Jane Stuart Baker (Ph.D., Texas A&M).
Assistant Professor

Her research focuses on organizational diversity, bona fide groups, dialectics, crisis management rhetoric, face work and negotiation, and intercultural conflict.

Beth S. Bennett (Ph.D., University of Iowa).
Professor and Department Chair
Her research interests include the history of rhetoric, especially classical and medieval rhetoric, rhetorical criticism, and the study of mediated rhetorical texts and critical literacy.

Jason Edward Black (Ph.D., University of Maryland).

Assistant Professor, Undergraduate Program Director and Graduate Recruitment Coordinator

His research interests are in public address and rhetorical culture, with an emphasis on identity constructions and nationalism in U.S. governmental, American Indian and African American discourses.

Robin Boylorn (Ph.D. University of South Florida).
Assistant Professor

Her research focuses on the lived and storied experiences of rural, black women in the south.  Her areas of interest also include the intersection of race,class and gender, feminist studies, and interpersonal communication.

Amy Muckleroy Carwile (Ph.D., University of Alabama).
Assistant Professor and Director of the Public Speaking Program

Her research interests primarily focus on family communication, relational maintenance, and social support, particularly among siblings, but also include public relations framing and organizational communication.

Treva E. Dean (M.A., University of Alabama).
Instructor, Assistant Director of Forensics, and Director of Undergraduate Internships

Her research and teaching interests are forensics, rhetorical criticism, and argumentation.

Janis L. Edwards (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts).
Associate Professor
Her research interests focus on the intersection of contemporary rhetorical theory and political discourse and the rhetorical dimensions of media, visual rhetoric, and gender.

Mary M. Meares (Ph.D., University of New Mexico).
Assistant Professor, Graduate Program Director and Director of Graduate Internships
Her research interests lie in the areas of organizational and intercultural communication, focusing on intercultural interaction and diversity in a variety of organizational settings.

Carol Bishop Mills (Ph.D., Purdue University).

Assistant Professor

Her research interests lie in the areas of interpersonal and organizational communication, including special interests in communication skill development and health communication, as well as quantitative research methods.

Mark D. Nelson (Ph.D., University of Alabama).
Vice President for Student Affairs and Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs
His research interests include instructional communication, leadership, interpersonal competence, and diversity.

Lu Tang (Ph.D., University of Southern California, Los Angeles). 
Assistant Professor

Her research focuses on organizational communication with a special emphasis on how globalization affects different aspects of communication issues within and across organizations, such as knowledge management, culture, networks, and corporate social responsibility. Her secondary research interest is health communication.

Frank M. Thompson, Jr. (Ed.D., University of Alabama).
Associate Professor and Director of Forensics
His research interests include forensics, public speaking, interpretation, and group leadership.

JOINTLY APPOINTED FACULTY  

Stephen Foster Black.  (Yale).  Director, Initiative for Ethics and Social Responsibility and Moral Forum.

Gary A. Copeland (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University).
Professor and Department Chair of Telecommunication and Film
His interests include political communication, negative political advertising, and psychological approaches to the study of communication. Website

Karen S. Johnson-Cartee (Ph.D., University of Tennessee).
Professor in Advertising and Public Relations
Her research interests include political communication and negative political advertising.

STAFF

Anita J. Abernathy (Departmental Secretary)