FACULTY

Communication Core Faculty

Shea Howell (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is Professor and Chair of the Department of Rhetoric, Communication and Journalism. Dr. Howell teaches Communication Theory, Multicultural Communication and Political Communication. Dr. Howell's most recent book, Making Sense of Political Ideology, received a favorable recommendation from Choice Reviews, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries. The book was especially recommended for students of Political Communication. She recently received a prestigious Poynter Fellowship as part of a model national project in multicultural communication and journalism. She has received two national journalism awards for her editorial writing and is a prolific speaker and workshop leader. Over the last two years, she has worked in high schools, emphasizing conflict resolution and multicultural communication. Her current work is on the rhetoric of globalism. For further details or questions e-mail howell@oakland.edu.

David Lau (Ph.D., Southern Illinois University) is Associate Professor and Director of the Communication Program. Dr. Lau teaches such courses as Gender Communication, Performance Communication and Field Experience in Communication, which is the capstone course for communication majors. His awards include the Oakland University Teaching Excellence Award as well as the Michigan Association of Governor's Board Award for Teaching. His principal research interests are in communication pedagogy and the communicative possibilities of poetry. His favorite published article addresses issues in the gender communication classroom, Diversity: The Experience of Feeling Offended. For further details or questions e-mail lau@oakland.edu.

Rose Cooper (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is an Associate Professor with a speciality in Applied Communication. Dr. Cooper focuses on projects that raise issues of well-being and dignity for the individual and enhance society's awareness and acceptance of cultural diversity. She presents papers at academic conferences and is a frequent speaker, workshop leader and speech consultant for organizations. Over the last year, she has lectured at several Unity and New Thought centers across the United States and Canada, chaired a panel at the National Communication Association's annual meeting and served as a speech consultant for a company that provides resources to enrich family communication. She also reviews and edits textbooks and has produced television talk shows, winning the prestigious ACE Award for one of her segments.For further details or questions e-mail cooper@oakland.edu.

Thomas Discenna (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is an Associate Professor specializing in Rhetorical Theory and Criticism. Dr. Discenna teaches a variety of courses including Persuasion, Philosophy of Rhetoric, and Forms and Effects of Mass Communication. He recently was awarded the Faculty Advisor of the Year award from OU's Division of Student Affairs for his work with the university's student-run radio station, WXOU (88.3 FM). His research interests include rhetorical theory (especially early Greek, Italian Humanist Giambattista Vico and critical discourse theory), social movements (especially labor and the role of identity in movements) and the relationship(s) between rhetoric and mediated communication. He is currently adapting his dissertation on graduate employee unionization rhetoric for publication. Representative examples of Dr. Discenna's research can be found in such venues as Communication Quarterly, Communication Teacher, and Journal of Advanced Composition. For further details or questions e-mail discenna@oakland.edu.

Kellie Hay (Ph.D., The Ohio State University) is an Associate Professor. Dr. Hay teaches courses in critical communication theory, feminist cultural studies, multicultural communication, whiteness and performance studies. Her research is ethnographic and focuses on three sets of communication issues: how travel and global displacement effect the production of identities in differences; power relations and materiality; and the ways in which performance, the body and dance are ways of knowing. Dr. Hay works with local Arab-American communities. She has a deep interest in articulating the racisms and issues of displacement that shape the processes through which Arab-Americans negotiate multiple national attachments. Representative examples of Dr. Hay's research can be found in such venues as Quarterly Journal of Speech, International Journal of Communication, Intercultural and International Communication Annual, Critical Readings: Violence and the Media, and Journal of American Culture. For further details or questions e-mail hay@oakland.edu.

Jennifer Heisler (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor with a specialization in Interpersonal Communication. Dr. Heisler is the Faculty Advisor of Iota Eta, the Communication Honor Society. Dr. Heisler teaches Communication Theory and various Interpersonal and Family Communication courses. She has been recognized for her commitment to teaching several times, including awards presented by Michigan State and the International Communication Association. Dr. Heisler is an active researcher focusing on interpersonal issues within the family. Her current work examines the socialization of gender through parent-child communication. Dr. Heisler's publications can be found in such venues as Journal of Family Communication, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, Communication Teacher, and Communication Education. She has a forthcoming article in Communication Quarterly. For further details or questions e-mail heisler@oakland.edu.

