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Department
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M.A.
Graduate Students (To see Ph.D. profiles, click here.) (To see M.A. and Ph.D. students who have recently graduated, click here.) (To see graduate student recruitment video, click here.) M.A.
Profiles 
Zheng is from Beijing, China, and in 2006 she earned
a B.A. in journalism from Tsinghua University in China. She completed
a semester exchange program at Hong Kong Baptist University in Fall
2004 and was invited as a guest speaker by an international traineeship
exchange program called "World Without Borders" in Ukraine in 2005.
Zheng was a Chinese delegate for the Northeast Asia Network in February,
2006 in South Korea where she held constructive dialogues about key
issues. Her primary research areas are in the field of intercultural
communication. Her intercultural experiences in Hong Kong, South Korea
and Ukraine made her interested in communication effectiveness in
culturally diverse groups. She is interested in the evaluation of
cultural exchange programs, regional community building in Northeast
Asia, and mutual understanding and constructive dialogue between cultures. Bill’s career in education and intercultural communication began after earning an M.A. in teaching English as a second language from the University of Arizona. He taught at binational centers in Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Argentina, and as a Fulbright lecturer in Turkey. Bill returned to the U.S. and joined the Department of State. He worked at U.S. embassies in Central America and Central Asia as an English teaching specialist. Also, for four years, he served in Washington, D.C., as the editor of English Teaching Forum, a journal distributed worldwide for English teachers in print (75,000 copies quarterly) and online. In 2006, Bill moved back home to New Mexico to finally plant some roots. He serves as the academic manager of the Center for English Language and American Culture at the University of New Mexico. Bill’s research interests in the C&J Department concern international intercultural communication. See Bill’s curriculum vitae.
Originally from Santa Fe, N.M., Elaine Baumgartel earned her B.A. in anthropology at Columbia University in New York City, focusing on media studies and African studies. She is currently working toward her M.A. in communication at UNM. Her research and teaching interests are oriented around mass communication and media. In her teaching, Elaine brings questions of race, class, and gender to her Public Speaking and Introduction to Mass Communication classes, raising issues of media literacy, agency, and voice for consideration. Research topics include media coverage of Haiti and Hurricane Katrina, visual construction of website news archives, and slam poetry and poetry slams. Issues of race, class, gender, and national ideology play a significant role in her work. Elaine employs critical cultural studies theoretical approaches in diverse methodologies for her work that include content analysis, frame analysis, ethnography and visual analysis. She is working on her thesis, which is an exploration of U.S. national ideology as expressed in online photojournalism archives of mainstream corporate news media coverage of Hurricane Katrina. See her curriculum vitae. Laura received her B.A. in biblical and theological studies from Trinity Southwest University. After working in various leadership positions in business, non-profit, and volunteer organizations, she re-entered academia to pursue graduate studies in communication at the University of New Mexico in 2007. She successfully juggles the responsibilities and demands of family (with two teenage children), volunteer positions, graduate school, and teaching public speaking at UNM. She has conducted research in public speaking anxiety and served on a research team contracted to evaluate a non-profit organization's safe driving program in the local high schools. Her research focus is in theory building and instructional communication from a social influence/persuasion perspective. Laura's goals include research, teaching, and application training prior to and after completing her Ph.D.
Santhosh Chandrashekar completed his M.A. in communication at Bangalore University in 2001. He went on to work for Deccan Herald, a provincial-level newspaper, for two years after which he joined The Hindu, a national-level newspaper, where he worked for three years. Santhosh won the Masti Venkatesh Iyengar gold medal for excellence in journalism instituted by Bangalore University. He also topped the class by securing the first rank. He is pursuing the M.A. in speech and rhetorical studies program. Santhosh is primarily interested in critical media theory and evolving a critique of the "interventionist development model" sponsored by developed nations. He is keen on exploring how the media can be used for developmental purposes, particularly in developing countries. His other research interests include international communication and international media, globalization and its impact, gender studies and cultural studies. Jiayun Feng (Vonnie)
Monica Gallegos received her B.A. in communication with a business minor from the University of Arizona. As an undergraduate student, she was a teaching assistant for a public speaking class and aided in the development of the undergraduate advising booklet for the University of Arizona Communication Department. Monica was a founder of a Hispanic sorority on the University of Arizona campus, was a member of three honor societies and also held an internship with a local advertising firm in Tucson. Her primary area of interest for graduate study at the University of New Mexico is mass media communication. Her goal is to help increase the amount of research concerning how Hispanics are affected by stereotypical portrayals of minorities on television. She is an instructor of public speaking in the Communication and Journalism Department. Upon the completion of her master's degree, she hopes to earn a Ph.D. and continue teaching at the collegiate level. Sonia is originally from Southern California and graduated in 2006 from California State University-Long Beach with a B.A. in communication studies. She is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and a published researcher. Her journal article, "Supportive Communication: Typical Problems Experienced by College Students and Whom They Turn to for