2024 Executive Board

President

2024

Robert Albrecht

Robert Albrecht, New Jersey City University

Robert Albrecht is professor in the Media Arts Department at New Jersey City University in Jersey City, New Jersey. He received his doctorate in Media Ecology at New York University and has published numerous articles relating to the role of music and the arts in education and culture.

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His book, Mediating the Muse: A Communications Approach to Music, Media and Cultural Change (2004, Hampton Press) is an ethnographic examination of the impact of electronic technology upon the music environment of a small town in the interior of Brazil. His most recent book, The Arts and Play as Educational Media in the Digital Age (2020, Peter Lang Publishers), was honored by the Media Ecology Association with the Susanne Langer Award. The book, co-authored with Carmine Tabone, outlines how hands on experiences in the arts and interactive, face-to-face forms of play can be implemented to counterbalance the massive influence of digital media in the lives of children.

Vice President

2024

Heather M. Stassen

Heather M. Stassen, Daemen University

Heather Stassen is the Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education at Daemen University in Amherst, NY. She earned a PhD from Ohio University in Communication Studies with a primary concentration in Rhetoric and Public Culture. Her research interests are at the intersection of rhetoric, public opinion, interpersonal communication, and controversy. Heather currently serves on the Executive Council of the New York State Communication Association where she is also a past president.

Vice President Elect

2024

Laura Trujillo-Liñán

Laura Trujillo-Liñán, Universidad Panamericana

Laura Trujillo-Liñán is a professor/researcher of Philosophy, Humanities and Media at Universidad Panamericana, Head of the Universidad Panamericana Open University, she is a trustee of the Institute of General Semantics, member of the Media Ecology Association, Asociación Filosófica de México (AFM), member of the National Research System in Mexico, City (SNI) and of the International Communication Association (ICA).

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She has a BA and MA in Philosophy. She also received his PhD in History of Thought at Universidad Panamericana with a work about the Formal Cause in Marshall McLuhan and Aristotle. She is the recipient of the Media Ecology Association’s Marshall McLuhan Award for Outstanding Book for Formal Cause in Marshall McLuhan’s Thinking: An Aristotelian Perspective. She is the author of several articles and book chapters on topics related to Marshall McLuhan, Aristotle, metaphysics, ethics and media.

Treasurer

2023–2025

Paul A. Soukup, S.J.

Paul A. Soukup, S.J., Santa Clara University
https://www.scu.edu/cas/communication/faculty/paul-soukup-sj/

Paul A. Soukup, S.J., has worked with media ecology for over 15 years and presently serves as Treasurer of the Media Ecology Association. His academic interests include…

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…orality and literacy studies and the intersection of communication and theology. He and Thomas J. Farrell have edited four volumes of the collected works of Walter J. Ong, S.J., Faith and Contexts (1992-1999) as well as An Ong Reader (2002), a collection geared towards communication study. Most recently, he and Farrell have edited a collection of essays applying Ong’s thought to media ecology, Of Ong & Media Ecology: Essays in Communication, Composition, and Literary Studies (2012). Other publications include Communication and Theology (1983); Christian Communication: A Bibliographical Survey (1989), Media, Culture, and Catholicism (1996), Mass Media and the Moral Imagination with Philip J. Rossi (1994), and Fidelity and Translation: Communicating the Bible in New Media with Robert Hodgson (1999). This latter publication grows out of his work on the American Bible Society’s New Media Bible. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (Ph.D., 1985), Soukup teaches in the Communication Department at Santa Clara University. Fr. Soukup has served on the Board of Trustees of the American Bible Society and holds membership in the Religious Communication Association and the National Communication Association, as well as the Media Ecology Association.

Recording Secretary

2024

Jaqueline McLeod Rogers

Jaqueline McLeod Rogers, University of Winnipeg

I’m a Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communication at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba (Canada), where I teach courses about place, professional writing and style, non-fiction writing, and academic/scholarly writing. I have a manuscript awaiting publication, McLuhan at Mid-Century: Crises Then as Now (for Peter Lang) and recently published McLuhan’s Techno-Sensorium City: Coming to our Senses in a Programmed Environment (Lexington 2021)—a book recognized by the Media Ecology Association with The Lewis Mumford Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Ecology of Technics (2021).

