The School of Communications Design faculty are a diverse group. Ed Gold's book The Business of Graphic Design continues to be one of the leading books in the field. Videographer Julie Simon's films and multimedia productions have won Cine Golden Eagle and Golden Web awards. Arthur Magida's book The Rabbi and the Hitman has been selling like latkes. Virginia Carruthers edits the journal of the College English Association/Mid-Atlantic Group. And poet Kendra Kopelke edits the national literary journal Passager.
School of Communications Design faculty members have received awards from AIGA/The American Institute of Graphic Arts, CASE/The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the Scottish Design Council, the Art Litho Company, AADA, DESI, and AAM/American Museum Publications Competition, among others. In addition to their academic and creative credentials, the School of Communications Design faculty bring significant consulting and client experience with corporate and nonprofit organizations, including The Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Oberlin College; Maryland State Teachers Association, Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore Museum of Art, American Visionary Arts Museum, National Gallery of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Enoch Pratt Library, New York Botanical Gardens; Legg Mason, Provident Bank, British Airways, Rolls Royce, Westinghouse, Baltimore Orioles, PHH Corporation, and Ciba-Geigy.
Augmenting our full-time faculty are several of the area's finest communication professionals. They've written for radio, tv, and print, created websites and multimedia, and designed award-winning image and marketing materials and campaigns for corporate, nonprofit, governmental, and educational institutions.
Together, the School of Communications Design faculty offers its students a wealth of education, scholarship, and real-world experience in all areas of the curriculum, from theory to practice, from writing to design, from print to video to new media.
FULL-TIME FACULTY
Several book references in the following section are linked to Amazon.com in order to provide you with additional information. This in no way constitutes an endorsement of Amazon.com or other book sellers.Jonathan Braucher
Assistant Director of Technology
Jonathan Braucher received his bachelor's degree in Video/Film and Computer Animation from The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). His production experience ranges from independent films and animations to television commercials. Jon's work has been shown in over a dozen video/film festivals.
Kelly Carr
Assistant Lecturer
Professor Carr's research centers primarily on political and legal rhetoric; she has written about topics ranging from presidential speeches and political campaigns to the rhetoric of controversial court cases. She has a master's degree from Florida State University and is completing her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. In a previous life, she was a project manager for a company that produced interactive training materials. She teaches Oral Communication in Business, Communicating Effectively, and Literature and the Law.
Virginia Carruthers
Associate Professor
Professor Carruthers, who holds a Ph.D. from Duke University, is a specialist in Shakespeare and in Australian literature and film. She is currently editor of CEAMAGazine, the journal of the College English Association, Middle Atlantic Group, and associate editor of Deus Loci: The Lawrence Durrell Journal. Ginny teaches Shakespeare, Words & Images, and a variety of other undergraduate and graduate literature and writing courses, and also directs the B.A in English.
Jane Delury
Assistant Professor
Jane Delury's stories have appeared in literary journals including StoryQuarterly, The Sun Magazine, and Prairie Schooner and have been nominated for Best New American Voices and The Pushcart Prize. She is a recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council and holds an M.A. from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Delury teaches undergraduate and graduate creative writing and publishing courses. Click here to read her story, "Eclipse."
Peter Fitz
Assistant Professor
With degrees from M.I.T. and The Johns Hopkins University, Professor Fitz combines interests in computer technology and 18th century literature and art. He designs computer software programs and serves as a consultant in desktop publishing systems and other computer applications. Peter teaches the graduate Words & Images course and undergraduate courses in literature and criticism.
Roger Friskey
Assistant Professor
A former television reporter and anchor, public relations manager and spokesperson for major corporations and nonprofits, and corporate communications consultant, Professor Friskey teaches a variety of graduate and undergraduate professional writing courses, including Argument & Persuasion and Editorial Style. Roger received his M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University.
Stephanie Gibson
Associate Professor
Professor Gibson received her Ph.D. in Media Ecology from New York University where she worked with world-renowned communications theorist Neil Postman. She co-edited two books: Communication and Cyberspace: Social Interaction in an Electronic Environment, now in its second edition; and The Emerging Cyberculture: Literacy, Paradigm and Paradox. She serves on the board of directors of the Media Ecology Association and Maryland Citizens Against State Executions and is active in the Baltimore social justice community. In addition to directing the M.A. in Publications Design, Stephanie teaches Media Literacy, various other undergraduate communication courses, and the foundation and capstone courses in the Publications Design program.
