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Dr. Bennett teaches courses in reporting, editing and feature writing. He earned his doctorate in mass communication from USM in 1995. Before he entered academia he was a staff writer and editor for the Bogalusa ( La.) Daily News, the Jackson ( Miss.) Daily News/Clarion-Ledger and the News Orleans Times-Picayune. He began his journalism career as a sports writer and remains an inveterate sports junkie who enjoys few things more than watching the New Orleans Saints, USM and SEC football and NCAA basketball. He has written extensively about literary journalism and its major voices, the role of journalists during the Civil Rights Movement and the enduring works of Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Rhodes, one of the most eloquent writers of this generation. He is now studying the emergence of weblogs as a driving force in internet journalism. Dr. Bennett was born and still lives in Bogalusa, La., near a lake that is filled with fat bass. He believes that one of the prettiest sights he’s ever seen is a bass hitting a top-water bait just as the fog lifts off of the lake.
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Dr. Campbell, who has taught mass communication and journalism for more than 20 years, joined the school's faculty in 2005. He previously served as a faculty member and program administrator at Xavier University in New Orleans, the University of Idaho, Hampton University and Ithaca College. He is the author of Race, Myth and the News (Sage Publications, 1995) and has published a number of articles and book chapters about media and culture. He writes frequently about TV and cultural diversity for Television Quarterly. He has been a newspaper reporter, copy editor and local TV news assignment editor, and he taught high school English and journalism in St. Louis from 1977 to 1985. He holds a bachelor's degree in English from Webster University in St. Louis and a master's degree in mass communication from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He earned a doctorate in mass communication from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1993.
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Steve Coleman, Ph.D.
Professor of Practice/Tech Support Director
Southern Hall 008
(601) 266-6332
stephen.coleman@usm.edu |
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Steve Coleman joined the USM Mass Communication and Journalism Department in 1995, working in Newspaper Production as the production supervisor, and as an adjunct faculty member until August, 2008 when he became a full-time faculty member in the newly formed Student Media Center teaching graphic design and new media. He completed his doctorate in December, 2007. The dissertation centered on digital photo manipulation. He is an award-winning photojournalist who freelances in the southern region of the U.S. He currently shoots assignments for the Associated Press, which includes Southern Miss sporting events, news events and specials for other newspapers and magazines. He has photographed Super Bowls, college bowl games, the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the summer and winter Special Olympics, the Republican National Convention in New Orleans and natural disasters. He currently serves on the board of directors for the American Red Cross, South Mississippi Region, and faculty advisor to the Student American Red Cross Organization at Southern Miss. He has an extensive background in tennis. He played for Southern Miss during his undergraduate years. The league teams he played for have won six state titles, one southern title and finished fifth in the nation in 2000.
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Elliott Crawford, M.S.
Instructor
Assistant General Manager/WUSM-FM
Southern Hall 107
(601) 266-4287
wusmelliott@yahoo.com
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Elliott Crawford is assistant general manager of the university radio station and teaches courses in radio production. He joined WUSM-FM in 1993 and the USM staff in 1995. Originally a Music Industry major at USM in the mid-1980s, he moved to Florida to work at Full Sail Recording's Digital One in Orlando. That led to additional work as a recording and live sound engineer and session musician. This included recording at the Record Plant in New York and studios in Hollywood, New Orleans and Nashville. He has recorded and toured with many artists for both independent and major record labels. He returned to USM in 1993 and earned a bachelor's in communication, and a master's in mass communication. At WUSM he has been a program supervisor, music director of several formats, PSA director and producer/creator of several award-winning programs. His recent music collaborations resulted in chart-topping songs on XM Satellite Radio.
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David R. Davies, Ph.D.
Professor/
Dean of the Honors College
International Center 302
(601) 266-6237
dave.davies@usm.edu |
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Dr. Davies, who was named the dean of the USM Honors College in 2007, teaches media history. Before entering academia, he was a reporter for 10 years in Arkansas, working for both the Arkansas Democrat and the Arkansas Gazette. He is a graduate of the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Reporting at Ohio State University, where he earned a master's degree in journalism. He also holds a master's degree in American history from The University of Southern Mississippi and a Ph.D. in mass communication specializing in media history from the University of Alabama. His research specialties are the press and the Civil Rights Movement and trends in American newspapers since World War II. He has written two books, The Press & Race: Mississippi Journalists Confront the Movement (University Press of Mississippi, 2001) and The Postwar Decline of American Newspapers, 1945-1965 (Praeger, 2006). He also teaches the School's British Studies in Journalism class each summer in London as part of the USM British Studies Program. In 1998 his doctoral dissertation won the prize for best dissertation in media history awarded by the American Journalism Historians Association. He was chair of the USM Journalism Department from 1998 to 2001 and interim director of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism in 2004-2005. He has served on the board of directors of the American Journalism Historians Association and currently serves as coordinator of the AJHA's book award. In 2005 he was appointed to the board of directors of the University Press of Mississippi.