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My article “Susanne Langer, Marshall McLuhan and Media Ecology: Feminist Principles in Humanist Projects” received The Walter Benjamin Award for Outstanding Article (2022) and, in another nod to feminist studies, I co-edited Parenting/Internet/Kids: Domesticating Technologies (Demeter Press 2022). I have served on the MEA Board as a member-at-large and look forward rejoining this working group.

Executive Secretary

2022–2024

Fernando Gutiérrez

Fernando Gutiérrez, Tecnológico de Monterrey
http://sitios.itesm.mx/ehe/facultad/figutierrez.htm

Fernando Gutiérrez (Mexico) is the head of the Division of Humanities and Education at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (State of Mexico Campus). He earned a PhD in…

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…Design and Data Visualization from The Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM). In October 2008 he was distinguished with the “Gunther Saupe” award, granted by the CICOM (Confederation of the Marketing Communication Industry in Mexico). Four years after, he was recognized with the 2012 FIMPES research prize. In May 2014, he received the Innovation Award from the Monterrey Institute of Technology (State of Mexico Campus). Fernando is an author of several titles about media and information technologies; and part of the National System of Researchers in Mexico. His interest focuses on the exploration of different media environments. For more information visit his personal page: http://www.fergut.com.

Historian

2022–2024

Susan Drucker

Susan Drucker, Hofstra University

Susan J. Drucker (Juris Doctor, St. John’s University) is a Distinguished Professor of Journalism in the Department of Journalism/Media Studies, School of Communication, Hofstra University.

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She is an attorney, and treasurer of the Urban Communication Foundation. She is the author and editor of 13 books and over 150 articles and book chapters including two volumes of the Urban Communication Reader, Regulating Convergence (Lang, 2010), Voices in the Street: Gender, Media and Public Space and two editions of Real Law @ Virtual Space: The Regulation of Cyberspace (1999, 2005), Regulating Social Media: Legal and Ethical Consideration (2013) with Gary Gumpert. She co-edited Urban Communication Regulations: Communication Freedoms and Limits (Lang, 2018). Her latest book is Fake News: Real Issues in Modern Communication with Russell Chun (Lang. 2020). She received the Walter J. Ong Award for Career Achievement in Scholarship from MEA in 2018. Her work examines the relationship between media technology and human factors, particularly as viewed from a legal perspective.

Internet Officer

2024–2026

Matt Thomas

Matt Thomas, Coe College

Originally from Seattle, Matt Thomas did his undergraduate work at the University of Southern California and his graduate work at the University of Iowa, where he got his PhD in American Studies. His interests lie…

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…at the intersection of American Studies and media ecology. His work has appeared in a variety of venues, both academic and popular. He currently lives in Iowa City, IA.

EME Editor-in-Chief

2023–2025

Peggy Cassidy

Peggy Cassidy, Adelphi University
https://www.adelphi.edu/faculty/profiles/profile.php?PID=0132

Margaret Cassidy is Professor and Chair of the Communications Department at Adelphi University. A graduate of the Media Ecology Ph.D. program, she is the author of…

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BookEnds: The Changing Media Environment of American Classrooms (Hampton Press, 2003) and Children, Media, and American History: Printed Poison, Pernicious Stuff, and Other Terrible Temptations (Routledge, 2018).

Awards Coordinator

2023–2025

Lance Strate

Lance Strate, Fordham University
http://lancestrate.net

Lance Strate is Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. He is one of the founders of the Media Ecology Association, and served as the MEA’s first president for over a decade; he also…

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…launched the MEA’s journal, Explorations in Media Ecology, serving as EME’s co-editor and editor for its first six years of publication, returning for another 3-year term in 2017. Additionally, he is a trustee and former executive director of the Institute of General Semantics, president of the New York Society for General Semantics, past president of the New York State Communication Association, and was the Harron Family Endowed Chair in Communication at Villanova University in 2015, and was given an honorary appointment as Chair Professor at Henan University in Kaifeng, China in 2016.

