Research & Creative Work
The faculty of the School of Communications and Theater pursue numerous scholarly and creative projects. Research and creative work within the School meet the highest standards of professional work, and encourage students to develop both an intellectual background and a sense of social responsibility.
Award-winning creative faculty members boast extensive professional experience as filmmakers, journalists, television producers, theater directors, speechwriters, advertising executives, and public relations practitioners.
Our highly ranked scholarly researchers focus on contemporary theory and research issues, covering mass, interpersonal, political, intercutural, international, and development communication, as well as emerging technologies.
Research and creative faculty are actively involved in the interdepartmental PhD program in Mass Media and Communication, as well as graduate programs in Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media (MA), Film and Media Arts (MFA), Journalism (MJ), Strategic and Organizational Communication (StOC), and Theater (MFA).
Recent awards and achievements are listed below.
Professor Eugene Martin, lecturer in broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media, received a grant from the American Motion Picture Academy (AMPAS), on Master Class and Lecture Series for Service Learning. The grant is to be used in support of Temple University's "Guest Speaker Series and Master Classes" in editing and cinematography. The funding from AMPAS will also allow Professor Martin to greatly expand his Community Media Production course to include Master Classes and Workshops for Editing and Cinematography.
Dr. John Lent, professor of broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media, was invited by the Pulitzer Prize Board to serve as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Nominating Juries in Journalism for 2007. Dr. Lent studies international communication with an emphasis on Asian comic art, and has contributed to the inauguration of Asian mass communications as a field of study. In July 2006, Dr. Lent was presented with a lifetime achievement award, the first ever bestowed by the Asian Media Information and Communication Center.
Dr. Carolyn Kitch, associate professor of journalism and director of the Mass Media & Communication doctoral program, recently won the James W. Carey Media Research Award, an internationally competitive prize awarded annually by the Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research, for her book, Pages from the Past: History and Memory in American Magazines.
Dr. Renee Hobbs, associate professor of broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media, was recently awarded a $600,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation to study copyright and fair use for media literacy.
Professor Robert Hedley, professor of theater, was recognized with the 2006 Barrymore Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the Philadelphia Theater community. Hedley has worked with many local and national theater companies, and he has taught at Temple’s School of Communications and Theater for 16 years.
Professor Jo Ann Caplin, senior lecturer in broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media, received the prestigious Société de Chimie Industrielle (American Section) Fellowship through the Chemical Heritage Foundation. The fellowship allowed her to continue her research on the relationship between science and art, with full access to the Foundation’s specialized library, including very rare and old books.