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Gina Gayle, M.A.
Professor of Practice
Southern Hall 118C
(601) 266-5511
gina.gayle@usm.edu |
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Gina Gayle joined the School of Mass Communication and Journalism in the fall of 2008. She previously worked in New York City as a freelance photojournalist. Her clients include The New York Times, The Associated Press, Newsday, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, Ebony Magazine, WireImage and USNewswire. Prior to moving to New York, Ms. Gayle worked for the San Francisco Chronicle as a staff photographer. She was hired at the Chronicle after completing the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship Program, which included rotations in Houston, Midland (Michigan), Albany (New York) and San Francisco. Ms. Gayle is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, most recently the National Association of Black Journalists’ Gulf Coast Fellowship. The fellowship allowed Ms. Gayle to continue a story on the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club of New Orleans as the organization rebuilds itself, its community and its members’ lives in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In addition to her photojournalistic work, Ms. Gayle’s fine art photography has been included in private collections, group shows and solo shows in New York, Chicago and Cleveland. She is an active member of the National Press Photographers Association and the National Association of Black Journalists’ Visual Task Force. Ms. Gayle has been the guest speaker at conventions and workshops across the country, talking about photography and multimedia journalism. A self-taught photographer, Ms. Gayle holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Cincinnati and master’s degree in arts, entertainment and media management from Columbia College Chicago.
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Dr. Gentile’s areas of teaching expertise include film history and theory, film production and animation. His areas of scholarly interest include documentary film, postwar American avant-garde film and cinematic representation of masculinity. He is presently revising his doctoral dissertation, “Pugilistic Occasions: Cultural Constructions of Boxing.” His recent film Cursive was awarded Best Experimental Film at the 6 th Annual Crossroads Film Festival. Dr. Gentile earned a master’s degree and doctorate in visual and cultural studies at the University of Rochester, an MFA in film at Ohio University and a bachelor’s degree in social work at Youngstown State University.
Joey Goodsell has been teaching audio, video and television production in higher education since 1997. Goodsell has taught at the University of Alabama and in the nationally ranked Radio-Television department at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He applies over 20 years of media production experience to the classroom. Currently specializing in producing and editing live concert performance videos, Goodsell has produced several projects in a variety of musical genres. Goodsell produced “Tough It Out, Webb Wilder Live” for Nashville recording artist Webb Wilder in 2005. The project was released in the U.S. and Europe as a retail DVD in 2006. “Tough It Out” also aired nationally on PBS in 2007 and won two industry awards. His latest creation is the television series "Southern Sessions," which features performances and interviews with local and regional musicians. Goodsell has also written and produced hundreds of radio and television commercials for local and regional clients throughout the southeast. He has won numerous awards for his creative work including a regional EMMY nomination in 2003. He holds a B.S. in Radio, Television and Film and an M.S. in Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi and has completed course work towards a PhD at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. You may view a sample of Goodsell's work at myspace.com/joeygoodsell or myspace.com/southernsessions.
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Leyla Goodsell, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University and a master’s degree from The University of Southern Mississippi, returned to USM in 2008 as a Visiting Professor of Practice in Public Relations. Her professional career includes over 12 years experience in nonprofit organizations, fundraising development and higher education public relations. Most recently, she served as Director of Communications for Advancement at The University of Alabama and as Director of Marketing, Advertising and Community Relations for the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority. She has also practiced public relations in healthcare and public broadcasting. Goodsell has been recognized for her professional work through the Public Relations Council of Alabama Medallion awards and the Southern Public Relations Federation Lantern awards. As an active member of several professional and civic organizations, she held numerous public relations leadership positions, including president of the West Alabama PRCA chapter, president-elect of PRCA’s statewide board, public relations chair for the Junior League of Tuscaloosa and member-at-large of the SPRF board, which is comprised of practitioners representing professional public relations organizations from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and portions of Florida. She is also a member of the Pine Belt chapter of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi and serves as faculty co-advisor for the USM chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. Goodsell continues to practice public relations through civic work and as a freelance practitioner. Currently, she is creating a public relations campaign for a residential traditional neighborhood real estate development in Hattiesburg.
