Andrew Kenneth Gay
Director of the School of Arts & Communication and the Oregon Center for the Arts and Professor of Digital Cinema
MFA, Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema, University of Central Florida, 2010; BFA, Film Production, University of Central Florida, 2006; BA, English & Philosophy/Religion, Flagler College, 2003
Andrew Kenneth Gay (he/him) leads the School of Arts & Communication and the Oregon Center for the Arts as director and is a tenured professor of Digital Cinema, where he teaches storytelling, career development, and film production management. He received SOU’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021 and the University Film & Video Association’s National Award for Teaching Excellence in 2022. Before becoming a full-time educator, Andrew worked as a freelance production coordinator, production manager, and assistant director in commercials, reality television, and independent film, and for such companies as Red Bull, Discovery, and Disney. He has written, directed, and produced for both fiction and documentary media and has served as board president of Film Southern Oregon, on the board of the Oregon Media Production Association, as a programmer for the Ashland Independent Film Festival, and serves on the Teaching Committee for EDIT Media (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Teaching Media) and on the board of the University Film & Video Association. SEE BIO PAGE
Office: Britt 140
Phone: 541.552.6669
E-Mail: Andrew.Gay@sou.edu
Kristin Hocevar, PhD
Associate Professor – Program Coordinator of Communication Studies
PhD, Communication, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2017; MA, Communication, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2013; BA, American Studies, Connecticut College, 2007
Dr. Kristin Hocevar currently teaches courses on health communication, risk and crisis communication, health and new technology, and communication research, among other topics. She is also faculty in SOU’s undergraduate Healthcare Administration and graduate Master of Business Administration programs. She has worked in television, documentary film, and web production for multiple Public Broadcasting Service stations and affiliated organizations. Additionally, Dr. Hocevar has worked in communication for the United States Navy and taught in Public Health. She has conducted research both internationally and locally on a variety of digital media-related topics, and her current research focuses on shared health information and communities facilitated by the Internet, as well as quantitative methods and measures related to communication and health.
Office: Britt 145
Phone: 541.552.7255
E-Mail: hocevark@sou.edu
Erica Knotts
Senior Instructor
MLIS, Leadership and Administration, Emporia State University, 2017; MIIS, Crisis & Health Communication, Southern Oregon University, 2015; BS, Psychology and Communication, Southern Oregon University, 2013
Erica Knotts is a Senior Instructor of Communication and Program Coordinator for the Conflict Management Certificate. In 2023, with McDermott et al., she co-edited the book “Women Educators’ Experiences During Covid-19: On The Front Lines.” She has also co-authored chapters including: “Defining the Line: Freedom of Speech and Online Dispute Resolution Best Practices for Higher Education” in Contemporary Trends in Conflict and Communication (2022) and a chapter in Mental Health Among Higher Education Faculty, Administrators, and Graduate Students: A Critical Perspective (2021). Knotts’ academic areas of interest include conflict management, negotiation, mediation, crisis communication, small group dynamics, and nonverbal communication. Knotts is also the co-creator and co-facilitator of SOU’s first-ever Student Ombuds program and the Co-Director of ACADEMY, a rigorous academic and leadership camp for middle school students. She received the SOU Raider Academy Award for Outstanding Faculty in 2019 and the SOU Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020. She is particularly curious about observing the art of face-to-face communication in real-world environments as she deploys practical and experiential learning in her classroom. You can learn more about Erica’s teaching style and values in the 2023 faculty spotlight podcast.
Office: Britt 144
Phone: 541.552.8433
E-Mail: knottse@sou.edu
Christopher Lucas, PhD
Assistant Professor – Program Coordinator of Digital Cinema
PhD, Radio-TV-Film, University of Texas at Austin, 2011; MA, Radio-TV-Film, University of Texas at Austin, 2000; BA, Liberal Arts, Evergreen State College, 1990
Christopher Lucas was awarded a doctorate in media studies from the University of Texas in 2011 with specializations in media industry studies and film studies. He teaches courses in documentary and non-fiction cinema, screenwriting, cinematography, film editing, and online journalism. His publications include “Contemporary Hollywood Cinematography,” from Cinematography, part of Rutger University Press’s Behind the Silver Screen series, and “Cultural Policy, the Public Sphere, and the Struggle to Define Low Power Radio,” in the Journal of Radio Studies. He has presented research at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, International Communication Association, Broadcast Education Association, and Popular Culture Association. In 2005, he co-founded and edited flowjournal.org, a popular site for scholarly media criticism. Dr. Lucas also works as a writer and filmmaker. He produced the documentary Above All Else, which premiered at SXSW in 2014, and numerous shorts and commercial projects as a staff producer with Fiege Films in Austin, Texas. He was an associate producer on The Sensitives (Tribeca, 2017) and Living Springs, an interactive environmental documentary about Barton Springs in Austin. He has been a participant in the Spotlight On Documentaries Forum at IFP’s Film Week and Doc Society’s Climate Story Lab.
