Officers

Officers of the AEJMC Visual Communication Division

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DIVISION HEAD

Dr. Shannon Zenner is an assistant professor of Communication Design at Elon University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has an M.A. from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has received both a student top-paper award and a faculty top-paper award from the AEJMC Visual Communication division. Her current research is centered around visual persuasion, particularly the intersection of visual communication and political advertising and design, such as typography in political campaigns. Before graduate school, she worked at a number of advertising agencies in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. Previous clients range from Bank of America and Bell Helicopter to Dairy Queen and Justin Boots. 

E-mail address: szenner@elon.edu

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DIVISION VICE-HEAD

Keith Greenwood
 is an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. He teaches courses in journalism and photojournalism history, photography’s role in society, and research methods. His research interests include photojournalism history and the influences that determine depictions of subjects in photographs. Greenwood has served on the faculty at Michigan State University and the University of Oklahoma. He has received top-paper awards from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Greenwood is the website administrator of the AEJMC History Division and previously served in that role for the organization’s Visual Communication.

E-mail address: greenwoodk@missouri.edu

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SECOND VICE-HEAD & SOUTHEAST COLLOQIUM CHAIR


Dr. Yung Soo Kim is an associate professor at the School of Journalism & Media, University of Kentucky. He holds a PhD from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale and an MA from the University of Missouri–Columbia. As a former photojournalist, he worked for Pusan Ilbo Daily News in Pusan, Korea and for Korea Times Los Angeles. Kim's research and teaching interests include visual communication, international communication, and multimedia productions. Kim regularly presents his studies at conferences such as AEJMC and ICA. His recent articles appeared in Journalism and Mass Communication QuarterlyVisual Communication QuarterlyNewspaper Research Journal, and International Journal of Communication, among others. He was a research chair of the VisCom division and currently serves as an associate editor of the Visual Communication Quarterly. 

E-mail address: kim.s.eye@uky.edu

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RESEARCH CO-CHAIR

Dr. Nan Li is an assistant professor in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her most recent research focuses on science communication and visual communication. She is particularly interested in how visual art, storytelling, and aesthetic emotions can shape public engagement with sciences. Her research has resulted in more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and garnered media attention from more than 20 domestic and international outlets, including Forbes and The Guardian. She has been awarded the faculty top-paper award from the AEJMC Visual Communication division. Before her current position, she was an assistant professor of agricultural communications at Texas Tech University and a postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

E-mail address: nan.li@wisc.edu

 

RESEARCH CO-CHAIR

Dr. Ivy Ashe is an assistant professor of multimedia journalism at Florida Atlantic University, where she teaches photojournalism, multimedia journalism, and sports communication. Her areas of research focus on travel media and visual communication. Before entering academia, Ashe worked for local newspapers in Massachusetts and Hawai‘i, where she received reporting awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association and from the Hawaii chapter of the Society for Professional Journalism. Ashe has a Ph.D in Journalism and Media from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Photojournalism from the University of Missouri. Her recent research has been published in Media, Culture and Society, Journalism Practice, and the International Journal of Public Opinion Research.
Email address: iashe@fau.edu
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PROFESSIONAL FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY (PF&R) CO-CHAIR

Dr. Robin Hoecker
 is a journalism faculty at DePaul University, where she will teach photojournalism and multimedia storytelling. She has earned a Ph.D. in Communication at Northwestern University, an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri, and a B.A. in International Development from Penn State. Her research has looked at crime coverage in African American and Spanish-language newspapers, visual narratives used by truth commissions in South America, and the cyclical nature of black student protests on college campuses. Before graduate school, Robin worked as a multimedia editor at the Stars and Stripes military newspaper in Darmstadt, Germany, and Washington, DC. She also spent a year as a social justice intern at the Unitarian Universalist Association. Robin is a passionate advocate. She co-founded the Civically-Engaged Graduate Students at Northwestern to encourage graduate students to get involved in their communities, both through volunteering and through research. While writing her dissertation and raising her daughter, she led a successful campaign to improve resources for parenting students, which resulted in childcare subsidies, lactation rooms, and paid parental leave. She is honored and excited to be an ABCD fellow.​

E-mail: rhoecker@depaul.edu

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PROFESSIONAL FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY (PF&R) CO-CHAIR

Dr. Shane Epping is an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming's Communication and Journalism Department where he holds the Model Photojournalism Professorship. Before earning a PhD from the University of Missouri, he worked as a staff photographer at an institution of higher education for more than 10 years, as well as a freelance photojournalist for multiple publications including The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He has won several photography awards at the national and regional level, and been accepted to art exhibits in multiple states. He teaches courses in photojournalism, introductory photography, creative entrepreneurship, and qualitative methods. With an extensive background as a volunteer photographer at hospitals, he researches the intersection of visual communication and health care. Recent and pending publications have analyzed the documentation of HIV and COVID-19. 