Comfort," appeared in the Spring 2007 Ronald E. McNair Journal. Her publication was presented at the 2006 McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Symposium at CSULB and the 2006 Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Sonia's research interests are in interpersonal and intercultural communication, specifically, the impact of religious beliefs held and practiced by marital partners and the effect on perceived social support. She is a public speaking instructor in the C&J Department. Upon receiving her M.A. in communication studies, she intends to work toward a Ph.D. and ultimately teach at the university level. Bodi comes from Beijing, China. He earned his B.A. in marketing from Renmin University of China. Before entering UNM to pursue his M.A. in communication, he worked in the advertising industry and also served as a Web editor for Greenpeace, a well-known nongovernment organization around the world. His primary interest of study is mass communication and media, especially media message-making and media effects. T.J. received his B.A. in communication and journalism from the University of New Mexico with a minor in media arts. As an undergraduate, he produced a documentary titled "That Which is Most Precious: La Fiesta de San Antonio" under the tutelage of UNM professors Miguel Gandert and Enrique Lamadrid. The documentary told the story of acequia (ancient Spanish irrigation systems) culture in the New Mexico community of San Antonio. The documentary earned an award from a university-wide research symposium and has been featured in El Rancho De Los Golandrinas, a living history museum outside of Santa Fe. He has since continued his research into acequias and was a teaching assistant for a UNM ethnographic field studies class where the subject was studied exclusively. T.J.'s areas of interest are in mass media and intercultural communication. He is interested in ethnographic research and telling stories across cultures through digital mediums. He teaches visual communication in the C&J Department. Originally from Albuquerque, Julianna received her dual B.A. in communication and English from the University of New Mexico in May 2007. After graduating from UNM she decided to embark on a solo travel adventure throughout Western Europe. Within her travels Julianna learned several alternative ways of living and enjoying life without excess waste or consumption. Julianna has always been interested in environmental sustainability and resourse conservation. However, the prominence of ecological solutions and waste reduction throughout Western Europe sparked her interest to continue her educational career addressing this very issue. Julianna is primarily interested in the mass media's ability to influence audiences to think a certain way about a issues. Julianna plans to compile a short documentary or public service announcement that encourages environmental awareness and behavioral change when it comes to resource consumption.
Originally from Philadelphia, Pa., Rachel received her B.A. from the University of New Mexico in 2006, supplementing her undergraduate degree in political science with electives from within the communication field. She covered the 2004 United States presidential campaign and election for UNM's student-run newspaper, the Daily Lobo. This job enabled Rachel to combine her two fascinations: that of politics and of the mass media. Rachel is pursuing an M.A. in communication because she believes that in order for democratic citizens to effect civic change for the better, as well as successfully express their political choices, debate potentially controversial issues, and foster mutual respect and shared values, they must first fully understand the philosophical, historical, critical, and scientific bases for the study of the communicative processes. Her areas of interest include political communication, rhetorical theory, persuasion, argumentation, and criticisms of the mass media. Darla is originally from Curlew, Wash. In 2004 she earned a B.A. in journalism and mass communication from Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. Darla is earning an M.A. in communication at UNM and has a special interest in intercultural communication. Other and overlapping areas include minority representation in the media, feminism, the cultural adaptation process, and identity development. She's sure there is a thesis in there somewhere. Darla has aspirations to travel and live throughout the world and continue the pursuit of academia. Massachusetts is the state of Matt's origin. However, he has lived in New Mexico most of his life. Hailing from UNM as an undergrad, Matt holds a B.A with a focus in rhetoric. In the twilight of his senior undergrad year, Matt put the finishing touches on his honors thesis titled "Now that's funny: The development of humor in small groups." As an M.A. student, Matt's research interests include health communication, more specifically looking at online medical resources. He is also interested in action research and critical studies. When he is not teaching public speaking at UNM, Matt can be found practicing his photography skills. It goes without saying that he will most likely be tinkering with anything technology-related in his spare time. See his curriculum vitae. Richard comes to us from Madison, Wis., where in 2006 he received a B.S. in communication studies from Edgewood College, a private, Catholic, liberal arts school. As an undergraduate, Richard was a teaching assistant for organizational communication and communication and civilization; a research assistant for multiple studies; and co-founder and president of the Edgewood College Communication Coalition. Richard's communication interests lie in the fields of intercultural, organizational, and interpersonal. In the future, he plans to travel abroad and to pursue his Ph.D. in intercultural communication. Krystal is interested in mass media (effects of mass media, media literacy, representations of intercultural/interracial relationships in mass media, etc.). In May 2006, she received B.A. degrees from UNM in print journalism and English. Her past experience is in print journalism, marketing, public relations and science writing. She works as a student writer for a national laboratory. Upon graduation, she plans on using her new knowledge of communication theory to continue working in journalism, marketing and/or public relations. |
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