Mass Communication, Communication, ACME
Kevin Ells is Professor of Communication and Communication Programs Coordinator in the department of Arts, Communication, Media, and English. He grew up in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, passing his Ph.D defense and US citizenship test in 2007. A former ESL instructor in Toronto and debate coach in Louisiana, Prof. Ells established the MA program in Communication at Tamut in 2016. A Fulbright scholar in Communication to Azerbaijan in 2015, he later served on a Fulbright Peer Review Committee.
Louisiana State University, Ph.D. in Communication Studies – Rhetoric (2008)
York University (Toronto), Master of Environmental Studies – Area of Concentration: Media and Political Ecology (1995)
Dalhousie University (Halifax), Bachelor of Commerce [Finance]; minor in Music
Prof. Ells has taught over 20 undergraduate and graduate courses in Communication, Mass Communication, and Speech over the past decade at TAMUT, regularly offering undergraduate courses in media writing, media law, public speaking, and audio production, as well as graduate seminars in environmental communication and semiotics.
“Who’s Zooming Whom? Prompting Participation in Mediated Class Meetings”, in G. Jones, ed., Solutions for Distance Learning in Higher Education, Cambridge Scholars Pub., 2022
The Decline and Fall of Mass Communication [review of book by Wm. J. Benoit and A. C. Billings]. Journal of Communication, 2021
“Risk Here vs. Risk There: Intention to Seek Information About Gulf Coastal Erosion”, with J. Huang (lead author), Environmental Communication, 15 (3), 2021, pp. 386-400
“Breaking ‘News’: Majority Can’t Define Mass Communication”, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 74 (1), 2019 (published online March 2018)
“The Tragedy of the Commons” in N. Castree, M. Hulme, and J. Proctor, eds., Companion to Environmental Studies, Routledge, 2018
“Inform, Persuade, Other: Exhuming Epideictic for Speech and Writing Instruction”, Florida Communication Journal, 45 (2), 2017, pp. 1-11 (lead article)
Fulbright Teaching Award to Azerbaijan, U.S. Scholar Program, February-June, 2015
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute “A Fierce Green Fire at 100: Aldo Leopold and the Roots of Environmental Ethics,” Institute for Humanities Research, Arizona State University, 2009
National Communication Association (NCA) National Doctoral Honors Seminar, Oklahoma University, 2005
Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Dept. of Communication Studies, LSU, 2005
Research Enhancement Funding, Committee for Faculty Research Enhancement and Development, TAMUT, 2014: $800; 2019: $3,000
Course Redesign Grant, Educational Technology Committee, TAMUT, 2015: $3,406
