Faculty
Faculty members in the UIS Communication Department have diverse backgrounds in teaching and professional experience. Associate Professor Ann Strahle, left, teaches video storytelling. She comes to UIS with over 16 years professional experience in broadcast journalism. Professor Beth Ribarsky, right, specializes in interpersonal communication and recently co-edited Activities for Teaching Gender and Sexuality in the University Classroom.
See more faculty bios below.
Timothy Bill
Instructor and Director of Speech and Debate
M.A. Communication, University of Kentucky
Areas of Specialization: Interpersonal, organizational, risk and crisis, nonverbal, and oral communication, persuasion, and argumentation.
Email: tbill2@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3023
Phone: (217) 206-7365
Dusty Day
Instructor
M.A. Communication, Illinois State University
Areas of Specialization: Business Communication, Instructional Communication, Leadership, Organizational Communication, Oral Communication/Public Speaking
Email: dday5@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3013
Phone: (217) 206-8271
Scott Faingold
M.A. Communication, University of Illinois Springfield
Instructor, Director of Student Media
Advisor, UIS student newspaper, The Journal and student radio, The Prairie Star
Email: sfain2@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3021
Phone: (217) 206-7717
J
ae Sik Ha
Associate Professor
Ph.D. Mass Communication, Indiana University
Areas of Specialization: Entrepreneurial journalism, media writing, multimedia news gathering and writing, communication technologies, mass communication.
Email: jha28@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3021
Phone: (217) 206-8511
Amie Kincaid
Associate Professor
Ph.D. Intercultural Communication, University of New Mexico
Areas of Specialization: Intercultural, interpersonal and organizational communication; race and critical theory; public relations; and oral communication
Email: akinc2@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3024
Phone: (217) 206-8415
Ric Perez
Instructor
M.A. Communication, Central Michigan University
Area of Specialization: Oral Communication.
Email: rpere2@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3013
Phone: (217) 206-7442
Kathy Petitte Novak
Professor
Ph.D. Communications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Keynote Speaker/Guest Lecturer, University of Rzeszow, Poland, Spring 2017
Guest Lecturer, Vellore Institute of Technology, India, 2014
UIS China Faculty Exchange Lecturer, 2008
Areas of Specialization: Research Methods, Global Film and Culture, Media and Culture in China, Media Criticism, Feature Writing, Photojournalism and Photo Documentary, Advertising, Leadership in Communication and Media, Global Studies affiliated faculty
Email: kathy.novak@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3020
Phone: (217) 206-8032
Elizabeth Ribarsky
Professor
Ph.D. Communication, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
NCA Rookie Advisor of the Year for Lambda Pi Eta 2011
Student Organization Faculty Advisor of the Year, University of Illinois Springfield 2010
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007
Areas of Specialization: Dating and sexual communication, constructing individual and relational identities through interpersonal communication.
Email: eriba2@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3016
Phone: (217) 206-8416
Professor Ribarsky on dating and sexual communication
Ann Strahle
Associate Professor and Department Chair
Ph.D. coursework-University of Illinois, Institute of Communications Research
M.A. Journalism, Indiana University School of Journalism
Areas of Specialization: Mass media, broadcast journalism, interviewing, public relations.
Research:
Summer 2019—paper presentation co-authored with Dr. Amie Kincaid entitled Technology and Religion: The Dialectical Tension of Safety in Religious Space at the International Association of Media and Communication Research Conference in Madrid, Spain. Acceptance rate 25%.
Spring 2019 – panel presentation at the Broadcast Educator’s Association (BEA) conference entitled, Presidential Satire on TV: From Edge to Everywhere.
Spring 2017- publication of the article Finding Belief Systems in Modern War Movies: An Analysis of American Film “The Messenger” Through the Lens of the American Civil Religion for the Journal of Communication and Religion, Vol 40. No 1.
August 2016-publication of the article, Media Coverage of Ferguson, Missouri: A Normative Approach, in the journal GSTF Journal of Media and Communications, Vol 3. No 1. DOI: 10.5176/2335-6618_3.1.42
April 2016- paper presentation Religious and Ethical Communication in Modern War Films, at the Big Ten Mini-Conference, University of Iowa.
February 2016- paper presentation Finding Belief Systems in Modern War Movies: An Analysis of American Films Addressing the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at the Western States Communication Association Conference.
January 2015-Peer-reviewed publication of the article, The Use of Religious Symbols in American Military Press Releases, in the journal GSTF Journal of Media and Communications, Vol 2. No 1.
September 2014- lecture presentation on paper Ritual Signs of Religion through Military Communication, at the International Conference on Journalism and Mass Communication (JMComm) in Singapore. The research received “Best Paper” award at the conference.
Email: astra2@uis.edu
Office: UHB 3024
Phone: (217) 206-7421