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S. M. Mazharul Haque, Ph.D.
Professor
Southern Hall 102
(601) 266-4284
m.haque@usm.edu |
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Dr. Haque, who has been teaching at the University of Southern Mississippi since 1984, obtained a master’s degree in International Affairs and a doctorate in mass communication from Ohio University at Athens. He was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1995. He served as the Director of Graduate Studies for four years. Dr. Haque teaches a number of graduate and undergraduate courses in the school, including Cultural-critical Theories in Mass Communication, International Communication, Process and Effects of Mass Communication, Introduction to Graduate Research, Media, Culture and Society, Media Law and Survey of Mass Media. Dr. Haque has published two books, What is News in India? A Content Analysis of the Elite Press, and Representation of the Cultural Revolution in Chinese Films by the Fifth Generation Filmmakers, which he coauthored with Dr. Ming-May Jessie Chen, a former doctoral student. Earlier, a monograph, Information Societies and the Developing World: A Synthesis of Theories, was published by the University of Georgia. He has also published many book chapters, book reviews, journal and encyclopedia articles. His work has been published in Journalism Quarterly, Journal of Asian Cinema, Asian Journal of Communication, Gazette, Media Asia and Odin. He has presented nearly sixty papers at national and international conferences and moderated dozens of panels at professional conferences. Dr. Haque has collaborated with several Asian scholars on research projects. He has delivered a series of lectures at a number of Asian Universities in China, Taiwan and Korea. Dr. Haque is a very active member of the graduate faculty. He has directed over thirty doctoral dissertations and served on over forty dissertation committees. In addition, he also directed dozens of independent study courses to enable graduate students to develop doctoral dissertation research projects and conference papers. Over half a dozen books have been published by doctoral students based on dissertation research that he directed.
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Dr. Cheryl D. Jenkins is a visiting assistant professor of journalism. She earned a doctorate in mass communication from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and a master’s in mass communication and a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi. She has taught courses in news writing, news editing, reporting, feature writing, media history, the Black Press, introduction to mass communication and media criticism. Before entering academia, she worked as a newspaper reporter at the Hattiesburg American and interned as a media buyer with a political consulting firm on Capitol Hill. She was a 2004 Mellon Fellow for the Salzburg (Austria) Seminar session on Ethics in News Reporting and Editing and received the NABJ Region VII Cheryl Smith (leadership) Award in 2004 . She has served as advisor to an award-winning collegiate newspaper and to student chapters of the National Association of Black Journalists. Jenkins has presented research on popular culture issues, minority representation in the media and cultural diversity at national and regional conferences that focus on mass and human communication. She is currently working on research articles that examine the impact of cultural identity on news reporting and the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
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Dr. Johnson joined the USM School of Mass Communication and Journalism faculty in 2003. He received his doctorate in mass communications from the University of Georgia, his master’s in advertising from Michigan State University and his bachelor’s in advertising/public relations from New Mexico State University. Professionally, he was communications director for a chain of motion picture theaters. He also worked in gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns and managed a congressional campaign. Dr. Johnson left the industry to enter education, serving as Director of Educational Services for the American Advertising Federation in Washington, D.C., where he was director of the National Student Advertising Competition and Alpha Delta Sigma Honorary Society. He began teaching at his alma mater, serving as head of advertising/public relations at New Mexico State. He later taught at the University of Georgia, Louisiana State University and Texas Tech University. Dr. Johnson publishes Where shall I go to study advertising and public relations?, a national research project which surveys all the known advertising and public relations degree programs annually. Results are published in an annual directory as well as on-line (http://www.whereshalligo.com). He serves as advisor to Golden Eagle Advertising, the USM Chapter of the American Advertising Federation, and also advises the team in the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC).
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Robin Kauth, M.S.
Instructor/Assist Director of TV Operations
McCain Library 113F
(601) 266-6829
robin.kauth@usm.edu |
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Robin Kauth joined the School of Mass Communication and Journalism in August 2006. She received a master's degree in multimedia technology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and a bachelor's degree in communications from The State University of New York at Fredonia. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate here at The University of Southern Mississippi. She spent two years at The State University of New York as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Communication before moving to Hattiesburg in August 2005. At USM , Ms. Kauth teaches classes in television production and media writing. Before coming to USM, she worked as an editor for an independent production company in Binghamton, NY. There she edited material for a number of local organizations as well as promotional materials for the university's Division I basketball team and Office of Campus Life. Her documentary, Sacred Hearts, was contracted by the Eternal World Television Network (EWTN) and has since aired in countries in Africa, Europe and North and South America. Her current research interests include media literacy education and representations in media.
