitative research methods. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Minsun Shim	Minsun Shim (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2008) is an Assistant Professor of Speech Communication. Her research centers on health communication, the intersection of mass and interpersonal communication, and new media. Specifically, she is concerned with how media use influences individuals� knowledge, efficacy, and behaviors in a health context, and how such influences are moderated by their personal characteristics and social interactions. Her recent study investigates the patterns of self-disclosure in online support groups and their potential health benefits for women with breast cancer. Her research has been published in Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, and CyberPsychology and Behavior. Dr. Shim teaches courses on quantitative research methods, communication and new media, and interpersonal communication. [Curriculum Vitae]
Dr. Roger Stahl	Roger Stahl's (Ph.D. Penn State University, 2004) research interests include media, critical theory, culture, and contemporary rhetorical theory. Dr. Stahl has a particular interest in the culture of contemporary war and its mediated rhetorics. His book, Militainment, Inc.: War, Media, and Popular Culture (Routledge, 2009), examines the consumption of war in popular culture, especially the phenomenon of interactivity, and how these cultural habits construct the political subject. Dr. Stahl has authored a documentary film also entitled Militainment, Inc., distributed by the Media Education Foundation in 2007. His work has appeared in Rhetoric and Public Affairs, The Quarterly Journal of Speech, and Critical Studies in Media Communication. Dr. Stahl’s other scholarly interests include documentary film, reality television, visual culture, religion, law, social surveillance, advertising, propaganda, and public relations.[Curriculum Vitae] [WebSite]
Dr. Kirsten M. Weber	Kirsten M. Weber (Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University, 2009) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. Dr. Weber’s research considers the mutual impact that interpersonal communication and health experiences have on one another. In particular, her work examines communication processes that influence patient behavior, considers relationship consequences of illness, explores how social networks modify health experiences, and clarifies how a patient's social and clinical networks intersect in important ways. Dr. Weber teaches courses on interpersonal communication, health communication, communication theory, and quantitative research methods. [Curriculum Vitae]

Retired Faculty


Dr. Thurmon Garner Associate Professor Emeritus [Curriculum Vitae]	Dr. Charles R. Gruner Professor Emeritus [Curriculum Vitae]	Dr. Calvin M. Logue Josiah Meigs Professor Emeritus [Curriculum Vitae]	Dr. Dwight L. Freshley Professor Emeritus [Curriculum Vitae]	Picture Unavailable ---- Dr. John E. Hocking Associate Professor Emeritus [Curriculum Vitae]	Dr. Donald L. Rubin ProfessEmeritus [Curriculum Vitae] [Communication Education] [Tobacco Analysis]

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