Ed Gold
Professor
Professor Gold, an alumnus of the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and winner of more than 400 awards for excellence in graphic design, is co-director of the School of Communications Design, director of the School's Ampersand Institute for Words and Images, and director of the MFA in Integrated Design. For many years Creative Director at the Barton-Gillet Company, a nationally renowned communications and marketing firm, he is the author of The Business of Graphic Design, cited by Critique magazine as one of the "greatest books on design ever written." Ed teaches Theory of Visual Communication, Design-Business Link, and other advanced theoretical and applied design courses.
Chris Justice
Lecturer / Director of Expository Writing
Before UB, Professor Justice taught English in a middle school, high school, and community college. He has worked as a journalist and technical writer and editor and continues to publish as a freelance writer; his work covers a range of topics including writing, fishing, film history, journalism, and travel. His column, "The Tackle Box," explores the sport of fishing and its impact on popular culture. Slow Trains Literary Journal recently published his short story, "Fleischer". A staff writer for Classic-Horror and frequent contributor to the Australian-based Senses of Cinema, he recently completed book chapters about directors Edgar G. Ulmer (McFarland Press) and Michael Haneke (Wallflower Press). Chris earned a master's degree in modern studies from Loyola College, a bachelor's in English from Rutgers University, and certificates from the University of New Mexico and University of Massachusetts Amherst. He serves as the university's Director of Expository Writing.
Kendra Kopelke
Associate Professor
Director of the MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts, Professor Kopelke is the author of two collections of poems: Eager Street, published by Stonevale Press, and Carpe Diem, Ants, published by Seedbed of Irony Press. She is one of three writers whose work is included in When Divas Dance, published by Maisonneuve Press. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, including The Georgia Review, The Antioch Review, and Partisan Review, and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She holds an M.A. from The Writing Seminars at The Johns Hopkins University and is the founding editor of Passager, a literary journal featuring the work of older writers. In 2001, Kendra was designated "Baltimore's Best Poet" by Baltimore Magazine. She has held the Rose Lectureship in Poe Studies and currently holds the Klein Professorship in Literature and Creative Writing. She teaches Creativity: Ways of Seeing, The Lyric Spirit, and Seminar in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts, as well as other classes in creative writing, literature, and publishing.
She is currently working on a series of poems, Hopper's Women, based on the paintings of Edward Hopper. Read "Western Motel" from this series.
Arthur Magida
Writer in Residence
Professor Magida's books include Opening the Doors of Wonder: Reflections on Religious Rites of Passage, The Rabbi and the Hitman—the true story of a New Jersey rabbi given life imprisonment for killing his wife, Prophet of Rage: A Life of Louis Farrakhan and His Nation, How To Be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People's Religious Ceremonies, and The Environment Committees, a study of environmental politics commissioned by Ralph Nader. He has held editorial positions with Jewish Lights Publishing and the Baltimore Jewish Times. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Houston Chronicle, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and many other newspapers, as well as the on-line religion magazine, Beliefnet.com. He has appeared on "Dateline," the "CBS Early Show," Court TV, "The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour," ABC's "World News Tonight," C-Span's "Booknotes," and NPR's "Morning Edition." Among the courses that Arthur teaches are The Craft of Popularization and Literary Nonfiction.
Stephen Matanle
Associate Professor
Professor Matanle holds an M.A. from the Writing Seminars at The Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. from American University. His short fiction has appeared in various literary journals, including the Chicago Review and The Georgia Review, and was twice cited for distinction in the Best American Short Stories annuals. His poems have appeared in Poetry, The Quarterly, Passager Brilliant Corners: A Journal of Jazz and Literature, and The Cortland Review. He has also published criticism on the fiction of William Gaddis. Professor Matanle has held the Rose Lectureship in Poe Studies and the Klein Professorship in Writing and Literature. Steve teaches undergrad and graduate courses in creative writing, American literature, and film studies.
As part of the Fall 2007 Reading Series, Professor Matanle read from his sequence of poems, The Black Notebook. Read excerpts from this sequence.
Daniel Page
Academic Program Coordinator
Dr. Page holds a Ph.D. in music history and literature from Brandeis, an MFA from Brandeis, and a BA from Bates College. His dissertation was about church music in Tudor England. He's been a teacher and an academic dean. He's an organist and conductor of choral music. In his spare time, he teaches a range of fine arts courses. He brings his knowledge of the liberal arts, his artistic sensitivity, and his administrative pragmatism to his job as academic advisor for the School of Communications Design.
David Patschke
Director of Technology
Mr. Patschke holds two degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University. He has experience in electronic music, audio/video production and engineering, computer-based design and composition, and software programming. Dave oversees the School of Communications Design's graphics, media and multimedia production labs and teaches Computer Graphics and other technology courses.