E-mail address: sepping@uwyo.edu

 

CONTESTS & AWARDS CO-CHAIR

Ross Taylor is an assistant professor of journalism. Previously, he was a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His professional recognitions include National Photographer of the Year, Northern Photographer of the Year, New England Photographer of the Year, Virginia Photographer of the Year, and North Carolina Photographer of the Year (twice). His coverage of an Afghanistan trauma hospital garnered numerous international and national awards, and his work has also appeared twice on the cover of the Best of Photojournalism magazine. Taylor was the inaugural fellow in the Multimedia, Photography, and Design department at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University. His master’s project was a series of films in the local burn unit. He is the lead creator of The Image, Deconstructed.

E-mail address: ross.taylor@colorado.edu 

 

CONTESTS & AWARDS CO-CHAIR

Natalia Mielczarek is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Virginia Tech. Her work investigates rhetorical transformations of images as they get deployed by members of the public to serve strategic goals. She is also interested in the relationship between iconic images and Internet memes. Before joining the academy, Mielczarek was a newspaper reporter for a decade.

E-mail address: nmiel@vt.edu

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COMMUNICATION CO-CHAIR

Chad Sherman is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Seton Hill University. He received his Ph.D. in 2011 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. At Seton Hill University, he teaches graphic design and animation courses. He has worked professionally as a graphic designer, web designer and freelance photographer in the Pittsburgh area. In his free time he loves to read, cook, play baseball, and see live music. He is also passionate about service and has led student trips to Concord, NC, Jackson, MS, and Bonaire. He is currently a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

E-mail address: csherman2@setonhill.edu

 

COMMUNICATION CO-CHAIR

David Grewe is an associate professor of visual communications at California State University Northridge and has taught visual journalism and multimedia storytelling at the University of Alabama, Syracuse University, and Washington State University. Grewe has more than twenty-five years of experience working as a multimedia editor and photo editor for The Hartford Courant, The Aurora Beacon-News/Copley Chicago newspapers, and was a staff photojournalist for several New York State newspapers, including The Ithaca Journal, The (Auburn) Citizen and The (Schenectady) Daily Gazette. His professional recognition includes being named a regional Photographer of the Year in the National Press Photographers Association and he was part of the Photo Editing team at The Hartford Courant that won the prestigious Angus McDougall POYi award three years in a row. He has also won numerous picture/multimedia editing awards from the Pictures of the Year International, Online News Association, and Best of Photojournalism competitions. His documentary film work has been recognized in numerous film festivals and has also appeared on PBS and PBS Indies. He has a master’s degree in photography with an emphasis on multimedia production from Syracuse University.

E-mail address: david.grewe@csun.edu

 

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TEACHING & TEACHING CONTESTS CHAIR

Denise McGill is an associate professor of visual communications at the University of South Carolina. She earned her M.A. at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication, and her bachelor's in photojournalism at the University of Missouri. She has been to 25 countries on assignment for newspapers and magazines. Currently, she works primarily on documentary films about the southern United States.

E-mail address: mcgilld@mailbox.sc.edu

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CREATIVE RESEARCH CONTEST CO-CHAIR

Dr. Jennifer Midberry
 is an assistant professor in Lehigh University’s Journalism and Communication Department. Her research agenda explores how journalism practice can be improved to create more ethical coverage of marginalized groups and be more effective at evoking audience empathy and engagement with important social issues. As a former photographer and photo editor, much of her work focuses on photojournalism, and her projects are intended to have practical insights for visual journalists in addition to advancing visual communication and journalism theory. She employs both qualitative and quantitative methods. She teaches Visual Communication, Photojournalism, Media Ethics, and Media & Society at Lehigh. Empowering her students to think critically about media representations and the role of journalism in addressing social problems is the goal that drives her teaching. Previous to her career in academia, she worked as a visual journalist for organizations such as The Philadelphia Daily News, the Associated Press, AOL News, and ABC News.

E-mail address: jem519@lehigh.edu

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CREATIVE RESEARCH CONTEST CO-CHAIR

Dr. Michael Vosburg is an assistant professor of mass communication at Benedict College in Columbia, SC, following a 30-year career in photojournalism. He managed visual departments for 25 years at The Missourian (Columbia), The San Angelo (TX) Standard-Times, and The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. His primary research interest is in media effects of photographs. He also theorizes on the subject.

