Graduate Faculty : Journalism & Mass Communication : U of M

Graduate Faculty

The faculty who teach within our graduate program span a variety of research interests and professional and academic backgrounds. Learn more about our faculty here.

Jennifer Gerard Ball, Assistant Professor
M.A. and Ph.D., advertising, University of Texas at Austin
Specializes in direct-to-consumer advertising, consumer decision-making, health communication, consumer psychology, cognition and principles of advertising.

Giovanna Dell'Orto, Assistant Professor
M.A. and Ph.D., mass communication, University of Minnesota
Scholar of international mass communication history, particularly the role of journalism and mediated discourses in international affairs; a former reporter and editor for the Associated Press in three US states and Italy.

Kenneth O. Doyle, Associate Professor
Ph.D., psychology, University of Minnesota
Areas of research include money and property in social communication; biopsychosocial foundations of attitude and motivation, measurement theory, financial planning across the life span.

John Eighmey, Professor
Raymond O. Mithun Land Grant Chair in Advertising
Director of the Professional M.A. in Strategic Communication
M.A. and Ph.D., marketing, University of Iowa
Professional experience includes senior positions at Young & Rubicam in New York and the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. Eighmey has held faculty positions at Iowa State University, the University of Notre Dame, Northwestern University and the University of Alabama.

Kathleen A. Hansen, Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
M.A., English, and M.A., library science, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Areas of research include information access and communication; sociology of news; and new media technologies effects; and computer gaming and pedagogy.

Jisu Huh, Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
M.A. and Ph.D., advertising, University of Georgia
Areas of research include advertising effects with an emphasis on third-person effect and indirect effects, health communication (direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising), and interactive advertising.

Jane Kirtley, Professor, Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law
Director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law
M.S., journalism, Northwestern University and J.D., law, Vanderbilt University
Areas of research include media law; First Amendment issues; and freedom of information. Kirtley is an affiliated faculty member of the University of Minnesota Law School.

Heather L. LaMarre, Assistant Professor
M.P.A. and Ph.D., journalism and mass communication, The Ohio State University
Specializes in strategic and political communication. Work on political satire and late-night comedy has been covered in the national and international media. Co-authored “The Irony of Satire: Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report.” Member of inaugural AEJMC Scholars Program.

Seth Lewis, Assistant Professor
M.B.A., Barry University and Ph.D., journalism, University of Texas at Austin
Former editor at The Miami Herald and Fulbright Scholar. Areas of research interest include journalism studies; the sociology of news and technology; emerging forms of user participation via digital media; and mixed methods research.

Jolie Martin, Assistant Professor
M.B.A. and Ph.D., information technology and management, Harvard University
Research interests include conflict resolution, social networks, cultural identity, behavioral economics and statistical reasoning.

Mark Pedelty, Associate Professor
M.A. and Ph.D., anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Areas of research include ethnographic research in new media, the relationship between news and popular culture, and issues in media ethnography in Mexico, Central America, and the United States.

Amy Kristin Sanders, Assistant Professor
M.A., journalism and J.D., University of Iowa; Ph.D., mass communication, University of Florida
Former page designer and copy editor. Areas of research include media law with emphasis on emerging technology and the law, defamation and the regulation of indecency. Sanders is an affiliated faculty member with the University of Minnesota Law School. Licensed to practice law in Missouri and Florida.

Dona Schwartz, Associate Professor
M.A. and Ph.D. communications, University of Pennsylvania
Active photographic artist and exhibitor. Areas of research include visual communication; photographic history, theory and practice; ethnographic approaches to mass communication.

Catherine R. Squires, Associate Professor
Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality
M.A. and Ph.D., communication studies, Northwestern University
Areas of research interest include diversity, media and the public sphere, with emphasis on controversies surrounding social identities, racial identities and mass media.

Daniel Sullivan, Professor
Cowles Chair of Media Management and Economics
Ph.D., economics, Yale University
Area of research is the identification of economic/business models and measurement systems that support the proposition that “good journalism” can be good business.

Shayla Thiel-Stern, Assistant Professor
M.A., communication, Georgetown University; Ph.D., mass communication, University of Iowa
Areas of research include integrating new media with cultural studies, specifically gender and social identity through the use of instant messaging.

Albert R. Tims, Associate Professor
Director of the SJMC
M.A., journalism, and Ph.D., mass communication,University of Wisconsin-Madison
Areas of research include theory and methodology; public opinion and political communication; and media socialization.

Daniel B. Wackman, Professor
M.S., political science, M.S., journalism, and Ph.D., mass communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Areas of research include political communication (including political advertising) and information processing of media messages. Areas of teaching include advertising and research methods.

Brendan Watson, Assistant Professor
M.A., journalism, University of Missouri; Ph.D., mass communication, University of North Carolina
Areas of research include community structure and communication about local public affairs issues; community information needs; coverage of public affairs by traditional and emerging media; quantitive research methods, including examining ways to leverage emerging technologies to gather and analyze communication data.

Jennifer Williams, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., mass communication, University of Minnesota
General area of research is political communication with an emphasis on the use and social psychological effect of political message frames.

Marco Yzer, Associate Professor
M.A. and Ph.D., social & organizational psychology, University of Groningen (Netherlands)
Areas of research include the evaluation of mass media campaigns, experimental tests of message effectiveness, tests of the validity of theories of behavioral change and the applicability of such theories to health communication.