He received his PhD D in Media Ecology at New York University studying with Neil Postman. He is the author of several scholarly works, including Echoes and Reflections: On Media Ecology as a Field of Study; On the Binding Biases of Time and Other Essays on General Semantics and Media Ecology; Amazing Ourselves to Death: Neil Postman’s Brave New World Revisited; 麦克卢汉与媒介生态学, an original collection of essays published in Mandarin translation under the title, McLuhan and Media Ecology; and Media Ecology: An Approach to Understanding the Human Condition. He is also a published poet, and author of the poetry collection, Thunder at Darwin Station. Additionally, he has co-edited a number of anthologies, including two editions of Communication and Cyberspace: Social Interaction in an Electronic Environment; Critical Studies in Media Commercialism; The Legacy of McLuhan; Korzybski and…; The Medium is the Muse: Channeling Marshall McLuhan; La Comprensión de los Medios en la Era Digital: Un Nuevo Análisis de la Obra de Marshall McLuhan; and Taking Up McLuhan’s Cause: Perspectives on Media and Formal Causality.

He is the recipient of the Media Ecology Association’s Walter J. Ong Award for Career Achievement in Scholarship, and the Marshall McLuhan Award for Outstanding Book, for Media Ecology: An Approach to Understanding the Human Condition. He also received the New York State Communication Association’s John F. Wilson Fellow Award in recognition for exceptional scholarship, leadership, and dedication to the field of communication, and NYSCA’s Neil Postman Mentor Award, as well as the Eastern Communication Association’s Distinguished Research Fellow Award. Translations of his writing have appeared in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Hebrew, Mandarin, and Quenya.

Newsletter Editor

2024

Austin D. Hestdalen

Austin D. Hestdalen, Purdue University Northwest

Austin is a teacher-scholar of urban communication whose work examines the ethical implications digital technologies have for how individuals and institutions negotiate meaningful experiences of life lived together in cities.

At-Large Member

2022–2024

Julia Hildebrand

Julia Hildebrand, Eckerd College
https://drexel.edu/coas/academics/graduate-programs/communication-culture-media/graduate-students/Hildebrand-Julia/

Originally from Germany, Dr. Julia M. Hildebrand is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Eckerd College, Florida. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication, Culture, and Media from Drexel University. Her research…

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…combines media ecology with critical mobilities research and human geography. For her interdisciplinary dissertation, she explored the biases and effects of consumer drones as mobile media. She has published in such journals as Explorations in Media Ecology, Media, Culture & Society, Digital Culture & Society, and Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies.

In her role as MEA At-Large Member, she brings both the keen interest in promoting, sustaining, and expanding media ecology as an intellectual tradition as well as the organizational experience for effectively contributing to the Media Ecology Association. In her three years as Executive Secretary of the International Association for the History of Traffic, Transport, and Mobility, she was not only responsible for managing memberships, journal subscriptions, website content, and elections, but also helped organize three international conferences in Italy, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. At MEA, she is assisting with updates to the association homepage and serves in the Strategic Committee for Evaluating and Acting on Association Public Relations Efforts.

At-Large Member

2023–2025

Jeff Bogaczyk

Jeff Bogaczyk, Christian Life School

Dr. Jeff Bogaczyk currently serves as the Head of School for Christian Life School in Kenosha, WI. He completed his undergraduate degree at North Central University in Minneapolis, MN and later received a Master of Arts in Leadership and Liberal Studies and then a Ph.D. in Rhetoric, both from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.

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His research interests are in interpersonal and organizational communication and media ecology, particularly in the area of education. For the past 8 years, he has served in educational leadership and he currently serves as the book review editor for Explorations in Media Ecology, as the liaison for MEA with the Eastern Communication Association, and as the newsletter editor for In Media Res, the official newsletter of the Media Ecology Association. As a hobby, he hosts a podcast and a blog, Mind For Life, where he explores leadership, personal development, entrepreneurship, human psychology, and media ecology.

At-Large Member

2024–2026

Tiffany Gilliam

Tiffany Gilliam, Duquesne University

Tiffany thinks a lot about artistic influence on human worth and individual creative consciousness as a Phd Student at Duquesne University. She is a wholly tactile, mixed-media artist that accomplished her undergraduate and graduate Communication + Fine Art education with the University of Texas at Tyler.

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In 2023, the Institute of General Semantics awarded her the Christine L. Nystrom Prize for outstanding scholarship in the form of a paper on the topic of symbols and meaning - and only talks about herself in the third person when asked nicely.

