Administration

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 the areas such as media and sustainability, media and environmental issues, academic program assessment, and global media as a tool for global negotiation.
Currently, Al-Obaidi is the Chairperson of Communication Studies Department, and the Coordinator of the Middle East Studies Program: http://www.bridgew.edu/middleeast/

Maureen Vernon, Administrative Assistant, provides office support for the chairperson and faculty. Maureen's responsibilities include planning and organizing meetings with the cooperation of the faculty; scheduling and arranging events, interviews, or similar activities; recording and distributing minutes to meetings; organizing hospitality needs, travel arrangements; and processing reimbursements; prepares equipment requisitions and small contracts as needed by the department, and feeding and updating information on blackboard for the department. Maureen also orders office supplies, maintains budget and expenditures, and prepares monthly reports to the chairperson.

Professors

Professor Mickey teaches a variety of courses in the Department including Introduction to Communication, Communication Theory, Human Communication Skills, Mass Media and Society, and Communication Studies Research.  His particular focus is Public Relations and he has taught several courses in that area of interest.  He is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America, and founded the student public relations group here at BSC. He has written three books and is currently working on the fourth, The Seduction of the English Garden: The Nineteenth Century Seed Merchants Sold More than Plants.  This book is based on his yearlong work in Washington at the Smithsonian where he researched the public relations materials of the nineteenth century seed industry.
During the summer, Professor Mickey is a Landscape Designer in Rye, NH where he gardens and also writes a garden column for several papers on the New Hampshire seacoast. He is currently preparing a new senior seminar for the department, COMM 492 Language of the Campaign, which will examine the text of media campaigns from advertising and public relations.
 

Associate Professors

Assistant Professors

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.  He lives in Quincy with his lovely wife Cheryl.
 

Bjorn Ingvoldstad's teaching specialization is in media studies and media production.  He is the faculty advisor to WBIM-FM, BSC'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

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. Nancy Van Leuven, 
nancy.vanleuven@bridgew.edu
Maxwell Library 215D
508-531-1750
 

Nancy Van Leuven. Ph.D. (University of Washington 2007, Communication) is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Studies Department at Bridgewater State College, Massachusetts.  After a career in journalism and corporate relations, she now teaches and studies public relations and mass media, social change and cultural values, and issues of international development and American Indians.  Her research topics are:  Indigenous identity and representation in media and marketing; crisis communication; and how NGOs target messages for global audiences, especially regarding sustainability and education.  

Amanda Brozana
abrozana@bridgew.edu
Clement C. Maxwell Library 215P
508-531-2466
 

Brozana specializes in teaching journalism, especially community and civic journalism.  She teaches both introductory and advanced courses in the field as well as News and Politics, Foundations of Media Studies and Communication Research Methods.  She has several years of professional experience in the field and previously taught at Stillman College as a full-time instructor and worked as an adjunct at The University of Alabama.  Professor Brozana�s research interests lie in community journalism, youth and news and popular culture and reality television.  She has made several regional, national and international conference presentations and is co-author to two academic articles. When not teaching or researching Professor Brozana loves to spend time with her wife, Laura, and two dogs, Katie and Chloe. She enjoys chess, reading and reality television. 

                                                       Part-Time Faculty

Sandra Cleary
scleary@bridgew.edu
781-740-4389
 

Lauretta Maslanka
lmaslanka@bridgew.edu