Feature: Dr. Jason Munsell, interim department chair of communication and emerging media program
Associate professor Dr. Jason Munsell is acting as interim department chair for the communication and emerging media department. He will take the full position in the fall.
Dr. Munsell earned a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Arkansas in 1993, a master’s degree from the same university in 1995, and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 2000.
Munsell has been teaching at a college level since 2000, beginning his career at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. He taught there until fall 2003, when he moved to Columbia College, rising through the ranks from assistant professor to associate to full professor. In fall 2017, Munsell was hired at USC Aiken as an associate professor, which was unusual for a new hire. He achieved tenure at USC Aiken in 2020.
When discussing the differences between teaching at a private college versus a public college, Munsell said “I think public education is so unbelievably important for our country and I wanted to be at a public university. At a public university, we have a lot of first-generation students, which we didn’t always have (at private universities).”
With a specialization in rhetoric, Munsell studies how speech is interpreted and understood symbolically.
“A lot of folks don’t understand what rhetoric is,” he said, “It just has a bad connotation. From an academic perspective, it is the art of persuasion. Rhetoric is all sort of symbolic communication that helps us create meaning in our lives.” He expressed that rhetoric is a means to instigate social change.
Munsell also addressed challenges faced by the department and the university: “There’s always going to be challenges,” he said, “Learning Blackboard for the transition to online classes, trying my best to do impactful teaching methods. We’re supposed to be doing research and writing and going to conferences. The pandemic made us totally redo classes. Formatting for the hybrid model and fully online model was difficult.” Munsell said he enjoys the online learning option but acknowledges that it is not for every class.
When discussing departmental challenges, Munsell shared “Making sure we hire great faculty (who) are a great fit for our program and that we create a very strong organizational culture for the new hires (is imperative). That always trickles down to what is going on in the classroom.”
He also discussed managing student needs with the Communication program having two separate majors in Communication and Emerging Media. “(It is) an opportunity to have new people with two majors and to manage student needs. There’s a different approach to this type of process. The way you teach online classes are just different than the way you teach (an) in-person class. As we change and as we grow, we’re going to have some growing pains, but things are going to be awesome.”
“Our students are awesome, our majors are great, (and) I really, really love our students. We have great faculty; I’m looking forward to who we bring in for the fall. I’m very optimistic about our future.” He hopes to continue to grow the major, which is currently the largest in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
“Check your email, look at Blackboard, read your syllabus, work hard, and if you ever need me, I’m always around. Go Pacers!” he concluded.
