University of Minnesota
Communication Studies
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Graduate Faculty

The graduate faculty takes pride in their close relationships with graduate students. Student faculty contacts are frequent and informal enough to permit the development of genuine interpersonal exchange. Faculty are willing to engage in team research with students in either short or long range projects. Such projects have the potential of leading to publications with students as coauthors, or as the sole author.

Graduate Faculty

NameAreas of Expertise
Rosita D. Albert
Ph.D., 1972, University of Michigan
Intercultural Communication; International Relations; Communication Theory; Health Communication.
Donald R. Browne
Ph.D. 1961, University of Michigan)
Comparative and International Broadcasting; Broadcasting and National Development; International Relations; Historical Research Methodology.
Karlyn Kohrs Campbell
Ph.D. 1968, University of Minnesota
Rhetorical Theory and Criticism; Women in Communication; Presidential Rhetoric.
Richard Graff
Ph.D. 2000, Northwestern University
Early History of Rhetoric; Writing and Reading Practices of Ancient Greece and Rome; Theories of Prose Style.
Ronald Walter Greene
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Ph.D. 1995, University of Illinois
Rhetorical Studies; Cultural Studies/Cultural Policy; Citizenship; Philosophy of Communication
Alan G. Gross
Ph.D. 1962, Princeton University
Rhetoric of Science and Scientific Controversy; Role of Scientific Methods in the Humanities; History of the Scientific Article.
Laura J. Gurak
Ph.D. 1994, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Personal website
Rhetorics of Science and Technology; Rhetorical Criticism; Internet Studies; Online Research Methods; Social Aspects of Computing; Technical and Professional Communication.
Dean E. Hewes
Ph.D. 1974, Florida State University
Small Group Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Analysis of Social Interaction; Cognitive Bases of Communication; Research Methodology; Bargaining and Negotiation.
Susanne M. Jones
Ph.D. 2000, Arizona State University
Interpersonal Communication and Emotional Support Messages, Nonverbal Communication, Communicating Emotional Support, Communication Theory.
Ascan F. Koerner
Ph.D. 1998, University of Wisconsin
Personal website
Cognitive Processes in Interpersonal Communication; Marital & Family Communication; Persuasion.
Elaine Tyler May
Ph.D. University of California at Los Angeles, 1975
Twentieth Century History of Intersections between Gender, Sexuality, Domestic Culture, and Politics.
Laurie Ouellette
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1998
Critical Media Studies; Cultural Studies; Feminist Criticism; Television Studies; Reality TV; Citizenship, Governmentality and Media.
Mark Pedelty
Ph.D., University of California, Berkley, 1993
Media Ethnography; Media and Social Change; Media Rituals; Media Education; Music.
Gilbert B. Rodman
Ph.D. 1996, University of Illinois
Personal website
Associate Professor; Critical Media Studies; Cultural Studies; Popular Culture; Communication Technologies; Politics of Race and Ethnicity.
Edward Schiappa
Paul W. Frenzel Chair in Liberal Arts & Department Chair
Ph.D. 1989, Northwestern University
Contemporary Rhetorical Theory; Classical Rhetoric; Criticism of Public Address; Argumentation; Cultural Criticism.
Amy Sheldon
Ph.D. 1972, University of Texas, Linguistics
Language and Gender; Language and Social Interaction; Child and Adult Language Acquisition; Discourse Analysis.
Mary Lay Schuster
Ph.D. 1976, University of New Mexico
Gender and Communication; Reproductive Technologies; Feminist Theory and Rhetoric of Science and Technology.
Catherine Squires
Ph.D., Northwestern, 1999
Media and Racial Groups in the Public Sphere.
Mary Douglas Vavrus
Director of Graduate Studies
Ph.D. 1997, University of Illinois)
Media Studies; Feminist Theory; Cultural Studies; Critical Theory.
Arthur E. Walzer
Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1975
Rhetorical Theory and Criticism; 18th Century Rhetorical Theory; Ethics and Technical Communication.
Kirt H. Wilson
Ph.D. 1995, Northwestern University)
Personal website
Rhetorical Theory and Criticism; American Public Address Criticism; African American Discourse; Civil Rights Issues.

Additional Graduate Faculty

NameAreas of Expertise
Robert L. Scott, Emeritus
Ph.D., 1955, University of Illinois
Rhetorical Theory; Criticism of Public Address; Value Implications in Communication Research and Practice.
Michael Sunnafrank
Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1979
Interpersonal Communication; Intercultural Relationships, Communication Theory; Persuasion.