Immediate Past President

2024

Mike Plugh

Michael Plugh, Manhattan College
http://lattes.cnpq.br/8424786953911830

Michael Plugh is Associate Professor of Communication at Manhattan College. He is Past-President of the New York State Communication Association, current President of the New York Society for General Semantics, Trustee of the Institute of General Semantics, and currently serves as President of the Media Ecology Association. Mike’s research interests include media ecology and general semantics, particularly in the area of education.

Advisory Council

  • Janet Sternberg – Independent Scholar
  • James C. Morrison – Independent Scholar
  • Thomas F. Gencarelli – Manhattan College
  • Corey Anton – Grand Valley State University
  • Phil Rose – Independent Scholar
  • Karen Lollar – Metropolitan State University of Denver
  • Brett Lunceford – Independent Scholar
  • Ed Tywoniak – St. Mary’s College of California
  • Paul Grosswiler – University of Maine
  • Paolo Granata - University of Toronto
  • Adriana Braga - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

Liaisons

  • Liaison to NCA: Austin D. Hestdalen – Purdue University Northwest
  • Liaison to ECA: Austin D. Hestdalen – Purdue University Northwest
  • Liaison to ICA: Thomas F. Gencarelli – Manhattan College
  • Liaison to CCA: Ellen Rose – University of New Brunswick, Fredericton

Past Convention Coordinators

  • Robert Albrecht - Fordham University (2023)
  • Adriana Braga - PUC-Rio (2022)
  • Adriana Braga - PUC-Rio/virtual (2021)
  • Peggy Cassidy - Adelphi University/virtual (2020)
  • Paolo Granata - University of Toronto (2019)
  • Paul Grosswiler – University of Maine (2018)
  • Ed Tywoniak – St. Mary’s College of California (2017)
  • Brett Lunceford – Independent Scholar (2016)
  • Paolo Granata – University of Bologna (2016)
  • Elena Lamberti – University of Bologna (2016)
  • Karen Lollar – Metropolitan State University of Denver (2015)
  • Phil Rose – York University (2014)
  • Corey Anton and Valerie V. Peterson – Grand Valley State University (2013)
  • Thomas F. Gencarelli – Manhattan College (2012)
  • Marco Adria – University Of Alberta, Edmonton (2011)
  • Catherine Adams – University Of Alberta, Edmonton (2011)
  • Paul Grosswiler – University of Maine (2010)
  • Ellen Rose – University of New Brunswick, Fredericton (2010)
  • Sara van den Berg – Saint Louis University (2009)
  • Paul A. Soukup, SJ – Santa Clara University (2009)
  • Paul A. Soukup, SJ – Santa Clara University (2008)
  • Anne Pym – California State University, East Bay (2008)
  • Thomas F. Gencarelli – Montclair State University (2007)
  • Fernando Gutiérrez – Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México (2007)
  • James C. Morrison – Emerson College (2006)
  • Donald A. Fishman – Boston College (2006)
  • Janet Sternberg – Fordham University (2005)
  • Lance Strate – Fordham University (2005)
  • Susan B. Barnes – Rochester Institute of Technology (2004)
  • Susan J. Drucker – Hofstra University (2003)
  • Barbara M. Kelly – Hofstra University (2003)
  • David Linton – Marymount Manhattan College (2002)
  • Laura Tropp – Marymount Manhattan College (2002)
  • Janet Sternberg – New York University (2001)
  • Paul Levinson – Fordham University (2000)

Editor, Explorations in Media Ecology

  • Peggy Cassidy – Adelphi University (2023–2025)

Past Editors

  • Ernest Hakanen – Drexel University (2020–2022)
  • Lance Strate – Fordham University (2017–2019)
  • Paul Grosswiler – University of Maine, Orono (2012–2016)
  • Paul Grosswiler – University of Maine, Orono + Peter K. Fallon – Roosevelt University (2011)
  • Corey Anton – Grand Valley State University (2008–2010)
  • Lance Strate – Fordham University (2005–2007)
  • Lance Strate – Fordham University + Judith Yaross Lee – Ohio University (2002–2004)

