Category Archives: Faculty News
Diane Kelly Named Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
Diane Kelly, director for the School of Information Sciences, was named Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. She begins her new role August 1.
Kelly served as a professor and director of the School of Information Sciences since 2016. She has led the school to a 110 percent enrollment increase in the Master of Science in information sciences and the creation of a new bachelor’s degree in information sciences.
Chancellor’s Professor and Board of Visitors Professor Carol Tenopir will serve as interim director of the School of Information Sciences.
Read Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor John Zomchick’s letter about Kelly’s appointment.
2020 ICA Conference – CCI Participants
The 70th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, originally scheduled to be held in Gold Coast, Australia, was held virtually May 20-27. A number of professors and students from the School of Advertising and Public Relations, the School of Communication Studies, and the School of Journalism and Electronic Media participated.
Discussion Moderators & Chairs
ADPR Interim Director & Professor Sally McMillan:
- Chair: Virtual Reality: New Methods, Approaches, and Theories
JEM Assistant Professor Joy Jenkins:
- Chair: How Journalists Use Social Media
ADPR Assistant Professor Matthew Pittman:
- Chair: HIGH DENSITY: Messaging for Public Awareness and Social Change
CS Associate Professor Michelle Violanti:… Read more “2020 ICA Conference – CCI Participants”
Professors Teach Stress Reduction to Hospital Students, Employees
Working in the medical field can be stressful even in the best of times, but the COVID-19 pandemic has many medical professionals feeling overwhelmed.
To counteract this, professors Joan Rentsch of the College of Communication and Information and David Patterson of the College of Social Work are leading weekly sessions in mindfulness-based stress reduction with medical residents and employees at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
The Zoom sessions include short guided meditation practices for the 25 to 35 participants, followed by time for discussion and teaching. Sessions usually finish in less than an hour.
“Mindfulness practices can aid participants … Read more “Professors Teach Stress Reduction to Hospital Students, Employees”
Haley, White Named DeForrest Jackson Professors
Professors Eric Haley and Candace White are the next recipients of the School of Advertising and Public Relations’ DeForrest Jackson Professorship.
The professorship is held by tenured faculty members in the school on a three-year rotating basis. Haley and White will hold the professorship from August 1, 2020 to July 31,2023. They succeed Mariea Hoy, who was selected as the inaugural recipient of the professorship in 2017.
The DeForrest Jackson Professorship, ADPR’s first named professorship, was created with a gift from Suzanne Sackleh Masters of Atlanta. She earned her bachelor’s degree in advertising in 1989 and made the gift in … Read more “Haley, White Named DeForrest Jackson Professors”
Foster Named New ADPR Director
Professor Elizabeth Avery Foster will be the next Director of the School of Advertising and Public Relations effective August 1, CCI Dean Mike Wirth announced.
She takes over from Professor Sally McMillan, who will return to the faculty after serving as interim director since June 2019.
“Beth Foster is an internationally known scholar, an outstanding teacher and an excellent servant leader,” said Wirth. “Her experience in working with a wide range of constituencies and of developing effective working relationships at all levels will allow her to be very effective in her new role.”
Foster joined the ADPR faculty as an … Read more “Foster Named New ADPR Director”
Geidner: ‘Goodnight with Dolly’ Off to Great Start
With Dolly Parton’s new 10-week bedtime-story series Goodnight with Dolly under way, the honorary UT alumna is doing her part to comfort kids all over the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to Associate Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media Nick Geidner, who produced and directed the documentary film The Library That Dolly Built.
“My one-and-a-half-year-old, Sam, who makes some cameos in the film, loved the first episode, especially at the end when Dolly sang ‘I Believe in You,’” Geidner said. “He loved the woo-woo-woos in the song, but I also think he loved it because it is … Read more “Geidner: ‘Goodnight with Dolly’ Off to Great Start”
CCI 50th Anniversary: Professors Who Made an Impact – Part I
To celebrate the College of Communication and Information’s 50th anniversary, we asked our alumni about their most impactful professors. From genuinely caring to fiercely motivating, these professors shaped students’ careers and lives.
Marvin West
JEM, 1955
“Willis Tucker, head of the journalism department, convinced me that I could earn a living in the field. It was a close call. I could have been a baseball umpire.”
Mustapha Moussa
CS, 2014
“By far, two professors left a great impression on me. Dr. Dwight Teeter was an example of what every educator should aspire to be. Loved his students, was passionate about … Read more “CCI 50th Anniversary: Professors Who Made an Impact – Part I”
Dolly Parton Film by Land Grant Films to Debut Nationally April 2
The Library That Dolly Built, a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, student-driven film and documentary about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, will premiere April 2 in New York City and be screened in theaters across the nation.
Associate Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media Nick Geidner is the director and producer of the film, which was crewed by 15 student members of Land Grant Films, an Emmy-nominated documentary production program housed in UT’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media. JEM video production specialist Clinton Elmore served as the film’s editor.
Parton will be in attendance at the premiere event in New … Read more “Dolly Parton Film by Land Grant Films to Debut Nationally April 2”
Come Hail or High Water: UT Journalism Students Delve into Extreme Weather
Melanie Faizer, senior lecturer in UT’s College of Communication and Information’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media, encourages her digital news reporting students to sleuth out hard-hitting stories on significant news topics.
This fall their mission is to report on extreme weather issues, and the students are writing about everything from mosquito-borne illnesses to future fire risks in the Smokies to the way tobacco farmers are converting their fields to hemp.
Their stories, with accompanying info-graphics, will be presented online. Associate Professor Nick Geidner’s “Social Journalism” class is also creating a Facebook page to promote the work.
Last year, Faizer’s … Read more “Come Hail or High Water: UT Journalism Students Delve into Extreme Weather”
New CCI Faculty, Staff for 2019-20
The start of a new school year means new faces inside the Communications Building. CCI added five faculty members and a staff member, plus a staff member in a new role for the 2019-20 academic year.
In addition to these new appointments, Professor Virginia Kupritz began serving as CCI’s Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Director of Graduate Studies in July, and Professor Sally McMillan is leading the School of Advertising and Public Relations as Interim Director.
Below are the new CCI faculty and staff members:
New Assistant Professors
Quinten Bernhold (Communication Studies) has a PhD in Communication from the … Read more “New CCI Faculty, Staff for 2019-20”