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Kim LeDuff, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor/Assistant Director
Southern Hall 219
(601) 266-5461
kim.leduff@usm.edu |
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Dr. Kim M. LeDuff has been a member of the MCJ faculty at USM since 2005 and assistant director since summer of 2008. A native of New Orleans, she previously taught at her alma mater, Xavier University of Louisiana and at Hampton University in Virginia. She holds a Ph.D. in mass communication from Indiana University with concentrations in communication and culture and media and technology. She also has an M.A. in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland-College Park and a B.A. in mass communication from Xavier University. She was selected to attend the Scripps Howard Leadership Academy in the summer of 2008. Dr. LeDuff’s professional experience includes promotions production for UPN in Maryland, research for B-97 FM in New Orleans, and production for the University of Maryland Flagship Channel. She also worked as national account executive and voice-over talent at the New Orleans Convention and Visitor’s Channel. She has taught intro to mass media as well as courses in media writing and broadcast journalism. She also teaches a course titled “race, gender and media” at both the undergraduate and graduate levels which is reflective of her research on representations of minority groups in the mass media. Her current research explores user-generated content in response to on-line media coverage of social and racial issues. Dr. LeDuff also has a vested interest in journalism education and has published research on experiences of minority students in graduate programs in communication. She is a member of AEJMC, NCA and SSCA and presents at their annual conferences regularly.
Rodney O. McDonald, Sr.
Equipment and Facilities Manager
McCain Library 113G
(601) 266-4363
rodney.mcdonald@usm.edu |
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Rodney O. McDonald, Sr., is facility and equipment manager of the Student Media Center. McDonald is a radio-television and film graduate of Southern Miss and a communication graduate of Pearl River Community College. He has over 15 years experience in video production, including single and multi-camera coverage of sporting, industrial and corporate events, recruiting and community videos, and as engineer of a satellite uplink truck. He also serves as director of the television ministry at his church.
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Scott Dixon McDowell, M.F.A.
Professor/Interim Assoc. Dean of COAL
Gulf Coast Campus
(228) 865-4558
scott.mcdowell@usm.edu
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Scott Dixon McDowell joined the faculty of the Radio, Television and Film Department at The University of Southern Mississippi in 1989. He served as chair of the department from 1996 until 2001, when the RTF department was merged with journalism to form the School of Mass Communication and Journalism. Mr. McDowell has been teaching film production and screenwriting for eighteen years. He has produced a number of short films and authored several screenplays, including In Morning Calm, which won the MGM/UA Screenwriting Competition and was later optioned by Falcon Productions in Hollywood. His research has been devoted to studying the work of Academy Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning screenwriter and dramatist Horton Foote. Mr. McDowell has written and presented papers about Foote’s work at conferences throughout the United States. He wrote a chapter for Horton Foote: A Case Book, which was published in 1998. He is currently in post-production on a feature length documentary about Foote, which includes original interview material with Matthew Broderick, Arthur Penn, Robert Duvall, the late Alan J. Pakula and many others. Mr. McDowell was instrumental in the formation of the Mississippi Film and Video Alliance, a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster indigenous film and video production in Mississippi. He currently serves on the board of the organization. Mr. McDowell has also served on the advisory boards for the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration and the Mississippi Film Enterprise Zone.
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Jeffrey Rassier, M.S.
Instructor
General Manager/WUSM-FM
Southern Hall 108
(601) 266-4287
seafrar@hotmail.com
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Jeff Rassier manages the university radio station and teaches courses in radio production. He is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota and attended undergraduate and graduate school at the University of Southern Mississippi in the School of Mass Communication and Journalism. Since 1983, he has been a member of the professional staff of WUSM-FM. His radio productions have garnered dozens of professional awards for excellence in audio production and broadcast journalism. Mr. Rassier is also active in the recording industry as a recording engineer/producer in the classical music and jazz genres. During his 20-plus years in the field, he has produced numerous commercial CDs for national and international artists and has recorded hundreds of live concert performances.