S. Lily Mendosa (Ph.D., Arizona State University) is an Associate Professor in Communication and holds an interdisciplinary doctorate degree in Intercultural Communication from Arizona State University. Prior to coming to OU, she served as an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Human Communication Department of the University of Denver, in Denver, Colorado and earlier on, as a tenured faculty member of the Department of Arts and Communication at the University of the Philippines in Manila. She is the author of Between the Homeland and the Diaspora: The Politics of Theorizing Filipino and Filipino American Identities, originally published by Routledge in 2002 and subsequently, in a Philippine edition, by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House. She is the recipient of various academic awards including a Distinguished Scholarship Award for Dissertation in 2002 and a Distinguished Scholarship Award for Book in 2003. Her research interests include theories of identity and subjectivity, cultural politics in national, post- and trans- national contexts, dynamics of cross-cultural theorizing, and discourses of indigenization, race, and ethnicity. Her work appears in various cultural studies journals and anthologies.

Kathy Battles (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is an Assistant Professor. Her research focuses on the role of broadcasting in the creation of cultural discourses and maintenance of cultural norms. A specialist in media history, her current book project, which is under contract with the University of Minnesota Press, involves an exploration of the relationship between developments in policing and the radio crime dramas of the Depression era. Additionally, Dr. Battles works on issues surrounding contemporary representations of gays and lesbians in the media, for which she received a grant from the GLAAD Center for the Study of Media and Society. The paper that resulted from this grant is published in the national communication journal, Critical Studies in Media Communication. For further details or questions e-mail battles@oakland.edu.

Jacob Cayanus (Ed.D., West Virginia University) is an Assistant Professor. Dr. Cayanus teaches Communication Theory and various Interpersonal Communication courses. He has been recognized for his commitment to teaching several times, including awards presented by West Virginia University and the International Communication Association. His work has been published in several academic journals and books including Communication Teacher, Communication Research Reports, Communication Quarterly, Personality and Individual Differences, and College Students: Stress, Depression and Mental Health. His current research focuses on teacher self-disclosure in the classroom and evoking jealousy within relationships. For further details or questions e-mail cayanus@oakland.edu.

Valerie Palmer-Mehta (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is an Assistant Professor. Dr. Palmer teaches courses such as Communication Theory, Persuasion, Rhetoric and Public Address, Media and Social Identity, and Multicultural Communication. Her research investigates how power, influence, and ideas circulate in society through the media and public discourse. She is particularly interested in the representation and performance of gender, race, and sexuality, and the ways in which the media and public discourse construct notions of identity and difference. Dr. Palmer's research has been published in such journals and books as Text and Performance Quarterly, Journal of American Culture, Reading the Sopranos: Hit TV on HBO, The Oprah Phenomenon, Black Women's Intellectual Traditions, and Critical Readings: Violence and the Media. She has forthcoming articles in Communication Teacher, Journal of Popular Culture, and Robert Sickel's The Business of Entertainment. For further details or questions e-mail vpalmer@oakland.edu.

Robert J. Sidelinger (Ed.D., West Virginia University) earned his BS from Towson University in Mass Communication, and his MA in Communication Theory and Research and Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from West Virginia University. Dr. Sidelinger teaches a variety of communication courses, including Interpersonal Communication, Nonverbal Communication, and Intercultural Communication. His previous experience also includes serving as a first-year experience advisor at Towson University. Dr. Sidelinger's research interests include interpersonal and instructional communication, and his work has been published in Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, and Human Communication. His current research focuses on student involvement in the college classroom; mate value and partner baggage; dating anxiety; and hurtful teasing in romantic relationships. For further details or questions e-mail sideling@oakland.edu.

Jeff Youngquist (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is an Assistant Professor, specializing in Organizational and Interpersonal Communication. He comes to us from Wayne State University, where he was the recipient of the Elizabeth Youngjohn Award for teaching excellence and the Graduate Research Award. Mr. Youngquist also was invited to participate in the National Communication Association’s Doctoral Honors Seminar. His research interests focus on issues of privacy, control, power, and dominance in both the interpersonal and organizational context and how these dynamics are created and maintained through verbal and nonverbal communication. For further details or questions e-mail youngqui@oakland.edu.

Susan Baker (M.A., Eastern Michigan University) is a Special Instructor with a focus in Applied Communication. Her academic papers and panel presentations regularly are represented at local, national, and international conferences. Additionally, Susan is frequently invited to chair and moderate panels at the National Communication Association Annual Convention and the Michigan Association of Speech Communication Conference. She regularly edits and reviews textbooks and is actively invited to guest lecture at institutions and universities. Susan served as facilitator for ExplOUrations, an Oakland University summer leadership program. She received OU’s Employee Recognition Award for 10 years of excellence in teaching and contribution to the university. For further details or questions e-mail sgbaker@oakland.edu.

Scott L. Crabill (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is a Special Instructor and the Director of the Bachelor of Integrative Studies Program. He teaches courses in Public Speaking, Group Dynamics, Listening in Communication, Interpersonal Communication, and Advanced Interpersonal Communication. Computer-Mediated Communication and Interpersonal Communication are his primary areas of study with a quantitative methodological focus. One area of particular interest for Dr. Crabill is the examination of white supremacist groups within computer-mediated contexts. His dissertation, "A Comparative Content Analysis of Social Identity Cues within a White Supremacist Discussion Board and a Social Activist Discussion Board," examines the language dynamics of white supremacist groups within computer-mediated contexts, such as discussion boards. He specifically focuses on how members of a white supremacist discussion board monitor and correct each other’s language patterns in their on-line discussions. Dr. Crabill's research in this area was presented at the 2008 International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society. Dr. Crabill's research may be found in Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, International Journal of Technology, Knowledge, and Society, Journal of the Wisconsin Communication Association, Florida Communication Journal, and The Handbook of Research on Social Interaction Technologies and Collaboration Software: Concepts and Trends. His current research projects involve the exploration of Second Life as an instructional tool for decreasing public speaking apprehension. For further details or questions e-mail slcrabil@oakland.edu.

Christine Stover (M.A., Central Michigan University) is Adjunct Faculty, Coordinator of Broadcast Services, and Faculty Advisor for WXOU. She teaches Introduction to Broadcasting, Forms and Effects of Mass Communication, Advanced Radio Production, and Persuasion. Her research focuses on domestic and international news coverage of political issues. A research paper drawn from her Master’s Thesis, “The USA PATRIOT Act: How U.S. Television Networks Explained the Bill,” was presented at the prestigious invitation only Oxford Round Table Forum in Oxford, England. Christine's awards include the Faculty Advisor of the Year Award for her outstanding work with WXOU. For further details or questions e-mail cronauer@oakland.edu.

Beth Talbert (M.A., Bowling Green State University) is a Special Instructor and the Communication Program Coordinator at the Macomb University Center. She teaches Public Speaking, Group Dynamics, Interpersonal Communication, Gender Communication, and special topics courses. Beth teaches at the main campus and at the Macomb University Center. She is the initial contact person for students interested in the communication program at Macomb, and advises both incoming and current students at the Macomb location. Prior to joining the communication faculty, Beth served as an administrator on campus in the Student Activities, Orientation, and Admissions offices. She is actively involved in the community school district, for which she has won several awards, and is a frequent presenter and trainer on campus and in the community. For further details or questions e-mail talbert@oakland.edu.

Additional Communication Faculty

Lisa Campbell (M.A., Bowling Green State University) is Director of Forensics and Debate and a part-time faculty member. She teaches classes such as Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication. She is the coach of OU's nationally recognized competitive speech team. The forensic team itself has won Academic Student Organization of the Year twice (1998-99 and 1999-2000), and she has won three consecutive Faculty Link Awards (Advisor of the Year) from OU’s Center for Student Activities. She is a Sam Walton Fellow of SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) USA, chairs two OU SIFE committees and coaches OU SIFE’s presentation team which is consistently among the top 20 schools in the nation. Lisa is also a freelance instructional designer, writer and strategist for Detroit and Los Angeles training and marketing agencies. In 2004, she served as an on-air communication consultant for the presidential debates at the local NBC affiliate, WDIV Channel 4. E-mail: lisalcampbell@comcast.net.