Past Editors, Proceedings

  • Catherine Adams – University of Alberta, Edmonton (2011)
  • Ellen Rose – University of New Brunswick, Fredericton (2010)
  • Paul A. Soukup, SJ – University of Santa Clara (2009)
  • Anne Pym – California State University, East Bay (2008)
  • Robert Albrecht – New Jersey City University (2007)
  • Steven Reagles – Bethany Lutheran College (2006)
  • James C. Morrison – Babson College (2006)
  • Anthony Kelso – Iona College (2005)
  • Arthur W. Hunt, III – Geneva College (2004)
  • Brian Cogan – Molloy College (2003)
  • Margot Hardenbergh – Fordham University (2002)
  • Donna Flayhan – Goucher College (2001)
  • Janet Sternberg – New York University (2000)
  • Mark Lipton – Vassar College (2000)

Editor, In Medias Res

  • Austin D. Hestdalen – Purdue University Northwest

Past Editors

  • Jeff Bogaczyk – Christian Life School (2022)
  • Rachel Armamentos – Fordham University (2020–2021)
  • Scott Church – Brigham Young University (2018–2019)
  • Edward Tywoniak – St. Mary’s College of California
  • Stephanie Gibson – University of Baltimore (2009)
  • Stephanie Bennett – Palm Beach Atlantic University (2008–2009)
  • Paul A. Soukup, SJ – Santa Clara University (2005–2007)
  • Raymond Gozzi, Jr. – Ithaca College (2000–2004)
  • Casey Man Kong Lum – William Paterson University (1999–2000)

Awards Officer

  • Lance Strate – Fordham University

Past Awards Officers

  • Brian Cogan – Molloy College (2012–2019)
  • Lance Strate – Fordham University (2000–2012)

Internet Officer

  • Matt Thomas – Kirkwood Community College

Past Internet Officers/Web Editors

  • Carolin Aronis – Colorado State University (2019–2020)
  • Carolin Aronis – Colorado State University + Matt Thomas – Kirkwood Community College (2018)
  • Mike Plugh – Manhattan College (2015–2018)
  • Brett Lunceford – Independent Scholar (2013–2014)
  • Phil Rose – York University (2011–2013)
  • James C. Morrison – Babson College (2009–2011)
  • Roxanne O’Connell – Roger Williams University (2007–2008)
  • James C. Morrison – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2001–2006)

Past Webmasters

  • Arturo Caro Islas – Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México
  • Paul Kelly – XML Team Solutions, Inc. (2001–2008)

Email Discussion List Manager

  • Matt Thomas – Kirkwood Community College

Past Email Discussion List Managers

  • Carolin Aronis – Colorado State University (2018–2020)
  • Mike Plugh – Manhattan College (2015–2018)
  • Brett Lunceford – Independent Scholar (2013–2014)
  • Phil Rose – York University (2012–2013)
  • Janet Sternberg – Fordham University (2003–2011)
  • Stephanie Gibson – University of Baltimore (1997–2002)

Past Presidents

  • Lance Strate – Fordham University (1998–2008)
  • Janet Sternberg – Fordham University (2009–2011)
  • James C. Morrison – Babson College (2012)
  • Thomas F. Gencarelli – Manhattan College (2013)
  • Corey Anton – Grand Valley State University (2014)
  • Phil Rose – York University (2015)
  • Karen Lollar – Metropolitan State University of Denver (2016)
  • Brett Lunceford – Independent Scholar (2017)
  • Ed Tywoniak – St. Mary’s College of California (2018)
  • Paul Grosswiler - University of Maine (2019)
  • Paolo Granata - University of Toronto (2020)
  • Peggy Cassidy - Adelphi University (2021)
  • Adriana Brag – PUC-Rio (2022)
  • Michael Plugh - Manhattan College (2023)

Past Directors

  • Mary Ann Allison – Allison Associates, Inc.
  • Corey Anton – Grand Valley State University
  • Stephanie Bennett – Palm Beach Atlantic University
  • Susan B. Barnes – Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Adriana Braga – Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro
  • Jan Buterman – University of Alberta
  • James W. Carey – Columbia University
  • Susan J. Drucker – Hofstra University
  • Stephanie Gibson – University of Baltimore
  • Raymond Gozzi, Jr. – Ithaca College
  • Robert K. Logan – University of Toronto
  • Casey Man Kong Lum – William Paterson University
  • Neil Postman – New York University
  • Ellen Rose – University of New Brunswick, Fredericton
  • Douglas Rushkoff – New School University
  • Laura Tropp – Marymount Manhattan College

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