Contact information
As of the Fall of 2017, the Communications and Journalism Department has merged into
a single facility on the lower floor of the Bunnell Building. All staff and regular
faculty, adjuncts and Graduate TAs have offices on the first floor of the Bunnell
Building. The UAF Speaking Center, however, is still located on the 5th Floor of the Gruening Building.
Department of Communication and Journalism
University of Alaska Fairbanks
PO Box 756120
101 Bunnell Bldg.
Fairbanks, AK 99775-6120
Telephone: 907-474-7761
Fax: 907-474-6326
Academic advising
Undergraduate academic advising services in the College of Liberal Arts are provided by a combination of faculty and staff advisors.
- Students with freshmen and sophomore standing as well as students in pre-majors are advised by Kathy Nava, CLA’s Comprehensive Academic advisor.
- Students with junior and senior standing are advising by faculty advisor in the department of their major(s).
If you are a junior or senior COJO student, your faculty advisor can assist with registration, petitions, change of major requests and answer any number of questions related to the college experience. If you do not know who your faculty advisor is, contact Department of Communication and Journalism Administrative Assistant Courtney Pagh at crpagh@alaska.edu or 907-474-7761.
Faculty
Charles Mason
Department Chair
Digital Journalism
Bunnell 102D
Professor Charles Mason has taught photography and photojournalism at UAF since 1990. He actively and passionately pursues all kinds of photography. His work has garnered numerous awards including the Oskar Barnack Award at World Press Photo, POY awards, and others. He's also had a number of solo shows in and out of Alaska. His prints are in the collection of many individuals and museums.
Mason's photographs have been published widely, including in the New York Times, Outside Magazine, Time, LIFE and even The Weekly Reader. The cover of the bestselling book "Water for Elements" features a photograph he took here at a small circus here in Fairbanks. He's been in Pictures of the Year issues of Time, LIFE, Stern, and the Photography Annuals of PDN and Communication Arts.
Robert W. Prince
Associate Professor
Digital Journalism
Bunnell 105C
M.A. Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, Michigan State University
B.A. Communication Arts & Sciences, Calvin College
Dr. Karen Taylor
Associate Professor
Communication
Bunnell 106E
I joined the Department of Communication Faculty in 2008, after having lived in six other states and travelled in every single state except for Hawaii. My Ph.D. is from University of Pittsburgh (with certification in History & Philosophy of Science), my M.A. is from Texas A&M University, and my B.A. is from Tulane University (with a minor in Physics).
My academic interests are primarily in organizational communication. My research deals with communicating scientific information and the role of communication in knowledge-production. More generally, my interests are pretty eclectic and I like learning new things, so conversations on almost any topic are welcome.
Dr. Kevin Sager
Associate Professor
Communication
Bunnell 101C
I joined the Department of Communication Faculty in 2010. I have a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Washington, a M.S. Ed. in Counseling and Counselor Education from Indiana University, and a B.S. in Psychology and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
My academic interests include statistics, quantitative research methods, organizational communication, interpersonal communication, and small group communication. My current research focuses on superior-subordinate communication.
J. Jason Lazarus
Term Instructor in Photography / Computer Systems Analyst / Darkroom Labs Manager
Digital Journalism
Bunnell 114
M.F.A. '14, Photography, Academy of Arts University, San Francisco
Jason Lazarus provides our technology-dependant department with its life support, keeping our computers, cameras, recorders, microphones, printers and all the rest of our gear in operating condition. He is a graduate of our very own department, with a degree in Photojournalism. Jason has been with us since 2004, taking over the management of our computer labs and traditional darkrooms. Since 2005, he's served as an adjunct (and recently as term instructor) for the department teaching both film and digital versions of our photography courses and had developed courses in Alternative and Historical Photo Processes. His hobbies range from vintage video games to exploring abandoned mines and dredges. He has a lovely wife, Deanna, and a 11-year old son named Aidan.
Brian Patrick O'Donoghue
Professor Emertius
Digital Journalism
M.A. '85, Broadcast Journalism, New York University
B.A. '77, History, University of California, Santa Cruz
Professor Brian Patrick O’Donoghue recently received Alaska Press Club’s highest honor, the 2016 First Amendment Award, for “dogged persistence in pursuit of the truth.” The recognition follows more than a decade of student-assisted reporting that helped exonerate the Fairbanks Four, a group including three Native Alaskans, wrongfully incarcerated 18 years for a white teen’s 1997 murder.
