Communication Arts @ UIW

Welcome to the

Communication Arts Department

Dr. Steve Liu, Professor, meets with a student during the Communication Arts Advising Day. This is a day for students to meet with their academic advisor to prepare for their upcoming semester and seek guidance.

UIWtv, a student-run organization, produces a bi-weekly live broadcast to the UIW community at 12 PM on Thursdays during the semester. This student is programming the newscast using a TriCaster to toggle between the different cameras and pre-recorded compilations.

Interview — Dr. Trey Guinn, Communication Arts Program Director, is performing a mock-interview with one of his students. Dr. Guinn’s teaching, research, and professional work is focused primarily on communication effectiveness and human relationships. To learn more about the Communication Arts degree plans, see below.

The Communication Arts program at UIW uses a unique blend of theory-driven and experienced-based classes where students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary. Communication Arts offers a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Master of Arts (MA) as well as an accelerated bachelor’s to master’s degree program. With seemingly infinite career opportunities, graduates work as writers, producers, directors, editors, public relations specialists, videographers, filmmakers, broadcast journalists, advertising specialists, event planners, social media specialists, teachers, web specialists, bilingual journalists, convergent media specialists, among others. The goals of the program are to cultivate students’ imagination and creativity through mastery of technical skills needed to become effective professionals in the field of communications; to create an environment fostering the exploration of diverse perspectives and encourages students to use their skills and resources to serve their community and society, so that they are prepared to participate confidently, ethically, and competently as concerned and enlightened citizens.

THE FALL SEMESTER BEGINS IN

Communication Arts combines theory and hands-on classes working towards a bachelor’s degree in one of three concentrations: Media Studies, Multimedia (select a track to pursue: Production, Journalism, or Creative Publishing), and Strategic and Corporate Communication. The program also offers a master’s degree. The program seeks to cultivate a student’s imagination and creativity through mastery of the technical skills needed to become effective professionals, to create an environment that fosters the exploration of diverse perspectives and to encourage students to use skills and resources to serve society.

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degrees we offer

Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts

Our program is a unique blend of theory-driven and experienced-based classes where students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in infinite career opportunities. Many of our students go on to work as writers, producers, directors, editors, public relations specialists, videographers, filmmakers, broadcast journalists, on-screen talent, event planners, social media specialists, teachers, web specialists, bilingual journalists, among others.

Undergraduate Degree Plans

Media & Culture

Multimedia

Strategic & Corporate Communication

ABM Degree Plans

Visit the link below.

Master of Arts in Communication Arts

Students in our graduate program complete four core courses, as well as a sequence of elective courses that are designed around individual student’s intellectual and professional goals. As a culminating project, students opt to complete either a capstone project or master’s thesis. Our graduate students gain knowledge and skills to become professional communicators, enter the media industry, and some even go on to teach at the secondary or college level.

Graduate Degree Plans

Visit the link below.

Meet the Faculty

Dr. Trey Guinn | Program Director
Dr. Guinn is Associate Professor and Program Director of Communication Arts. His teaching, research, and professional work is primarily focused on enhancing presentational effectiveness and human relationships. His work has been published in numerous journals, including: Communication Quarterly, Communication Research, Health Communication, Personal Relationships, and more. His recently published books are Adventures in Adulting and Enhancing Presentational Effectiveness. Guinn is president of the San Antonio Fulbright Association and an active board member for the national organization. He writes for and serves on the editorial board of The Department Chair.
Dr. Raymond Blanton | Assistant Professor
His research interests include the mythology of the road in twentieth-century American culture, the Delta blues, the American civil rights movement and the parabolic discourse of Martin Luther King, Jr., working class experience, millennial culture, loyalty and leadership, public memory, and the cinema. He has been recognized with a Top Paper award for research as well as numerous teaching awards.
Dr. Darlene Carbajal | Assistant Professor
Her research interests include learning about the role of spirituality in higher education and the pedagogical and mentoring approaches that faculty members use to facilitate the spiritual development of students. Dr. Carbajal’s teaching methods include helping students make connections between their interest in communications to their role and responsibility to communicate messages that enhance human connectedness.
Dr. Dora Fitzgerald | Associate Professor
Prior to joining the faculty at UIW, Dora Fitzgerald was a producer and executive producer for 10 years at a small television station. Her professional interests center on visual media. Her personal interests center on the arts, and she is an avid student of film, especially how culture represents itself on screen, past and present, and particularly the representation of minority groups.
Dr. Hsin-I (Steve) Liu | Professor
Hsin-I’s research interests are critical cultural/media studies, philosophy of communication and social theories. He has made conference presentations at Academia Sinica, the Association for Cultural Studies, Beijing Forum, International Association for Media and Communication Research, International Communication Association, International Congress for Aesthetics, International Symposium on Bilingualism, National Communication Association, World Congress of Philosophy, and other national and international conferences.
Michael Mercer | Senior Instructor
A native of Jackson, Tennessee, began his professional career in 1974 with The Jackson Sun, a daily newspaper, and remained there until 1994, serving in a variety of roles during that tenure including reporter, copy editor, assistant news editor, assistant city editor, reader services editor and a columnist.
Theresa Coronado | Instructor/Advisor
Theresa Coronado is an award-winning producer and director with over 15 years of video production experience. She serves as the faculty advisor for UIWtv, (internet television station), and KUIW, the internet radio station. Theresa has produced local and national television segments including PBS' investigative journalism series, Frontline. Her students impact her life and she strives to impact theirs.
Dr. Zazil Reyes García | Associate Professor
As a native Yucatecan living in Texas, Dr. Zazil Reyes García recognizes the importance of working across borders and cultures. Her research interests are broadly located at the intersection of Latina/o/x studies, women’s and gender studies, and media and popular culture. Dr. Reyes García’s work in political cartoons and visual rhetoric has been featured in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Communication and in the edited volumes Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation, and Latina/o/x Communication Studies: Theories, Methods, and Practice. Her research has received several Top Paper awards at the National Communication Association (NCA) Convention. Before joining UIW, Dr. Reyes García taught Spanish at UT-Austin, and communication courses at Tec de Monterrey in Guadalajara, Mexico.