Office: Britt 143
Phone: 541.552.6425
E-Mail: lucasr@sou.edu
Vaun Monroe
Assistant Professor, Digital Cinema, Communications
MFA, Film & Media Arts, Temple University 2002; BA, Liberal Arts, The Evergreen State College, 1998
Monroe teaches storytelling, screenwriting, directing, and film analysis in SOU’s Digital Cinema program. He has taught African-American film studies at Cornell University, Ithaca College, Morgan State University, Columbia College Chicago and Wiley College. He is an award winning director of numerous plays with productions mounted at ETA Creative Arts, The Artistic Home, The American Blues Theatre and The Goodman. He was a film programmer for “Black Perspectives” for the Chicago International Film Festival and is a member of the African American Film Critics Association. His artistic interests lie in the humanistic, dramatic portrayal of Blacks in America. He considers himself a modern-day griot who utilizes the mediums of stage, film and television to narrate stories of the Black community.
Office: Britt 132
Phone: 541.552.8201
E-Mail: monroev@sou.edu
Erik Palmer, PhD
Professor and Chair of Communication, Media & Cinema – Program Coordinator of Social Media & Journalism
PhD, Journalism, University of Oregon, 2008; MA, Photojournalism, University of Texas at Austin, 1995; BA, Journalism, Texas State University, 1986
Dr. Erik Palmer teaches social media, visual communication, and media entrepreneurship. The list of innovative courses he has launched at SOU includes Strategic Social Media, Social Media Campaigns, Design Thinking, Creative Industries, Comic Studies, Creative Careers Bootcamp, Sports Communication, Mobile Photo & Video, and Digital Life. He also recently completed a sabbatical year as a 2019-20 U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the University of Ghana. In his most recent scholarly work, he has explored changes in the culture of image-making motivated by the emergence of visual social media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and presented his findings at international peer-reviewed conferences, and he edited a special issue on Really Social Photojournalism for Visual Communication Quarterly in 2017. He has twice been honored with Tow-Knight Fellowships in Disruptive Journalism Education and convened with cohorts of Disruptive Fellows at the Online News Association’s 2017 and 2018 conferences in Washington, DC, and Austin, Texas. Please take a moment to visit his website.
Office: Britt 141
Phone: 541.552.6880
E-Mail: palmere@sou.edu
Alena Ruggerio, PhD
Professor
PhD, Communication, Indiana University, 2003; MA, Communication, Ohio University, 1997; BSC, Communication, Ohio University, 1996
Dr. Alena Ruggerio (she/her) teaches Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, Persuasion, Argumentation, and Critical Thinking, Advanced Public Speaking, Becoming a Communication Scholar, Political Communication, Gender and Communication, Women Transforming Language, Evaluation of Public Communication, Communication and Media Theory, and Conflict Management. She has led study abroad programs in Oviedo, Spain, and Athens, Greece. She was honored to receive SOU’s Distinguished Teaching Award and Distinguished Service Award, as well as AHA International’s Outstanding Visiting Faculty of the Year Award. The editor of Media Depictions of Brides, Wives, and Mothers (Lexington Press) and co-author of Feminism in Practice: Communication Strategies for Making Change (Waveland Press), Dr. Ruggerio’s research at the intersection of rhetoric, feminism, and religious studies has appeared in book chapters, scholarly journals, and web publications. She is active in the National Communication Association and the Western States Communication Association and serves as Affiliate Faculty of the SOU Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Council.
Office: Britt 154
Phone: 541.552.6673
E-Mail: ruggeria@sou.edu
Precious Yamaguchi, PhD
Professor
PhD, Communication Studies, Bowling Green State University, 2010; MA, Communication, Pepperdine University, 2005; BA, Studio Art, Humboldt State University, 2003
Dr. Precious Yamaguchi teaches intercultural and international communication at SOU. Her academic research is interdisciplinary, focusing broadly on issues of culture, identity, generation, technology, social media, and international textile markets. Her single-authored book, The Journeys, and Strength of Japanese American Women: Stories and Life Experiences During and After World War II, was published by Lexington Books in 2015. She has received the Distinguished Faculty Award, a Raider Academy Award, and the Queer Resource Center’s Erika Giesen Outstanding Faculty Award during her time at Southern Oregon University, and also a Top Paper Award from the National Communication Association. When Dr. Yamaguchi is off-campus, she enjoys traveling, painting, hiking, and spending time with family and friends from all over the world.
Office: Britt 156
Phone: 541.552.6241
E-Mail: yamaguchp@sou.edu
Contact Communication
SOU Communication Program
Britt Hall, First Floor
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6673
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