O’Donoghue’s 35-year career spans print, broadcast and mobile journalism. He’s taken readers with him pulling 7Gs in a F-16, accompanying Stryker Brigade soldiers sweeping palm groves for weapons in Iraq, observing pipeline construction on Arctic Ocean’s ice in 70-below conditions.
Adjuncts
Nike Bahr
Adjunct Professor
Communication
Born and raised in the north-west of Germany, I did my Bachelor of Arts in English and American Studies at the University of Mannheim in the south of Germany, which already gave me the opportunity to learn about teaching. I then attended UAF as an exchange student in 2014; it is quite obvious just how much I fell in love with the people, landscape, and potentially most fantastic university there is since I am now back as a grad student and TA with the department of communication!
Tori McDermott
Graduate Teaching Assistant / Managing Director of the Speaking Center
Communication
GRUE 507
I'm Tori McDermott! I received a major in Communication and a minor in Marketing from Coastal Carolina University. I love being outside and I can't wait to help the students of the University of Alaska become better speakers.
(TA) Teaching Assistants
Caitlin Schnaidt
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Communication
Bunnell 124
I was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and after having lived in Nevada and Alaska the past few years I hope to never move back to California. I love everything about the outdoors, am a huge fan of hiking and trail running, love to bake and craft, and hope to live the rest of my life somewhere that will always have snow in the winter. My life revolves around two very loving German Shepherds, an amazing husband, and one super sassy cat.
Shenglan (Mica) Chen
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Communication
Bunn 122
I am Mica. I am from Shanghai, China. I was a student-athlete playing volleyball at UAF. I graduated this year with a bachelor’s degree in Multicultural Education. I am passionate about teaching and interacting with students. My career goal was to be an elementary English teacher in Shanghai, but I am thinking about staying in America because I love adventures and outdoor activities. Besides school, I am a huge fan of Kobe Bryant and I still support the Lakers even though he's an angle now. I love watching hockey games in Fairbanks.
Keely Pliska
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Communication
Bunnell 124
I received my Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I love to travel. Adventure is my middle name. In my travels, I have had the opportunity to teach both dance and American Sign Language. I am an avid bookworm and spend some of my happiest days devouring stories. My area of interest lays heavily in web design and nonverbal communication.
Quote: "What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Rebecca Lawhorne
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Communication
Bunnell 124
Rebecca Lawhorne is a lover of odd stories, people, and places. She was born into a Christian community in Dry Creek, Alaska and raised on a small island in Florida.
A resident of Fairbanks, Rebecca has called many places home, most favorably her lovingly converted 1995 Nissan Pathfinder. She spent a year in the said home, traveling America and typing poems for strangers, on-demand, with her Smith Corona typewriter. Instead of growing up, she turned it into a full-time business called PoembyBecca. She currently creates one of a kind pieces with birch tree bark for all willing to walk up to her at the local farmer's market.
She received a B.A. In English and Journalism from UAF. Her time spent crafting poems for strangers led her down the path towards the Communication and Journalism department, where she continues to seek the intangible unknown.
Kyle Johnson
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Communication
Bunn 122
Gina Schlobohm
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Communication
Bunn 122
I am a masters student in Applied Linguistics here at UAF. I am originally from Missouri but moved here to learn how to document endangered languages so that I can help people preserve aspects of their identity and culture. I have an absurd amount of hobbies but the biggest one is working on cars and motorcycles, current projects are an 89 Bronco, 88 Mustang and a 76 Yamaha DT400. I live in a cabin with my partner and our malamute pup, Tenzin. Before you ask, her name came from the video game Uncharted Among Thieves, not the Legend of Korra, sorry.
Staff
Courtney Pagh
Administrative Extraordinaire
Communication and Journalism
Bunnell 101
An almost life-long Alaskan with ties to UAF since the early 70's, I have been with the Department of Communication since 2010. My focus is on student success and I pride myself on being able to find creative solutions to student problems.