Faculty & Staff

This page provides basic information on regular full-time faculty and staff in Communication Studies Department at Bridgewater State University. There are twelve fulltime faculty and over twenty part-time faculty. Please select the name to send an email message. links to the individual faculty web page. You may obtain contact and other information for visiting lecturers from the Department Office, Clement C. Maxwell Library, Room 215, Phone, 508-531-1348.

Dr. Arthur Lizie, Jr.
Chairperson
alizie@bridgew.edu
 Maxwell Library 215J
508-531-2170

Administrative Assistant

Barbara Landers
blanders@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215
508-531-1348
Fax: 508 531-1425
Barbara Landers has been employed by the college for 11 years.  For the first 2 years she worked in the Information Technology Department
and then 8 years as part of the Fiscal Affairs Accounting Department.  Barbara has now joined the Communication Studies Department.  In addition to her new position as administrative assistant Barbara loves spending time with her family, friends and being a parishioner at St. Thomas Catholic Church.  She also enjoys gardening, sewing, knitting, reading and going to Hansen Farm for ice cream.

Professors

Dr. Jabbar A. Al-Obaidi
Professor &Director, Center for Middle East Studies(CMES)
jalobaidi@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215K
508-531-2187
Fax: 508 531-1425
Dr. Al-Obaidi teaches courses in media studies and communication technologies, media theories, global media, Middle Eastern media, documentary film, and television production. His research interests include global media and intercultural communication, digital media and new frontiers, media in the Middle East and Asian countries, Japanese film, Middle Eastern documentary and feature films, and media literacy. He is also interested in areas of media and sustainability, media and environmental issues, new social media, academic program assessment, and global media as a tool for global negotiation. Al-Obaidi is the author of Media Censorship in the Middle East(2007) and Broadcast, Internet, and TV Media in the Arab World and Small Nations(2010).Currently, Al-Obaidi is the Director of the Center for Middle East Studies (CMES) http://www.bridgew.edu/middleeast/ . He served as the chairperson of Communication Studies Department 2005-2011.
 

Dr. Joel P. Litvin
Coordinator of Internship
jlitvin@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215F
508-531-2138
 

Dr. Nancy L. Street
nstreet@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215C
508-531-2110

Associate Professors

Dr. Nancy L. Owens
nowens@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215M
508-531-2465

Susan J. Miskelly
smiskelly@bridgew.edu
Coordinator of Communication Studies Laboratory
Maxwell Library 215A
508-531-2134

Dr. Jason Edwards
 jason.Edwards@bridgew.edu
 Maxwell Library 215E
 508-531-2791
Dr. Edwards specializes in presidential communication, foreign policy discourse, and rhetoric of war and peace. He teaches courses in communication theory, political communication, and crisis communication. He is the advisor to Lambda Pi Eta, the national honor society of communication studies. His research interests lie at the intersection of rhetoric and politics, primarily focusing on presidential communication and international political rhetoric. He is the author of Navigating the Post-Cold War World: President Clinton�s Foreign Policy Rhetoric (Lexington Studies in Political Communication). He has published articles and book chapters venues such as the International Journal of Communication, Atlantic Journal of Communication, The Journal of Language and Politics, White P House Studies, New Perspectives on the Presidency, Sith, Slayers, Cyborgs, and Stargates: Modern Mythology in the New Millennium, and The Rhetoric of Pope John Paul II. When not teaching or conducting research Professor Edwards loves to play golf, travel abroad, watch his beloved Minnesota Vikings, and get acquainted with the cultural aspects of New England.
 

Dr. Bjorn Ingvoldstad
bingvoldstad@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215L
508-531-2802
Bjorn Ingvoldstad's teaching specialization is in media studies and media production. He is the faculty advisor to WBIM-FM, BSU's student-run radio station, as well as the Bridgewater Film & Video Association (BFVA). His current research focuses on media audiences and their interaction with both media texts and industries. His particular focus continues to be in Lithuania, with a wider contextual base in post-socialist Eurasia. You can read his blog at http://www.bsc-comm.blogspot.com.

Assistant Professors

Dr. Melanie McNaughton
mmcnaughton@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215D
508-531-2167
Dr. McNaughton specializes in affective rhetorics, using rhetorical theory and criticism to explore subjects like visual culture and the body. She teaches courses in communication theory, popular and visual culture, and critical/cultural studies. Her dissertation takes up the power of style and design, using Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia as her case study . She has published articles investigating prison tattoos as visual rhetoric and guerilla communication practices as visual commodities, and is currently working on her first book, From Berber Carpeting to Blueberry Cocktails: Martha Stewart�s Rhetorics of Style and Design. When not teaching or conducting research Dr. McNaughton enjoys watching NASCAR and knitting tea cozies with her cats.

Dr. Maria Hegbloom
mhegbloom@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215H
508-531-1414

Dr. Thomasena Shaw
Thomasena.Shaw@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215P 
508-531-2210

Dr. Yongjun Shin
Yongjun.shin@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215R  
508-531-6698