 

E-mail address: michaelvosburg@gmail.com

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BEST OF DIGITAL CONTEST CO-CHAIR

Kim Komenich
is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, filmmaker, and university professor. He has photographed the ramifications of conflict in the Philippines, Vietnam, El Salvador, the former Soviet Union, and most recently Iraq. He has received the 1987 Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the 1981 World Press Photo News Picture Story Award, and three National Headliner Awards.

E-mail address: komenich@sfsu.edu

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BEST OF DIGITAL CONTEST CO-CHAIR

Joe Gosen
is an associate professor with the Department of Journalism at Western Washington University in Bellingham, where he teaches subjects in the visual journalism sequence, including photojournalism, video, design and the visual journalism capstone course.  His research interests include visual framing in news media, photojournalism ethics and photographic archiving. He continues to pursue creative work in the form of photography and video production.

E-mail address: gosenj@wwu.edu

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LOGO CONTEST CHAIR

Dr. Tara Mortensen is an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina. She studies visual communication, media sociology, de-professionalization of visual journalism, amateur photography, and user-generated (visual) content. She has been published in most major visual communication journals (e.g. Visual Communication QuarterlyVisual CommunicationVisual StudiesPhotographies) as well as major journalism journals including Journalism and Mass Communication QuarterlyJournal of Mass Media Ethics, and Journalism Practice.

E-mail address: taram@sc.edu

 

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DIVISION SECRETARY

 

Dr. Elizabeth A. Spencer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrated Strategic Communication (ISC) in the College of Communication and Information at the University of Kentucky. Liz holds degrees in communication, public relations and mass communication, and photography. She has taught communication and media courses since 2014. She currently teaches creative strategic communication, multimedia, and ethics courses for ISC. Dr. Spencer’s research examines visual communication, digital media, and communication of health issues and contexts. She advises and mentors ISC undergraduate and CI graduate students. 

E-mail address: liz.spencer@uky.edu

 

 

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GRADUATE STUDENT LIASON

T.J. Mesyn is a Ph.D. student and instructor at Michigan State University’s School of Journalism. Creator, artist, and storyteller behind “Clinically (in)Significant” and “American Hurt: Vietnam Veteran Portraits & Perspectives”. Researching visual communication, visual literacy, history, and education.

E-mail address: wardtara@msu.edu

 

 

 

GRADUATE STUDENT LIASON


Enrique Núñez-Mussa is a Ph.D. student at Michigan State University's School of Journalism. He holds a BA in Social Communication with a major in Journalism from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) and an MA in Journalism, Media, and Globalization from Aarhus and Hamburg University. Additionally, he earned a certificate in Photojournalism from Aarhus University. Prior to his Ph.D. studies, he served as a full-time adjunct professor at PUC’s School of Journalism, advising student publications. He received the best-of-competition faculty creative award in the photojournalism category at the 2019 World Journalism Education Council conference. During his time at Michigan State University, he has been involved in teaching visual literacy and photojournalism classes. His research interests revolve around journalism's societal function and epistemology.

E-mail address: nunezmus@msu.edu

 

 

 

VISUAL COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Dr. T.J. Thomson MAIATSIS AFHEA (Indigenous) FQA SFHEA is a senior lecturer in visual communication and media at RMIT. He recently published To See and Be Seen: The Environments, Interactions, and Identities Behind News Images (winner of the NCA 2020 Diane S. Hope Book of the Year Award) and is the 2019 Anne Dunn Scholar of the Year (jointly bestowed by the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia and the Australia and New Zealand Communication Association). He sits on the editorial board of the journal Visual Communication Quarterly and has, since 2017, also served as its associate editor. T.J.’s research focuses on how visual journalism is produced—by whom, in what environments, through which processes, and with what results. He also examines visual self-representation on social media and everyday image-making. His approach is based on a combination of ethnography (both physical and virtual), interviews, textual analysis, and digital media methods.

Email address: contact@tjthomson.com

 

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VISUAL COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Lawrence Mullen
is a professor at UNLV. His research and teaching focus on data visualization, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and the intersection of policy, leadership, and media studies. His work on course and program development and has added many new courses for units in the College of Urban Affairs.  Nationally and internationally recognized, his published research has explored the phenomena of visual communication in several settings, including the mediated portrayal of U.S. Presidents, emerging media stereotypes, and the nexus between community and visuality. His book, Las Vegas: Media and Myth, explores the impact the media have on the transient community of Las Vegas.

Email address: lawrence.mullen@unlv.edu

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PAST DIVISION HEADS

2022-2023 Michael Fagans

2021-2022 Dr. Tara Mortensen

2020-2021 Dr. Gabriel Tait