Hillary Tune

Tennessee Speech and Debate Society Wraps up First Year at CCI with Several Wins

The Tennessee Speech and Debate Society (TSDS) had a successful year competing under the direction of their first-ever faculty coach and with the support of their new home, the School of Communication Studies. The varsity squad had qualifiers advance to the final round at every competition below the national tournament level. “I was more than…
PhD Grad James Cartee Hopes to Help College Students Attain Mental Health Services

James Cartee has been in the business of communication for a while now and has even been teaching in the field at higher education institutions for several years. But, four years ago, he decided it was time to take the next step and follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and father and become a…
Graduating Senior Skylar Brown Reflects on Leadership, the Volunteer Spirit, and the Future

All it took was stepping on to the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for graduating senior Skylar Brown to make it her top pick. Previously deadset on attending her mother’s alma mater, Auburn University, Brown quickly changed her mind after getting the Rocky Top tour her senior year of high school. “I feel…
PhD Grad Tori Bertram Pursues Passion in Teaching Organizational Communication

“I showed up the first day to class knowing nothing about organizational communication and I got goosebumps. I was totally hooked,” said Tori Bertram as she recounted how she got where she is today, a graduate of the College of Communication and Information PhD program. Though Bertram minored in mass communication, her major was in…
CCI Recognizes 2024 Retirees, Students, and Award Winners

Every spring, the College of Communication and Information recognizes and honors those who have made significant achievements in their work, whether it be excellence in teaching, research, or volunteering, or the time that they have contributed before retiring. In 2023, CCI has had much to celebrate from its graduate students, faculty, and staff. The following…
Master’s Student Traci Lively’s Delayed Return to UT Turns into Pursuit of a PhD

Traci Lively entered the master’s program at the College of Communication and Information in 2004 but put it on hold when she was also accepted into the film studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Fast forward several years and Lively is back in the CCI program, with a concentration in communication studies,…
Comm Studies Student Heads to Italy on Gilman Scholarship

When communication studies junior Jonathan Morrell flies to Italy this summer for a month-long study abroad program, it won’t be the first time he has visited the European country—but since he was an active-duty Marine the last time he was there in 2018, he expects this experience to be very different. “Then, it was a…
Undergrad Ava Franzoy Gets First Research Paper Published

When junior Ava Franzoy was approached by School of Communication Studies Assistant Professor Jessica Frampton about conducting research, she had no idea that saying yes would eventually lead to the resulting paper, “An Investigation of Technology’s Role in Coping with Infidelity,” being published in the Qualitative Research Reports in Communication journal. “I honestly didn’t even…
TV Producer James Glover Makes an Impact with Annual Giving

When James Glover (’00) was a speech communication major at the College of Communication and Information, he had no idea that one day he’d work for legendary Judge Judy of the eponymous court television show. But that’s exactly where he landed several years after he packed up his bags and moved from Knoxville to Los…
Two CCI Schools Introduce Students First-Hand to Career Opportunities in DC

Whether it was seeing U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in the tunnels beneath the United States Capitol, touring the White House, or meeting with numerous College of Communication and Information alumni, students described a recent trip they took to Washington as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Aimed at introducing students to the careers they could pursue after graduating,…