Amy Pointer
Instructor
Professor Pointer, who received an M.A. from the publications design program, has been working as a design consultant for more than a decade. She has an international client base that has included GMAC, Hershey, The Johns Hopkins University, Human Rights Campaign and USDA. Amy teaches Typography, Electronic Design, and various other undergraduate and graduate graphic design and hypermedia courses.
Jonathan Shorr
Associate Professor
Chair of the Division of English and Communications Design and director of the School of Communications Design, Professor Shorr is a scriptwriter and consultant on media matters. He has won awards for his short fiction and radio drama. Jon holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and teaches Screenwriting, Media Design, Modern Drama, and a wide variety of other undergraduate and graduate writing and media analysis courses.
Julie Simon
Associate Professor
Professor Simon directs the B.S. in Corporate Communication. Her own work often crosses traditional boundaries. An MFA graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, her most recent work manipulates words and images in interactive environments including the Internet, DVD, and in sculpture. Over the past 25 years, her film/video and photography works have been exhibited on national television, hung in art galleries and museums, and won a number of prestigious awards including a 1998 CINE. Among the repertoire of courses that Julie teaches are Video and Multimedia Production, Project Management, and Women in Film.
Bert Smith
Associate Professor
Professor Smith is a graphic designer who has worked in print and television in Baltimore and elsewhere for over 30 years. A Publications Design graduate with a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, he designed the first television news graphics for the Baltimore market while at WJZ-TV. His illustration, design and typography have won awards from the New York Art Directors Club, Print Magazine, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Graphic Design: USA, and the Printing Industries of America. An illustrator, design historian, and postcard collector, he is perhaps best known for incorporating many of his 4,000 antique postcards in the three books about Baltimore and Maryland that he wrote, designed, and produced for the Johns Hopkins University Press. Bert teaches Words & Images, Getting It Printed, Book Design, and other courses in graphic design, design history, and print production. You can learn more about Professor Smith on his Web site.
Sarah Joy Verville
Assistant Professor
Professor Verville holds an MFA from MICA/The Maryland Institute College of Art and a B.A. from Marymount University. A freelance graphic designer and former art director with Rosenthal Partners in Bethesda, MD, her clients included The International Spy Museum, Sunrise Senior Living, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Her work won seven Addy awards from the Ad Club of Metropolitan Washington and has been featured in Print magazine. Sarah teaches undergraduate and graduate print, web, and motion graphics courses.
Marion Winik
Visiting Assistant Professor
Marion Winik is the author of six books, the most famous of which is the memoir First Comes Love. She has written for many magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, National Geographic Traveler, Reader's Digest, Redbook, Utne Reader, and Playgirl. Her commentary appears on National Public Radio's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. She holds an MFA in creative writing from CUNY/Brooklyn College and a bachelor's degree in history and semiotics from Brown University. Professor Winik teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate creative and professional writing courses. You can learn more about Marion on NPR's Web site, and on www.marionwinik.com.
Betsy Yarrison
Assistant Professor
Professor Yarrison has written textbooks about technical and business writing and serves as a publications and proposal writing consultant to several nonprofit organizations in the Baltimore-Washington area. Her current interests include curriculum design for web-enhanced and web-based instruction and the synergy of visual and verbal design in writing for the web. She received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin. Betsy teaches Writing for Managers and Executives, Editorial Style, Language Theory, and other undergraduate literature and professional/technical writing courses.
PART-TIME AND AFFILIATE FACULTY
Max Boam
Before moving to Baltimore from London, England, in 1991, Max Boam was creative director and vice-president at Smithfield Design, where he designed award-winning annual reports and marketing publications for numerous clients including Rolls Royce, Laura Ashley, British Airways, and Glaxo Pharmaceuticals. He joined Johns Hopkins in 2001, where he is currently creative director of publications, and designs case statements, logos, marketing material and newsletters. Prior to that he designed corporate identity pieces for Medstar Health, Legg Mason, Florida State University, the University of Michigan, Gallaudet University and Villanova University. Max, who has a degree in graphic design from Westminster University in England, teaches Typography, Seminar in Graphic Design, and Words & Images.
Susan Flinkman
During the ten years that Susan Flinkman was its Art Director, The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore received numerous awards from Maryland PRSA (Public Relations Society of America), the AMA (American Marketing Association) and APEX (Awards for Publication Excellence.) Susan holds a B.S. in Corporate Communication and an M.A. in Publications Design from the University of Baltimore and serves on the board of Baltimore's AIGA chapter. She teaches Designer's Survival Guide and Workshop in Graphic Communication.
