Elizabeth Hintz (Ph.D., University of South Florida) will be joining the Department of Communication in August 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Health Communication. Elizabeth’s research examines how individuals managing complex, stigmatized, and poorly understood health conditions navigate challenging conversations with partners, family members, and medical providers. Her work can be found in journals such as Journal of Communication, Communication Monographs, Communication Methods and Measures, Health Communication, and Journal of Family Communication.
In her free time, she enjoys traveling (on hold for now), hiking, and spending time with her husband and two fluffy orange cats, Keaton and Lionel. She is looking forward most to leaving the Florida heat and joining her wonderful future colleagues in Connecticut in August.
Tyler G. Page (Ph.D. at University of Maryland, 2018) joined the Department of Communication in August 2020 from Mississippi State University. A converted academic, he has a background in public relations and marketing in the technology sector. Prior positions include his role as the first marketing/public relations person at survey-giant Qualtrics, and the Vice President of Marketing and Operations at Peer60, Inc (now Reaction Data). Tyler’s research examines public relations theory and the effects of crisis communication. He has won top paper awards at AEJMC and NCA.
Tyler has lived all over North America (7 States and 1 Province) and passionately follows sports. He used to moonlight as a blogger / podcaster covering Major League Soccer, but now he spends his evenings chasing around his 3-year-old son.
Jocelyn Steinke joined the Department of Communication in August 2020 as an Associate Professor of Science Communication. Jocelyn’s research focuses on the influence of media portrayals of women scientists and engineers on adolescent girls’ identification with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and published in scholarly journals such as Science Communication, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, Frontiers, and others. Jocelyn serves on the editorial board of Science Communication and was named an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellow, recognized for her contributions to the public understanding of science. Jocelyn earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.P.S. from Cornell University, and B.A. from Mount Holyoke College.
Jocelyn enjoys baking, gardening (organic vegetables and flowers), swimming, kayaking, and hiking with her husband, daughter, and son. She is delighted to join her accomplished colleagues in the Department of Communication.
Jiyoun Suk will be joining the Department of Communication in August 2021. She studies the role of communication processes in shaping civic trust, activism, and social justice. She is particularly interested in how people understand different social groups, marginalized communities, and populations with less political power.
When she is not working, she loves indoor cycling and running, which helps her stay active and vibrant. Though largely disrupted by the pandemic, she also enjoys traveling, trying new foods and cultures, and learning from new experiences. Also, as a huge animal lover, she enjoys drawing cartoons of her dog Rocky, a 2 year old Bichon Frise.
Dr. Cen April Yue is an incoming assistant professor of Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations. April's research interests focus on internal public relations, leadership communication, organizational change management, and relationship management. She has published in scholarly journals such as Public Relations Review, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Communication, and International Journal of Business Communication, among others. Prior to graduate school, April worked as a reporter and public relations professional in China. April is also a Research Editor at the Institute for Public Relations’ Organizational Communication Research Center.
Outside of work, April is a movie buff and appreciates everything by David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, and Wong Kar-wai. She used to run a film club screening independent and international films open to local communities at Purdue. Music-wise, she loves works from Philip Glass, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Lorde, and recently, Joey Yung.
April received her Ph.D. in mass communication with a specialization in public relations from the University of Florida in 2020. She also holds a masters' degree in communication from Purdue University.
Core courses teach students about the breadth of the communication discipline while providing the foundation for deeper inquiry needed in our 3000- and 4000-level courses. For both the communication major and minor, core courses represent a substantial amount of required coursework in a student’s plan of study. While each core course is uniquely suited to its subject matter, they collectively aim to accomplish the following goals in support of the undergraduate program:
The Department offers five Core courses, which also serve as important prerequisites to advanced courses in the program. All communication majors must complete at least four of the five courses as part of their plan of study; communication minors must complete two of the five courses.
Welcome to the Department of Communication! Despite the challenges presented by COVID, we have had another great year in the department. Our undergraduate program continues to grow in both popularity and visibility on campus, and we now serve over 900 majors. We continue to focus on both theory and applied coursework, and our internship program now enrolls over 100 students annually. This emphasis on merging theory and application is paying off for our graduates, as recent data from the Center for Career Development suggests that 90% of our alumni are appropriately employed within a year of graduation, and gravitate toward career tracks in marketing, media, operations, business development, sales, and human resources. Our talented graduate students continue to play a major role in the department and have recently secured tenure-track faculty positions at universities such as Louisville, Missouri, Cal Poly, West Chester, and UNLV, to name just a few. I am exceedingly proud of both our faculty and our students, who have weathered the uncertainty of migrating instruction to online with great resilience and an overwhelmingly positive attitude. It truly has been a team effort.
We are very proud of all we do here in Communication, but we could use your help. Due to cuts in state funding, we were already looking at budget reductions in 2021. Now with the added uncertainty of the COVID pandemic, we are more reliant than ever on alumni contributions to continue providing the quality academic experience our students deserve. For example, the software that we use to teach social media network analysis costs $250 per year, per lab desktop. Our production courses are reliant on aging cameras that will costs thousands to replace, while our Lambda Pi Eta members pay out of their own pockets to travel to conferences and network with employers.
Please consider donating. No amount is too large or too small, and your tax-deductible contribution will help ensure that we can continue to provide an intellectually fulfilling and professionally advantageous degree to generations of future Huskies.
Yours Sincerely,
Ken Lachlan
Professor and Department Head
Congratulations to our summer softball team on another championship season!
