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Experts in Journalism, Severe Speech Impairments, Forensics Join Communications Faculty

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This fall Cal State Fullerton’s College of Communications is welcoming nine new faculty members with a wide range of scholarly interests, including language acquisition in children with complex communication needs; public relations and its intersection with history, religion and the LGBTQ community; and sports media.

Gayle Brisbane

Gayle Brisbane
Assistant professor of communications
Ph.D. media research and practice, University of Colorado Boulder
M.A. professional writing, Chatham University
B.A. communications, Pepperdine University

Research interests: I spent 20 years working as a television sports anchor and reporter, so my early research was on gender in sports media. I wanted to expand my research horizons with my dissertation, so I did qualitative research on evangelical Christian women’s perception of a persecuting media in regards to their support of Donald Trump. In the future, I plan to combine the four focuses: sports, religion, politics and the media.
Most impactful undergraduate co-curricular experience: When I worked as a sportscaster, I really enjoyed mentoring aspiring sportscasters. The thrill of seeing my mentees realize their dreams drew me into academia.
Something you’d like others to know: I entered my doctoral program with five-year-old identical triplet daughters at home. They are now 9 1/2 years old. It was an incredible sense of accomplishment to successfully defend this past summer.
Favorite book: I’ve recently enjoyed reading “Network Propaganda,” a data analysis of how some news outlets have thrown aside journalistic integrity. It was a fascinating read considering the current state of the media.

Ying Du

Ying Du
Assistant professor of communications
Ph.D. mass communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.S. communication, North Carolina State University
B.A. journalism, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Research interests: Global media, public opinion, audience analysis
Most impactful undergraduate co-curricular experience: In my senior year, I worked on a newspaper as an intern and started to publish news stories that had an impact on society.
Something you’d like others to know: I lived in Hong Kong for ten years after I left Chapel Hill, NC; my children are proud Tarheel babies.
Favorite book and movie: “Dr. Zhivago”

Lisa Erwin-Davidson

Lisa Erwin-Davidson
Assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders
Ph.D. speech and hearing sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.S. speech-language pathology, Pennsylvania State University
B.S. communication disorders, Syracuse University

Research interests: How young children with complex communication needs and severe disabilities learn core concept words in naturalistic settings.
Most impactful undergraduate co-curricular experience: The early experiences of interning in a residential center for children with cerebral palsy set my career path for wanting to ensure children with any disability had alternative modes of communication and ways to learn language.
Something you’d like others to know: I’m new to California. I lived near the Atlantic Ocean for years, including on Cape Cod and in North Carolina. I grew up in the Green Mountain state of Vermont right on the Canadian border, so now I’m appreciating the beauty of the Pacific Ocean and a brown desert landscape.
Favorite book: That’s tough, considering I’m a bibliophile; however, I have to say that “A Brief History in Time” by the late Stephen Hawking is one of my favorites.

Russell Johnston
Assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders
Ph.D., M.A. speech-language pathology, University of Kansas
B.A. communicative disorders, California State University, Los Angeles 

Research interests: Language acquisition in children with complex communication needs who use augmentative and alternative forms of communication; educational programming for students with significant disabilities; and inclusive education for all students, including those with significant disabilities
Most impactful undergraduate academic experience: Supervising undergraduate speech-language pathologists as they provided intervention for children and adults with significant and multiple disabilities
Something you’d like others to know: If someone cannot effectively and efficiently communicate via speech, they are a candidate for augmentative and alternative forms of communication.
Favorite book: “1984” by George Orwell

Jessica Kamrath

Jessica Kamrath
Assistant professor of human communication studies
Ph.D. communication, Arizona State University
M.A. communication studies, Arizona State University, West
B.S. education, B.A. communication, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