Mike Gibbons
Mike Gibbons spends his days—and many of his nights—as executive director of the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore, a position he has held since 1983. Under his guidance, the museum expanded into historic Camden Station near Oriole Park. Prior to joining the museum, he worked as creative director at Dutch Boy Paints and as an independent documentary producer. In addition to his museum and UB obligations, Mike serves as chairman of the Greater Baltimore History Alliance, a consortium of 23 local history museums including Fort McHenry and the B&O Railroad Museum, and as a director of the International Association of Sports Museums and Halls of Fame. Mike teaches Writing for the Media.
Crissa Holder Smith
A College of Notre Dame graduate, Crissa formerly worked for the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Baltimore City Schools, where she taught media production, and at UB as the School of Communications Design's assistant director of technologies. She also volunteers at MICA/The Maryland Institute College of Art, where she teaches video production to middle school students. At UB, she teaches various corporate communication courses, including Video Production, Project Management I, and Computer Graphics.
Nancy Kaplan
Professor
Professor Kaplan was an early adopter of computing technology for writing instruction, starting in the days of the mainframe. She directed a computer-intensive freshman composition program at the University of Texas at Dallas in the 1990s. She was one of the developers of PROSE (Prompted Revision of Student Essays), a computer application for writing instruction that won a national award for software design. Director of the College of Liberal Arts' School of Information Arts and Technologies, Nancy, who received her Ph.D. from Cornell University, teaches Information Architecture and Hypermedia courses.
Stuart Moulthrop
Professor
Professor Moulthrop has a Ph.D. from Yale University and has taught at Yale, the University of Texas, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author of Victory Garden, a highly recognized work of hypertext fiction, as well as numerous essays including one included in The Norton Anthology of Criticism and Theory. He has lectured widely in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Electronic Literature Organization and is an Emeritus Editor of the on-line journal Postmodern Culture. Stuart, who directs the School of Information Arts and Technologies' undergraduate program in Simulation and Digital Entertainment, teaches courses in hypermedia, information design, and digital culture.
Theresa Segreti
Before she became director of events, education, and design at the American Visionary Art Museum—"the fun stuff," as she refers to it—Theresa Segreti was art director and senior graphic designer at the Walters Art Museum. And before that, she taught middle and high school English in the Baltimore County Schools. Her freelance design clients have included The Smithsonian Institution, NASA, and the New York Botanical Gardens. She's won over 50 national and international design awards. She holds degrees from Penn State University, The Johns Hopkins University, and University of Baltimore. Theresa teaches Words & Images.
Rick Strittmater
The versatile Rick Strittmater has worked as a creative director, art director, designer, and illustrator in graphic, exhibit, and package design. And he's a musician/songwriter, with three collections of his music out on cd. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, Rick teaches Workshop in Graphic Design and Words & Images.
Kathryn Summers
Associate Professor
Professor Summers received her Ph.D. from Texas Christian University with a specialty in Victorian Literature. In her former position at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, she developed a highly successful program in technical communication for digital media. She is author of the forthcoming Creating Effective Web Sites: Technical Communication and Information Design. A faculty member in the School of Information Arts and Technologies, Kathryn teaches Tolkien, English Fiction, and graduate courses in information architecture and usability.
Peter Toran
Peter Toran has acted, written, and directed for theatre, television, film and opera. He has taught acting both professionally and in university settings and served as artistic director of the Center Theatre Training Center in Chicago. Theatre credits include the Goodman Theatre in Chicago; the Guthrie in Minneapolis; and the Chicago Shakespeare Festival as well as numerous off-Broadway productions. He has directed theatre in the Chicago area and was guest director for the Northwestern University School of Music's production of the Mozart opera Abduction from the Seraglio. He received the 1997 Julie Harris Playwright Award from the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild in Los Angeles for his play The Gambit. Peter teaches Playwriting and Screenwriting.
Dina Wasmer
Dina Wasmer is the President of Incite Creative, Inc., a communications design firm. She has received awards from Print and How magazines, CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education), UCDA (University and College Designers Association), the Advertising Association of Baltimore, Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, and Graphic Design USA. She served on the Board of Directors of The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). Dina teaches Typography and Words & Images.
John Wilson
One of the three members of the Publications Design program's first graduating class (1980), John Wilson is director of publications at Tai Sophia Institute for the Healing Arts. A former assistant art director for Baltimore Magazine, long-time board member of Theater Project, clay and ceramic artist, and Iowa farm boy, John brings to the MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts the pragmatism of a professional designer with the meditative sensibility of an artist. He teaches Creativity: Ways of Seeing and Seminar in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts.
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