Scott Eldredge (M.A., Michigan State University) is a Special Lecturer in Communication. He teaches Public Speaking and Group Dynamics, as well as Introduction to Advertising for the Journalism Program, and Wellness Facilitation for the Wellness, Health Promotion, and Injury Prevention program in the School of Health Sciences. Outside of teaching, Scott has spent nearly 20 years working for some the world’s largest advertisers and their agencies. With experience in traditional brand advertising, direct marketing, interactive communications, and promotions, Scott currently works as a freelance marketing and communications consultant. For further details or questions email eldredge@oakland.edu.

Carol Anne Ketelsen (M.S. Central Michigan University) is a Special Lecturer in Communication. Carol Anne teaches Group Dynamics and Public Speaking. In addition to teaching, she is Program Manager with the Career Services Department at Oakland University focusing on Internships and Career Experience opportunities for Arts and Science students. Ms. Ketelsen is the faculty advisor for Habitat for Humanity, The Disney College Program and Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. E-mail: ketelsen@oakland.edu.

Teri Reuter (M.A., University of Florida) is a Special Lecturer in Communication. She teaches Group Dynamics and Public Speaking. She is interested in the effect of interpersonal relationships and strength-centered approaches for interactions and teaching on the outcome of group work and the individual performance of group members and students. E-mail: reuter@oakland.edu.

Charlie Rinehart (M.A., Eastern Michigan University) is a Special Lecturer in Communication. He teaches Group Dynamics and Public Speaking and is the Interim Internship Director for Journalism and Communication students. He is interested in Performance Studies and how all text can be seen as a performance. Charlie is also the director of a local high school’s forensics team. For further details or questions email rinehart@oakland.edu.

Marsha G. Alfafara (M.A. Wayne State University) is a Special Lecturer in Communication. Marsha teaches Group Dynamics, Interpersonal Communication, Public Speaking, and Public Speaking on Public Issues. The focus of her research is in the role communication plays in creating and enhancing community connectiveness. Ms. Alfafara is the faculty advisor to REACH, a student organization that offers Oakland University students with volunteer opportunities both on campus in and out in the community. She is the President of Praxis Communications a company which implements programs of community integration and inclusion. She is also President of the Board of Directors to PLACE Rochester (People Learning About Community Enrichment)http://www.placerochester.org. Ms. Alfafara often speaks publicly on community building both at academic conferences and as a consultant. Her audiences have included members of congressional committees and board members of national community building organizations. In 1996 Ms. Alfafara was cited as one of Michigan's top twenty-five Women Business Owners of Distinction. She is a contributing author to the book Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities. E-mail: praxis@aol.com.

Gene Fogel comes to Oakland University by way of WJR radio in Detroit where he serves as the station's assistant news director and runs its internship program. Mr. Fogel, who earned his degree at Western Michigan University, has been at WJR for 30 years. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the broadcast announcing and broadcast lab he has taught for the last 10 years. Mr. Fogel has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the George Peabody award for a series of investigative reports on corruption in Detroit Bankruptcy Court and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Associated Press. Mr. Fogel was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in 2007. He also was nominated for the 2007 Oakland University Teaching Excellence Award. Email: magicman@voyager.net.

Laurel Humphreys (M.A., Michigan State University) is a Special Lecturer in Communication and Women’s Studies. She teaches Interpersonal Communication, Persuasion, Gender Communication, Public Speaking and Introduction to Women’s Studies. She is currently completing her doctoral dissertation research at Purdue University. In her research she uses a combination of feminist film criticism and rhetorical criticism to examine how gender, close relationships and sexuality are represented in media. E-mail: laurel69@hotmail.com.

