Pulitzer Prize Winner, Global Communicators Join Emerson Faculty

Five new faculty members are joining the School of Communication this fall, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist; a marketer who studies emerging digital technologies; and a scholar of gender, race, and sexuality in sports and politics.

In addition, two existing faculty members are taking on new roles.

Journalism

New:

Patrick Farrell, distinguished executive-in-residence, photojournalism

BS, University of Miami

Farrell comes to Emerson from Miami, where he won two Pulitzer Prizes for his photography at the Miami Herald. His first Pulitzer was as part of the Herald’s Hurricane Andrew coverage, and his second was for Breaking News Photography in 2009, for coverage of a devastating hurricane in Haiti. He also won a 2016 Edward R. Murrow Award for “The Migrant Maze,” a collaboration with WLRN Radio exploring immigrants’ paths from Central America to the U.S. and South Florida.

Farrell previously was an adjunct faculty member at Florida International University.

ECT: What, to you, is the most exciting development in/element of your field/specialty?

PF: I’ve been a photojournalist for more than half my life, and I’ve always loved looking at published images of great photography from around the world. Our mobile devices and the apps that come with them have made it possible to see the world’s best images with impressive resolution in real time. That access excites me. As visual storytellers, the opportunity is great to reach more people than ever. It must be what communicators felt like in the Middle Ages when the printing press was invented!

ECT: Name one thing you cannot wait to teach your students this year.

PF: Drone journalism: the possibilities, applications, and, the rules and ethics that apply to this exciting new way of telling visual stories.

ECT: What do you do when you're not working?

PF: I love the ocean. I try to go boating and fishing whenever I can, with camera in tow.

Gustavo Faleiros, executive-in-residence

BA, Catholic University of Sao Paulo

MA, King’s College London    

Faleiros is the founder and editor of InfoAmazonia, an interactive site monitoring the Amazon rainforest with data, mapping, and other digital approaches to journalism. He has also helped set up a similar geojournalism platform in Central Africa (InfoCongo).

He was a Knight International Journalism Fellow and manager of the Earth Journalism Network, which created data and geojournalism projects, as well as trained journalists in digital storytelling tools in Brazil and other countries.

ECT: What, to you, is the most exciting development in/element of your field/specialty?

GF: Journalism is changing at [a] fast pace because of technology. I am an enthusiast of the use of data in reporting, a new field that we call data journalism. [I] have been exploring lots of intersections between environmental reporting and interactive maps and real-time alerts. Nevertheless, some of the very same technology has brought some new ethical dilemmas about privacy and accuracy. As an educator, I think we should be looking carefully at that, too.

ECT: Name one thing you cannot wait to teach your students this year.

GF: I will be [teaching] three courses and all of them have, in my opinion, one common element: the commitment of journalists to transparency. So either in digital reporting classes, or Foundations of Journalism, I will emphasize…our role as journalists to foster transparency within society.

ECT: What do you do when you're not working?

GF: My favorite things are music—I am an amateur jazz and bossa nova drummer—and hiking. As I am new in the Boston area, I really want to explore the nature reserves of New England.

 

Marketing Communication

New:

Naa Amponsah Dodoo, assistant professor

BA, University of Ghana

MA, Marquette University

PhD, University of Florida

Dodoo’s research revolves around evolving new media technologies, their role in digital communication, and influence on consumer psychology and behavior. She studies the effects of individual traits and contextual aspects of digital communication on persuasion, and has presented research papers at various national and international conferences, such as the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and the American Academy of Advertising.

ECT: What, to you, is the most exciting development in/element of your field/specialty?

ND: Of the many exciting developments that are occurring, I would have to say that it’s augmented reality and its potential role in digital advertising and consumer behavior. The constant developments of digital technology give birth to newer ideas/ways of how marketers and consumers can connect and interact. I’m excited to see where the growth of digital technology takes us.

ECT: Name one thing you cannot wait to teach your students this year.

ND: I cannot wait to enable my students to expand their knowledge of the obvious and latent factors that come together to shape how we act as consumers, especially in the ever-evolving environment of marketers and consumers.

ECT: What do you do when you're not working?

ND: I love spending time with my friends and family. Whichever shape or form it takes, I always love to connect with the people in my life. I also love reading!

Walter Mills, executive-in-residence

BA, Framingham State College

MBA, Babson College

Mills is a specialist in developing integrated marketing communications plans for global brands. He has crafted marketing strategies and communications programs for hundreds of new product introductions and repositioning for clients including AIG, Dell EMC, New Balance, Subaru, Charles Schwab, Olympus, Titleist, Intuit, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Agilent Technologies. He has led global marketing campaigns in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific Rim, and Latin America.

Before joining Emerson, he was a marketing consultant and senior executive with more than 30 years of experience at firms such as Partners & Simons, Wieden & Kennedy, and Arnold Worldwide. 

 

Communication Studies

New:

Mary Anne Taylor; assistant professor

BA, University of Alabama

MPAff, PhD, University of Texas at Austin

Taylor’s work has appeared in American Behavioral Scientist, Women and Language, and several edited collections. She writes about issues as diverse as exploring false feminism in steampunk rhetoric to gendered journalism in the New York Times. She has presented her work on the rhetoric of gender, race, and sexuality in politics and sports at national and international conferences.

Before coming to Emerson, Taylor lectured at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business.

ECT: What, to you, is the most exciting development in/element of your field/specialty?

MAT: As a rhetorician that researches and teaches at the intersection of gender, politics, and sports, I can't imagine a better time for reflection and critique. From the current geopolitical climate to Colin Kaepernick's platform for social protest, we are witnessing a critical time for civic engagement. 

ECT: Name one thing you cannot wait to teach your students this year.

MAT: My one teaching philosophy is always: “You cannot not communicate.” My primary goal for my students is that they find the personal and political connections of theory for their own lived experiences. 

ECT: What do you do when you're not working?

MAT: I live for the [U.S. Women's National Soccer Team] and live music. If you don't find me in my office or the library, you can always find me at a Boston music venue. 

New Role:

Spencer Kimball, formerly an executive-in-residence at Emerson, has been hired as an assistant professor after a national search. He specializes in public opinion and was the Emerson College Student Government Advisor of the Year in 2016 for his work with the award-winning Emerson College Polling Society. He has also served as director of the College’s Washington Program.

 

Communication Sciences and Disorders

New Role:

In August, Lisa Wisman Weil became a full-time scholar-in-residence after teaching at Emerson for two years as an affiliated faculty member. A language scientist and speech-language pathologist, Weil’s research, teaching, and clinical interests focus on child language development and developmental language disorders. She studies grammatical development in children and recently completed postdoctoral training in the language and literacy abilities of school-age children with autism spectrum disorder, specific language impairment, and dyslexia at the Center for Autism Research Excellence at Boston University and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT.