Speech Communication - Faculty
- Gordon Zimmerman, Ph.D., Emeritus
- David Seibert, Ph.D., Emeritus
- James Owen, Ph.D.,
- Gwen Hullman Ph.D.
- Ronna Liggett, M.A.
- Sam Crostic, M.A.
- Saralinda Kiser, M.A.
- Amy Arias, M.A.
- Laura Haig, M.A.
- Janet Miller, M.A.
Staff
Full Time Speech Communication Faculty
Gordon Zimmerman (Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is Professor of Speech Communication and Chair of the department. His courses include: COM 329-Business and Professional Speaking, COM 428-628-Organizational Communication, and COM 480-680-Communication Training. He has received both the Alan Bible Outstanding Teacher Award (College of Liberal Arts) and the Regents' Teaching Award (University of Nevada System).
Dr. Zimmerman brings a practical, career-oriented focus to his courses, based on his training work with managers and professional people throughout the United States and Canada. He has also taught seminars for judges, lawyers, law school faculty and court administrators from over 20 countries, including Russian judges in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Dr. Zimmerman's teaching at Nevada centers on communication competence for a variety of careers-business, law, education, human resources training, sales, public relations/public information, fund-raising/development and, of course, supervision/management.
Dr. David Seibert earned his Ph.D. from the University of Denver, M.A. from San Francisco State University, and B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. He cam to the University of Nevada, Reno in 1975 and has held the rank of full professor since 1986. He was chair of the department of Speech Communication and Theatre from 1980 until 1996, and Co-Chair for Theatre from 1996 until the present. He has been a contributing teacher and scholar in both the Speech Communication and Theatre divisions of the department.
Dr. Seibert's teaching areas of emphasis in Speech Communication include communication research methods, argumentation, and persuasion at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has also taught communication theory, public speaking, and legal argumentation.
On the Theatre side he has taught acting, technical theatre, and has supervised the laboratory class that supports the productions of Nevada Repertory Company. He has frequently contributed to Nevada Repertory Company productions as an actor, director, and scenic designer.
His service contributions to the university include chairing the faculty senate and serving for many years on the admissions committee for the School of Medicine.
775-784-1416
CFA 147
Dr. James Owen received his B.A. M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in communication studies from the University of Denver. He is a professor of Speech Communication and teaches courses in business and professional speaking, advanced speech composition, crisis communication, and communication theory. He has conducted numerous communication training programs in business, professional, and governmental organizations. He is active in professional communication associations and was elected to serve a 2004-2005 term as president of the American Communication Association.
Much of his research has focused on contemporary behavioral approaches to human language. A publication titled, "A Retrospective on Behavioral Approaches to Human Language," American Communication Journal (2002), provides a general summary of much of this work. His books include a co-edited anthology textbook titled: Communication in Organizations, three editions of a co-authored textbook titled: Speech Communication: A Contemporary Introduction, and an anthology on ecological perspectives on human communication theory titled: Context and Communication Behavior and an edited E-book titled: Public speaking: The vitual text. This text is available at http://www.textcommons.org/.
775-784-3591
CFA 148
samuelc@unr.edu
Samuel A. Crostic (M.A., University of Nevada) is a lecturer of Speech Communication with an emphasis in Organizational Communication. His courses include COM 315, Small Group Communication, Com 329, Business and Professional Speaking, COM 428, Organizational Communication, and COM 480, Training Systems. Sam is also an Undergraduate Advisor for Speech Communication.
775-784-1788
CFA 156
Gwen A. Hullman (Ph.D., Kent State University) is Assistant Professor of Speech Communication. She teaches classes in the areas of interpersonal communication and research methods. She is the recipient of teaching awards from The International Communication Association, and The National Communication Association, and College of Liberal Arts at The University of Nevada. She is also the faculty advisor for the UNR Lambda Pi Eta chapter, a national honor society for communication majors.
Her research interests include communication competence, communication motivations, and message design in both interpersonal and media contexts. Her work is published in academic journals such as Communication Monographs, Health Communication, Communication Reports, Communication Research Rerports, and the Newspaper Research Journal.
CFA 143
Part Time Speech Com Faculty
Ms. Haig has a B.A. in Theatre Arts, an M.A. in Speech Communication, and an M.Ed. in Counseling & Educational Psychology. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in the near future. Ms. Haig has taught COM 113 since the Fall of 1999; she has also taught other courses at UNR including Fundamentals of Speech Communication, Public Speaking, Survey of Communication Studies, Small Group Communication, and Business and Professional Communication.
Her research and professional interests lie in the areas of verbal aggression, conflict resolution, cognitive learning theory, and human growth & development. She looks forward to developing and teaching additional courses in the future.
Support Staff
775-784-6839
CFA 155