Research interests: My research focuses on the intersections of organizational well-being, resilience and strengths-based dialogic approaches. I have specifically looked at education contexts and retaining highly qualified teachers through better understanding resilience from a communicative framework. I also study leadership communication, transformative approaches to leadership pedagogy and sport communication focusing on coaches’ communication and the culture of concussion reporting.
Most impactful undergraduate academic/co-curricular experience: I went back to school to earn my bachelor’s in education. By far, student teaching and volunteering as a coach for cross country, track and speech and debate (forensics) were most impactful for me. I fell in love with teaching and coaching and am very passionate about both.
Something you’d like others to know: I am originally from Wisconsin and am a huge Packers fan. I was put on the wait list for season tickets when I was born and didn’t get tickets until I turned 30. I also LOVE animals; my husband and I fostered and adopted a white boxer named Happy from Boxer Luv Rescue in Arizona.
Favorite movies: “Jaws” and “Almost Famous”

Shanara Reid-Brinkley

Shanara Reid-Brinkley
Assistant professor of human communication studies
Ph.D. speech communication, University of Georgia
M.A. communication studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
B.A. political science, Emory University

Research interests: Race and representation in forensics and anti-black racism at the intersection of gender, sexuality and class
Most impactful undergraduate academic/co-curricular experience: I have taught both high school and college students in the practice of debate and advocacy competition, and it has been an incredibly rewarding experience.
Something you’d like others to know: I have focused on building the speaking and argumentative abilities — particularly of minority students — for the purpose of producing more civic leaders and activists in communities of color.
Favorite book: “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. I teach it often in my classes on race. It offers an amazing opportunity to consider the potential pitfalls inherent in interracial communication.

Jeremy Shermak

Jeremy Shermak
Assistant professor of communications
Ph.D. journalism, The University of Texas at Austin
M.A. journalism-interactive media, University of Missouri
M.A. writing-pedagogy, DePaul University
B.S. informatics, Indiana University

Research interests: I research how political communication is emerging in typically apolitical realms, such as science and sports communications.
Most impactful undergraduate co-curricular experience: Working for the student newspaper and radio station at Indiana University. I was learning on the job while making personal and professional connections that helped me in my career.
Something you’d like others to know: I am a twin and a baseball fanatic.
Favorite book and movie: “The Natural”

Cylor Spaulding

Cylor Spaulding
Assistant professor of communications
Ph.D. communication, University of Miami
M.A. strategic public relations, University of Southern California
B.A. journalism, Arizona State University

Research interests: My research focuses on public relations and its intersection with history, religion and the LGBTQ community. In fact, I have an article coming out this month in the Journal of Communication and Religion on how Mary Tudor employed public relations during her reign.
Most impactful undergraduate co-curricular experience: In my undergraduate years, I worked in public relations internships for agencies and a nonprofit arts organization. These really helped crystallize what I was learning in the classroom and made me realize that I could make a career out of public relations.
Something you’d like others to know: I’m originally from Arizona. This is my second time in the Los Angeles area, but I was working for some entertainment public relations agencies here last time.
Favorite books and movie: I’m a science fiction and fantasy fan; my favorite books are “Dune” and “The Awakening,” and my favorite movie is “Dark City.”

Miya Williams Fayne
Assistant professor of communications
Ph.D. media, technology and society, Northwestern University
M.A. publishing and writing, Emerson College
B.A. print journalism, University of Southern California

Research interests: As a journalism studies scholar I research the black press, new media and entertainment
Most impactful undergraduate co-curricular experience: As an undergrad at the University of Southern California, I was president of the Annenberg Black Student Association. I brought a lot of industry professionals to campus for events and collaborated with other student organizations, such as the Annenberg Latino Student Association and the African-American Cinema Society, to develop additional programming for students of color on campus.
Something you’d like others to know: I like to play indoor volleyball when I can find a place to play. I started playing in sixth grade, played on teams in high school and played intramural during undergraduate and graduate school.
Favorite book: My favorite book is “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. I think it is beautifully written and deals with the complexities of race in a realistic and thought-provoking way.