San Diego State Forms School of Journalism and Media Studies

By Bill Eadie, San Diego State University–

As of July 1, San Diego State University will form a School of Journalism and Media Studies. Faculty joining the new School previously served in the School of Communication, which will continue as an academic unit. The School of Journalism and Media Studies will grant undergraduate degrees in journalism and communication with an emphasis in advertising or public relations, as well as a degree in communication with a specialization in media studies. The School will also offer a master’s degree in mass communication and media studies.

The School of Communication will offer an undergraduate degree in communication with a specialization in communication studies, and a master’s degree in communication studies.

The School of Communication was originally formed by combining three departments: Speech Communication, Journalism and Mass Communication, and Telecommunication and Film. By 2003, most of the Telecommunication and Film faculty had retired, and the faculty remaining in the Television, Film, and New Media Production program combined with Theatre faculty to form the School of Theatre, Television, and Film.

Diane Borden, the interim director of the School of Communication, will serve as Director of the new school. Bill Snavely, currently assistant dean of the College of Business Administration at Miami University, will serve as the new Director of the School of Communication.

Journalism and Media Studies faculty will include:

Noah Arcineaux – media theory, media history
Diane Borden – Director, mass communication law, gender, journalism
Glen Broom – Emeritus – public relations, public relations roles & research
Joel Davis – advertising strategies, research and new media
David Dozier – public relations management, research and evaluation, mass communication and society
Bill Eadie – communication and media theory, research methods, communication history
John Eger – The Lionel Van Deerlin Endowed Professor of Communications and Public Policy – telecommunications law, policy and regulation
Martha Lauzen – women and mass communication, mass communication and society, issues management
Barbara Mueller – international advertising, advertising and children, advertising and society
Bey-Ling Sha – international public relations, cultural identity, activism, gender, health communication
Joseph Spevak – Emeritus – journalism
Tim Wulfemeyer – journalism and news production, ethics in journalism
Mei Zhong – intercultural media and communication

The School of Communication faculty will include:

Peter Andersen – interpersonal, nonverbal & relational communication, international telecommunication
Wayne Beach – conversation analysis, language & social interaction, medical & legal communication
George Dionisopoulos – rhetorical criticism, public argumentation
Patricia Geist-Martin – organizational & health communication, gender, ethnography
Susan Hellweg – organizational communication, political communication
Kurt Lindemann – performance studies, organizational communication, ethnography, gender and masculinity, and disability
Ron Lustig – Emeritus – intercultural & group communication
Valerie Renegar – critical/cultural methods, feminist rhetorical theory, critical and postmodern rhetorical theory, rhetorical movements
Bill Snavely – Director, organizational communication
Brian Spitzberg – communication skill & assessment, conflict management, intimate violence

This article originally appeared in WSCA News, v34, n2. Editor Bill Eadie