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Department of Communication Studies

Alumni Profile: Developing Communication Studies

 The Communication Studies program at K-State prepares graduate students for highly successful careers. We excel in preparing students for careers in research and teaching. Several graduates of the program have contributed greatly to the communication field. Below are profiles of three recent K-State alums who are exemplars of the Communication Studies graduate program.

Melissa Broeckelman-Post

2009 (Ph.D.), assistant professor, George Mason University

Dr. Broeckelman-Post joined the faculty at George Mason University in fall 2013 as the basic course director and assistant professor in the Department of Communication after earning her Ph.D. from Ohio University in 2009. Prior to joining Mason, she was an assistant professor at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Broeckelman- Post’s scholarship fits within the realm of instructional communication and rests at the intersection of interpersonal communication, organizational communication, and communication theory. She is interested in the ways that interpersonal relationships within educational organizations (e.g. student-teacher, student-student, teacher-teacher, teacher-administrator, etc.) impact the teaching and learning process, as well as ways in which the organizational structures, priorities and resource-distribution both enable and constrain the teaching and learning process. A great deal of her research has focused on the use of peer workshops in public speaking courses, course structures that increase student preparation for and learning in introductory classes and academic integrity in higher education. She recently co-authored a public speaking textbook as well as numerous university-specific resources for teaching.

 

Dajung Woo

2013 (M.S.), doctoral student, University of California-Santa Barbara

After receiving her Master’s degree at Kansas State University in spring 2013, Dajung Woo joined the Communication doctoral program at University of California-Santa Barbara. Woo was awarded a Regents Special Fellowship and teaching assistantship to study at this prestigious program. During her first year at UC Santa Barbara, she presented a paper on her thesis research, advised by Dr. Sarah Riforgiate, at the National Communication Association (NCA). The paper was recognized as a Top Four Paper by the Experiential Learning in Communication Division, DaJung also was elected to serve as a graduate representative on a campus-wide graduate committee. She also has been involved in several research projects with some of the top scholars in our field. Recently, she received a research grant from Broom Center for Demography.

 

John Jasso

2003 (B.S.), 2007 (M.S.), assistant professor, Penn State University

Dr. John Jasso begins his academic career as an assistant professor in Rhetoric at Penn State University this fall. He received undergraduate and master’s degrees in Communication Studies from Kansas State University in 2003 and 2007 respectively. At K-State, Dr. Jasso was a McNair Scholar graduating cum laude. Dr. Jasso went on to earn a second master’s in philosophy followed by a doctorate in communication both from the University of Pittsburg. At Pittsburg, Dr. Jasso was awarded teaching, research and diversity fellowships. He has received awards for publications on medieval rhetoric, media pedagogy and political communication. He has presented numerous research projects at academic conferences, has published a book chapter in The Making of Barack Obama: The Politics of Persuasion and appeared in the scholarly journals Explorations in Media Ecology and Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion and Culture.

 

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