The School of Communication Studies is pleased to welcome the following new faculty:
Andrew Barnes is completing his Ph.D. at Georgia State University where his research has been situated
at the intersection of argumentation, public address, international relations, and U.S. presidential
scholarship. His dissertation on public address at the United Nations focuses on three problems:
conceptualizing increasingly pluralized audiences; ascertaining how non-American institutions (like the
United Nations) shape and are shaped by American rhetorical productions; and the difficulties in gauging
presidential rhetorical efficacy. Andrew had previously been JMU’s assistant director of debate, and he
rejoins us in a one-year instructor position teaching primarily GCOM.
After teaching for the school as an adjunct faculty member for the past three semesters, Dr. Julie
Gochenour now joins us in a one-year renewable position as instructor teaching primarily GCOM. Dr.
Gochenour has her Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies from Union Institute and University with a primary
focus on communication and religious studies. Prior to pursuing an academic career she served as a Web
project developer and editor, communications director, and communication specialist for a variety of local
organizations including JMU.
Dr. Meryl Irwin comes to us from Drake University. She holds a Ph.D. with a concentration in rhetoric
and public address from the University of Iowa. Her dissertation, titled On Becoming “Citizen”: The
Rhetorical Work of “Immigrancy” in American National Fantasy, addresses the dialectic between
immigration and citizenship as it occurs in a variety of rhetorical forms including the Naturalization
Exam, the nostalgic history presented in documentaries about Ellis Island, and Hollywood film. She joins
us as a one-year assistant professor teaching primarily GCOM.
Dr. Dan Schill joins us as associate professor teaching in our new Communication & Advocacy master’s
program as well as a range of classes in our undergraduate major and general education. He has his Ph.D.
from the University of Kansas, and his research is focused on communication, politics, technology, and
the mass media. He is the author or editor of two published books in the area of media and politics, and
his research has appeared in a range of academic journals. In addition to his academic research, since
2008, Dr. Schill has organized and moderated on-air dial focus groups for CNN and provided real-time
analysis of debates, speeches, and political ads.
Lindsey Shook joins us in a one-year position as instructor and assistant director of the Debate
Team. She comes to us from the University of Central Florida where she was both teaching and directing
its debate team. She is completing her Ph.D. at the University of Kansas with a research focus on the
ways consent is utilized in domestic and international legal contexts in the areas of sexual violence and
human trafficking.
Dr. Christy-Dale Sims recently completed her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr. Sims’
research raises questions of nationalism and citizenship, particularly as they intersect with issues of
cultural memory, publics, and whiteness. Her dissertation, titled Trail of Broken Promises: Collective
Remembering, Colonization, and (Counter) Publics, examines constructions of identity in historic and
contemporary discourse related to the Haskell Indian Nations University. She joins us in a one-year
renewable position as instructor teaching primarily GCOM.