Johanna Cleary
- Teaches:
- Investigative Journalism,
Mass Communication and Society - Research:
- Newsroom
management, diversity and development - Home state:
- Alabama
- Bachelor’s:
- University of Alabama,
Print Journalism - Master’s:
- University of Alabama
- Doctorate:
- University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
- Hobbies:
- Sailing, the beach, traveling
and reading - Facts:
- UF was her first choice for
undergrad, and even though she ended up at UA, she thought she’d transfer; she was news director and reporter for 16 years at a public TV station in Alabama
fab four
New faculty bond despite teaching in different fields
By Kelley-Anne Suarez
As Johanna Cleary clicks on the day’s PowerPoint presentation, an enemy in the ranks distracts her. “Wake Forest?” she asks, motioning toward telecommunication junior Roxanna Haynes’ sweatshirt.
They laugh and talk of rivalries for a few moments until Cleary, who received her Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, greets her Investigative Journalism class and commences lecture.
Cleary, a “beach bum” who researches newsroom management and diversity development, joined advertising specialist Hyojin Kim, public relations professional Jennifer Robinson and journalist Cory Armstrong as new faculty members this school year. Kim arrived in January, while the others started in August.
Cory Armstrong
- Teaches:
- Fact Finding, Reporting lab
- Research:
- Gender representation and influences on news content
- Home state:
- Ohio
- Bachelor’s:
- Miami University-Ohio, Journalism
- Master’s and doctorate:
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Hangout:
- 43rd Street Deli
- Hobbies:
- Reading, golf, dreaming of an office with a window
Despite teaching in different fields, the “newbies,” as they refer to themselves, lean on each other, Cleary said. They do lunch. They go on girls’ night out. Earlier this month, they headed to the Phillips Center to hear author David Sedaris. And when they have a few free minutes, they find time for each other.
“You have to go to somebody,” says Armstrong, who traded in her reporter’s notebook five years ago to attain her master’s and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So we muddle our way through this together.”
Although she misses the energy a newsroom generates on election night, those sparse moments failed to sustain her. She needed a new challenge. She funnels her passion for journalism into two venues: her research on gender representation and influences on news content and the classroom.
“Her enthusiasm is contagious,” says journalism senior Meredith Jean Morton, who took Armstrong’s class this past fall.
Armstrong’s love of public affairs reporting brought the course to life, Morton says.
Jennifer Robinson
- Teaches:
- Public Relations Writing and Strategy
- Research:
- Risk/crisis communication about science or public health issues; non-profit and activist group public relation Hometown :Perth, Australia
- Bachelor’s:
- Australian National University, Psychology
- Master’s:
- University of Alabama, Telecommunication and Film; and the Australian National University, Graduate Diploma in Science Communication
- Doctorate:
- University of Alabama,
Mass Communication Theory, Processes and Effects - Books:
- Leadership and the New Science, by Margaret J. Wheatley; A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle; Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkein
- Hangout:
- Any coffee shop downtown; the Hippodrome
- Hobbies:
- Tennis, piano, travel, and reading in the Florida sun
Robinson, a karate black belt and self-proclaimed science-geek, says she sees how the College’s departmental lines blur to form one communications family.
On this day, Armstrong visits Robinson, who studies risk communication, asking, “Did you get your sleep last night?” The women laugh and catch up before the visitor heads back around the corner to her office.
Casual encounters such as walks to the car or coffee at their desks often become bonding experiences that bolster the women as they navigate their new environment, Robinson said.
Robinson, Armstrong’s yoga partner, notes it’s rare for an R1 (research one) university to stress professional experience, crucial in communications.
Hyojin Kim
- Teaches:
- Advertising Research
- Hometown:
- Seoul, Korea
- Bachelor’s:
- Ewha Womans University, English Language and Literature
- Master’s and Doctorate:
- The University of Texas at Austin, Advertising
Hobby: Spending time with family - Fact:
- Worked as a computer
programmer before returning to school to study advertising
“If we’ve been in the work world, we know what’s real and what’s not,” she says. “Balance is important, and if you don’t love both [professional and academic experience], you won’t be at a school like this.”
Though Kim programmed computers out of college, teaching’s been her career goal since attending high school in Korea, she said.
Cleary is one of nine teachers in her family.
“It runs in our blood,” she said, pointing to a picture of a smiling woman in a blue shirt and khakis, her grandmother.
She recalls lunching with her grandmother, “Ms. Mary,” in Huntsville, Ala., all the while students coming up to greet their former teacher with a smile.
