The Department of Communication welcomes four new faculty members for the 2024-25 academic year. Meet them below.
Kelsey Brod, Assistant Professor of Media Arts
What are you looking forward to about being part of the COMM Department?
“I am looking forward to being a part of a collaborative department with diverse areas of concern and interest.”
Fun fact?
“I play softball on a Durham Parks & Recreation league.”
David Dooling, Assistant Professor of Interpersonal & Organizational Communication
What are you looking forward to about being part of the COMM Department?
“I’m looking forward to learning more from my colleagues in their respective subfields—especially performance studies and media arts!”
Fun fact?
“I love practicing yoga in my free time and working through different cookbooks for weekly meals!”
Irina Kruchinina, Teaching Assistant Professor of Performance Studies
What are you looking forward to about being part of the COMM Department?
As a part of the COMM scholar collective, she hopes to contribute her artistic and educational practices to the departmental community outreach , as well as develop interdisciplinary collaborations as a form of new pedagogy.
Fun fact?
She was raised in Moscow, Russia.
Jesica Speed Wiley, Teaching Assistant Professor of Interpersonal & Organizational Communication
What are you looking forward to about being part of the COMM Department?
“Working with excellent our excellent students and teaching and develop interpersonal and organizational classes that bridge theory and communication practice out in the world. I’m thrilled to have joined the faculty and “come back home” to UNC and our department a decade after wrapping up my PhD here.”
Fun fact?
“I enjoy working with my hands and love a good woodworking, home renovation, sewing, or gardening project. If something is broken, I’ll often end up taking it apart in an attempt to fix it (or at least to learn how it was made and where things went wrong).”