Janet McKenney (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is a Lecturer in Communication and Organizations. She also teaches such courses as Interpersonal Communication, Small Group Communication, and Public Speaking. Dr. McKenney is a tenured faculty member at Macomb College and is the coordinator of the Public Relations Degree program articulated with Oakland University. She teaches graduate classes in communication and negotiation, change, and conflict for Central Michigan University. Dr. McKenney is a public relations counselor and has done research in educational public relations. She has served in several offices in the National Communication Association. She enjoys motivational speaking to community and women's groups. E-mail: mckennyj@macomb.edu.

Tushar Raman Oza (M.A., Eastern Michigan University) is a Special Lecturer. Mr. Oza is the recipient of the 2006 Oakland University Teaching Excellence Award. He primarily teaches public speaking courses and his interests include performance studies (oral interpretation) and business/professional communication. He is currently serving as Vice President of the Michigan Association of Speech Communication. He has chaired Great Ideas for Teaching Speech (G.I.F.T.S.) sessions for last two years at the MASC annual conference. He has presented at the Central States Communication Association Convention for the past two years. He was a guest lecturer at M. M. P. Shah College (Bombay, India) during the summer of 2000. In addition to teaching, Tushar is a promotional advertising consultant and is available for corporate communication training. His publications include "Tongue Twisters with a Twist" and "Quote Unquote: Research, Oral Citations, & Bibliography" in Volume Five of Teaching Ideas for the Basic Communication Course. E-mail: oza@oakland.edu.

Robert Parent (M.A., Michigan State University) teaches many of the video production courses for the Communication Program. Mr. Parent focuses on the utilization of core production skills in all types of communication contexts. His twenty-three years of experience and 16 years of teaching gives the student proven theories and practical applications in video production. In 2006, Mr. Parent's students in COM 476 won second place in a public service announcement competition sponsored by the Center for International Disaster Information. E-mail: parent@oakland.edu

Jim Perkinson (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is a Special Lecturer in Rhetoric, Communication, and Journalism at Oakland and Associate Professor of Social Ethics at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit. He holds a Ph.D. in theology/history of religions from the University of Chicago, is the author of Shamanism, Racism, and Hip-Hop Culture: Essays on White Supremacy and Black Subversion, and White Theology: Outing Supremacy in Modernity and has written extensively in both academic and popular journals on questions of race, class and colonialism in connection with religion and urban culture. Fifteen years of active involvement in housing and community economic development initiatives in the inner city neighborhood where he lives give passionate grounding to his academic perspectives and over recent years he has increasingly been in demand nationally and locally as a speaker on a wide variety of topics related to his interests. He is also a recognized artist on the spoken-word poetry scene and focuses much of his current research on issues related to intercultural performance (especially in connection with hip-hop culture), critical race theory and whiteness studies, and sustainability and indigenous arts in an age of globalization. E-mail: jperkinson@etseminary.org

Aileen L. Sundstrom (Ph.D., Wayne State University), adjunct faculty, is a former chairperson of the Perfoming Arts Department and a performance and communication teacher. Dr. Sundstrom's areas of teaching expertise include Public Speaking, Persuasion, Interpersonal Communication, Interpretative Reading, Readers' and Chamber Thearte, Storytelling, Oral Interpretation of the Bible and Adapting and Editing of Literary Selections. She also has planned and hosted both individual events and performance festivals. Her primary interest is performance. Dr. Sundstrom has done research and published manuscripts in performance. She also has planned, chaired and presented research and performed in state, regional and national conventions and reviewed communication texts for major publishers.

Scott Burke E-mail: sburke@oakland.edu

Randolph Cullen

Heather Haughey E-mail: haughey@oakland.edu

Deborah Marsden E-mail: dmarsden@oakland.edu.

Reginald McCloud E-mail: rjmccloud55@hotmail.com.

DeAndre Shepard (M.A., Wayne State University, 2004) is a special lecturer. SHEPARDDEANDRE@aol.com.

Kristina Trevarrow E-mail: ktrevarrow@hotmail.com.

Nkenge Zola E-mail: beamon@oakland.edu.