Jennifer Gauthier (e-mail)
Chair of the Communication Studies Department, Associate Professor of Communication Studies
B.A., Vassar College; M.A., Wesleyan University; Ph.D., George Mason University

Edward Said wrote, “The job facing the cultural intellectual is therefore not to accept the politics of identity as given, but to show how all representations are constructed, for what purpose, by whom, and with what components.”

I firmly believe that this is part of my job as both a cultural intellectual and a teacher. In my communication and film studies classes at Randolph, I encourage students not to take anything for granted, but to ask questions about the historical, political, economic, and social contexts of the cultural objects we examine. My ideal classroom is one where students are eager to share their ideas and learn from each other. I often learn just as much from them as they do from me.

Film is my passion, although I was an art history major as an undergraduate at Vassar College. Studying medieval manuscripts turned out to be the perfect way to develop a critical eye and close attention to detail. I strive to pass these skills on to my students and to ignite in them a passion for knowledge, intellectual inquiry and lifelong learning.

My own research on Canadian film, cultural policy and national identity has fueled my interest in the delicate relationship between art and economy. Spending a year in Ottawa as a Fulbright Scholar helped me to better understand the subtle, but important differences in our two nations. I consider myself an unofficial ambassador for Canada and its amazing, but under-appreciated films. Currently I am working on projects that examine the national cinemas of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with special emphasis on indigenous cinemas. I am most interested in how state-sponsored film industries balance their cultural and economic goals.

In my other life, my husband Eric and I have a son Jack (born in 2007) who keeps us busy. In our free time we enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking and canoeing, often with our golden retriever, Max. We also like to travel; some of our most recent trips have been to New Zealand, Hawaii, the Canadian Rockies, and Key West, Florida.

Chad Beck (e-mail)
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies
B.A., North Carolina State University; M.A., New York University; Ph.D., Indiana University

I am concerned with the impact of globalization on media, nations, and cultures. My interests include political economy and cultural studies, race and ethnicity, cultural identity and citizenship. I primarily teach and investigate media industries, film, television, advertising, and digital media, while I also incorporate interdisciplinary approaches to a variety of communication forms and technologies.

I have a special focus on Latin American and Latino/a media and cultures. I was a Fulbright scholar and lived in Mexico for three years, teaching and conducting research on the television and advertising industries. I also traveled to New York and Los Angeles for on-site investigations of U.S. Spanish-language television and advertising. My research methods integrate ethnography–whereby I study media business and production through participation, observation, interviewing, and examination of materials–with analysis of media portrayals.

My students and I critically explore the institutional structures, practices, technologies, and representations of media and communication in historical and contemporary times, across national and international spaces. Engaging with media theory and cultural studies, we privilege issues of social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality as well as regional, national, and transnational identities.

I aim to make every class an energetic and enriching experience. Whether in the classroom or through guiding student research, I am always rediscovering through dialogue how learning from my students is a pedagogical virtue and its own reward. I create a classroom community, and my democratic pedagogy manifests many voices of authority by which all participants are licensed to proclaim and deliberate. We all are experts in the sense that each one of us has something intelligent and unique to contribute. Our perspectives are validated by our individual and social experiences. Yet our judgments are challenged by theories and knowledge, and we are subject to encounters with difference, often causing us to reassess our taken-for-granted truths. As a result, when my students and I reflect on media, politics, economics, history, culture, and identity, we discover how notions of truth and depictions of reality are social constructions, assembled through ideological representations of the social world and contingent upon historical conditions, economic exchanges, and shifting relations of culture and power.

Christopher Dumond (e-mail)
Adjunct Instructor in Communication Studies
B.A., Emory & Henry College

David Duncan (e-mail)
Adjunct Instructor in Communication Studies
B.F.A., Savannah College of Art & Design

David Johnson (e-mail)
Adjunct Instructor in Art/Communication Studies
B.F.A., Montana State University; M.F.A., University of Wisconsin

Renee Peckman (e-mail)
Adjunct Instructor in Communication Studies
B.S., M.A., Liberty University

David Royer (e-mail)
Adjunct Instructor in Communication Studies
B.A., University of Memphis