Faculty

Our faculty take pride in teaching a wide range of communication topics and from the introductory-level, skill/performance-based classes to advanced graduate student seminars on specialized areas. We are dedicated to teaching students both the communication skills required for success in business, family, and civic life and the cutting-edge research in communication.

Faculty invest in our community by developing close, collaborative, and supportive relationships with undergraduate and graduate students. Student-faculty contacts are frequent and informal, fostering the development of genuine interpersonal exchange. Faculty regularly engage in team research with all students.

Regular Faculty

Name Contact Specialty
Ronald Walter Greene, Ph.D.
Professor
243 Ford Hall
612-624-9003
green179@umn.edu
Rhetorical studies, cultural studies/cultural policy, citizenship, philosophy of communication 
Atilla Hallsby, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
263 Ford Hall
612-625-2985
hall1039@umn.edu
Rhetorical studies; post-structuralist theories of discourse; history of secrecy; privacy & transparency; critical surveillance & security studies
Elaine Hsieh, Ph.D., J.D.
Professor
Department Chair
225A Ford Hall
612-624-5800
hsieh168@umn.edu
Health communication, culture and health, interpreting studies

Susanne M. Jones, Ph.D.

Professor 
258 Ford Hall
612-626-0592
jones344@umn.edu
Interpersonal communication and emotional support messages, nonverbal communication, communicating emotional support, communication theory
Zornitsa Keremidchieva, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
228 Ford Hall
612-624-2504
zkeremid@umn.edu
Rhetorical studies; feminist political theory and democratic theory; congressional and public policy discourse; women's and immigrants' civic and political organizations

Ascan F. Koerner, Ph.D.

Professor
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education
234 Ford Hall
612-624-4030
koern011@umn.edu
Cognitive processes in interpersonal communication; marital and family communication; persuasion
Kate Lockwood Harris, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
244 Ford Hall
612-624-4030
kharris@umn.edu
Sexual violence; critical and qualitative methods; organizational communication; discourse; Title IX; feminist theory; intersectionality, new materialism

Laurie Ouellette, Ph.D.

Professor
 
254 Ford Hall
612-626-8517
ouell031@umn.edu
Critical media studies; cultural studies; feminist criticism; television studies; reality TV; citizenship; governmentality and media
Gilbert B. Rodman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
284 Ford Hall
612-624-7853
rodman@umn.edu
Critical media studies; cultural studies; popular culture; communication technologies; politics of race and ethnicity

Mary Douglas Vavrus, Ph.D.

Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
237 Ford Hall
612-624-5515
vavru001@umn.edu
Media studies; feminist theory; political economy of media
Emily Winderman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
257 Ford Hall
612-626-7713
ewinderm@umn.edu
Rhetoric of health and medicine; reproductive health; public emotion
Deborah Yoon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
268 Ford Hall
612-625-7150
yoon0213@umn.edu
Interpersonal communication; identity; identity uncertainty; family communication; adoption; health communication; genetic family health history

Visiting Scholars & Teaching Professors

Name Contact Specialty
Karina Horsti, Ph.D.
Associate Professor     
284 Ford Hall
khorsti@umn.edu
cultural diversity policies; nationalist populism; and mediated representations of refugees and asylum seekers
Eric Kramer, Ph.D.
Professor                                                                      
253 Ford Hall
405-641-1911
ekramer@umn.edu
international communication, intercultural communication, communication theory, communication and technology, mass communication, environmental communication

Senior Lecturers

Name Contact Specialty
Mike Baxter-Kauf, Ph.D. 288 Ford Hall
baxt0029@umn.edu
public speaking; comparative literature
David Cram Helwich, Ph.D.          
238 Ford Hall
612-626-7713
helwi012@umn.edu
Public argument and debate; rhetorical theory and criticism

John P. Nordin, Ph.D.

 

288 Ford Hall
612-624-3309
nordi062@umn.edu
Argumentation and rhetoric, biblical studies
288 Ford Hall
612-624-3309
rosex013@umn.edu
Family communication, persuasion, organizational communication, credibility 
Jeffrey VanCleave, Ph.D. 285 Ford Hall
jvanclea@umn.edu
Rhetorical criticism; public speaking; communication and sport

Lecturers

Name Contact Specialty
Wendy Anderson, Ph.D.
285 Ford Hall
wzeitz@umn.edu
Rhetorical studies, media studies
Carly Byrnes, Ph.D. 285 Ford Hall
dani0376@umn.edu
Bullying; harassment; discrimination; sexual health; bystander interventions; relationships; coping; social support; mixed methods research
285 Ford Hall
elia0039@umn.edu
critical media studies; gender, women, and sexuality studies
Kristin Fitzsimmons, Ph.D.    285 Ford Hall
fitz0332@umn.edu
Audiences and fans; critical media studies; film, television, and new media
285 Ford Hall
galar006@umn.edu
Organizational communication; intercultural communication
Dawn Schot Klotzbach, MFA             264 Ford Hall
scho0062@umn.edu
Media production
Heidi Zimmerman, Ph.D.                                                        
285 Ford Hall
zimme313@umn.edu
Critical media studies

Senior Teaching Specialists

Name Contact Specialty
290 Ford Hall
gesch004@umn.edu
Small group and team communication; conflict management
Lisa Hutchinson, MA 264 Ford
hutch354@umn.edu
Electronic media production
290 Ford Hall
odas0002@umn.edu
Rhetorical studies; environmental communication; communication performance
Andrea Shada, MA          
290 Ford Hall
slon0010@umn.edu
Small group; interviewing; internships; public speaking