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Dr. Sheffer joined the USM broadcast journalism faculty in 2008. She holds a Ph.D. in mass communication and public policy from Louisiana State University. She holds a master’s in telecommunication and a B.A. in radio/television from Southern Illinois University. Her research area includes sports media, media management and the influence of new technologies on established news mediums. She has published in The Sports Journal, Journal of Sports Media, Journal of Communication Studies, Newspaper Research Journal, Electronic News, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, The International Journal of Media Management, and Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport. Dr. Sheffer has over 10 years professional experience in broadcasting that includes: news/sports videographer, director (for newscast, sports shows, telethons, and special events), one-man-band, and PSA director. She is the broadcast journalism sequence head. She is a native of Chicago, Illinois and therefore a die-hard Cubs fan!

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David Sheffield
Distinguished Visiting Lecturer
in Film |
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Veteran Hollywood screenwriter David Sheffield graduated from Southern Miss in 1972. While still in school he worked for WDAM-TV, then moved to the Gulf Coast to work in advertising and became the principal writer for Sheffield Ensemble Theatre. Sheffield's comedy writing career behan on "Saturday Night Live" in the early 80's when he wrote primarily for actors Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo, including some of Murphy's most memorable sketches such as Buckwheat, Mister Robinson's Neighborhood, Gumby and James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub. Beyond his "SNL" work, the 2008 MCJ Hall of Fame inductee is know for films such as "Coming to America," "Boomerang" and "The Nutty Professor." He teaches courses in screenwriting during mini-sessions.
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Jae-Hwa Shin has received many academic awards and honors at national and international levels, including the Best Dissertation Award from the Public Relations Division of the International Communication Association and the Suzanne B. Roschwalb Awards from the Public Relations Division of the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2002. She recently co-authored a public relations textbook, Public Relations Today: Managing Conflict and Competition, incorporating her research, teaching and professional experiences. She has published her research in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Public Relations Review and other peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. She has been cited as the fourth most published public relations researcher nationally in major refereed journals in the millennium bolometric analyses of public relations research scholarship. Her research areas are strategic conflict management, public relations theories, agenda-building process, political campaign strategies and health communication. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in public relations, conflict/issue/crisis/risk management, campaigns, theories and research methods. She is also advising undergraduate and graduate students and directing several doctoral dissertations. She has incorporated several years of her professional experience as public relations director for both profit and nonprofit organization into her research agenda and teaching arena. She is also engaging community through service learning projects with her students. Dr. Shin joined USM in 2003 after completing her doctorate at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is the faculty co-advisor for the USM chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and head of the public relations sequence for the School of Mass Communication and Journalism.
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Dr. Wiggins earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from The University of Southern Mississippi and his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Prior to completing his doctorate, Dr. Wiggins worked as a professional journalist for The Jackson Daily News and for The Hattiesburg American. He also served as a public information officer in the U.S. Air Force. He was director of the USM School of Communication from 1981 to 2001. His primary specialty is communication law and he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in this area. He has authored numerous publications, including books, book chapters and journal articles in the area of mass communication law. Dr. Wiggins teaches graduate courses in public relations case studies and law and undergraduate courses in media writing, and law.
Maggie Williams, M.S.
Publications Manager/Instructor
Southern Hall 013A
(601) 266-6746
margaret.williams@usm.edu
Maggie Williams teaches in the news-editorial sequence for the School of
Mass Communication and Journalism. She also serves as the school's
publications manager, advising The Student Printz newspaper, and as the
school's internship coordinator. Prior to joining the school full time in
1998, she worked in the newspaper and public relations industries.
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Clarence Williams, 2006-08 distinguished visiting lecturer in photojournalism, is a veteran photojournalist who has won many awards, including the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. Professor Williams was a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times from 1995 to 2003. He is currently working on a long-term project supported by the Open Society Institute chronicling New Orleans' recovery from Hurricane Katrina, focusing on the impact that reconstruction efforts will have on the racial composition of the city. He won the Pulitzer for a project that documented the plight of young children with parents addicted to alcohol and drugs. He was also named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists in 1997. He is a native of Philadelphia, Pa., and a graduate of Temple University.
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Fei Xue, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor/Graduate Coordinator
Southern Hall 116
(601) 266-5652
fei.xue@usm.edu |
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Dr. Xue joined The University of Southern Mississippi in the fall of 2004. He received his doctorate in mass communication from The University of Alabama and his master’s degree in mass communication and bachelor’s in journalism from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in advertising. His research specialties are advertising and consumer psychology, international advertising and social effects of advertising. He has published in a variety of marketing and advertising journals, such as Journal of Advertising, Advances in International Marketing, and International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising. He has also published several book chapters about international advertising.
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