Faculty List

Joanne R Gilbert, Ph.D.

Joanne R Gilbert, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor of Communication/New Media Studies
Joined Alma College Faculty in 1994
(989) 463-7054
Office Hours: MW 10:30-12:00, 1:30-2:30, and by appointment

Joanne Gilbert is the Charles A. Dana Professor and Chair of Communication and New Media Studies at Alma College where she teaches courses in Relational Communication, Intercultural Communication, Performance, Humor, and many other areas of the field. She is deeply committed to service learning and often includes student-community interaction in her classes.

Dr. Gilbert’s book, Performing Marginality: Humor, Gender, and Cultural Critique was published by Wayne State University Press in 2004, and has been featured on WCMU Public Television, WGVU Public Radio, KZSC Public Radio, an in The Chronicle of Higher Education and invited presentations at colleges and universities around the country. Her scholarly work on gender and performance-- focusing on the relationship between humor and power, autobiographical and cultural performance, advocacy, and the discourse of marginalized groups-- has appeared in journals and edited volumes such as Text and Performance Quarterly, Modern Rhetorical Criticism, and others.

Dr. Gilbert’s own performance background includes: acting, directing, and performing professional stand-up comedy. Additionally, she is a Communication Consultant to groups and individuals nationwide, providing training in presentational and interpersonal communication skills. She is the recipient of the 2000 Michigan Campus Compact Faculty Staff Community Service-Learning Award, the 2003 Alma College Posey Award for Faculty Excellence, the 2007 Omicron Delta Kappa Faculty Excellence Award, the 2009 Athena Award (given by the Gratiot Area Chamber of Commerce), and the Charles A. Dana Professorship (2010).

Education

  • Ph.D., Communication, The University of Texas at Austin (1994)
  • M.A., Speech Communication, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1986)
  • B.A., English, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1984)

Research Interests

Advocacy, humor, autobiographical and cultural performance, and the discourse of marginalized groups

Recent Courses Taught

  • Performing Advocacy.  COM 123.
  • Gender and Communication.
  • Relational Communication.  COM 201.
  • Intercultural Communication.  COM 220.
  • Seminar in Communication Inquiry.  COM 350.
  • Human Communication: Messages and Meaning.  COM 101.

Directed Student Presentations and Achievements

Selected Book Publications

Selected Articles

  • Joanne R Gilbert.  "Why I Feel Guilty All The Time: Performing Academic Motherhood."  Women’s Studies in Communication.  2008. 31 (2), 203-208

Selected Reviews

  • Joanne R Gilbert, Ph.D..  Review of Just the Funny Bits, by Terry Galloway.  Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies.  2:3, 1-4.  November 2006.

Selected Chapter Book Publications

  • "Texts and Contexts: Performance, Community and Service Learning." In Quick hits for educating citizens, edited by J.L. Perry and S.G. Jones, pp. 53-65. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2006.

Selected Creative Works

Recent Presentations

Awards, Honors, Recognitions

Service to the College

  • Member, Service Learing Task Force
  • Chair, Women's Issues Advisory Board
  • Chair of Communication and New Media Studies Department
  • Chair of Communication and New Media Studies Department
  • Chair, Women's Issues Advisory Board
  • Member, Service Learing Task Force
  • See More...

Service to the Community

  • Board of Directors, Women's Resource Center of MidMichigan
  • Athena Group
  • Service Learning activity with senior citizens at the Michigan Masonic Home
  • Board of Directors, Women's Resource Center of MidMichigan
  • Volunteer Coordinator, Academy of Performing Arts Recital
  • Board of Directors, Women’s Resource Center of MidMichigan
  • See More...

Service to the Profession

  • Member, Performance Studies Division Awards Committee, National Communication Association
  • Editorial Board Member (Peer Review) for Women's Studies in Communication
  • Associate Editor (Peer Review) for Text and Performance Quarterly
  • Associate Editor (Peer Review) for Text and Performance Quarterly
  • Editorial Board Member (Peer Review) for Women's Studies in Communication
  • Member, Performance Studies Division Awards Committee, National Communication Association
  • See More...

 

Alma College graduates have extraordinary placement rates into medical and law schools. Alma’s 84 percent placement rate into medical school compares to a 46.3 percent national average. Alma’s placement rate for law school is 86.9 percent, compared to a 66.8 percent national average.

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Faculty Profile

Prof. Carrie Parks-Kirby

Prof. Carrie Parks-Kirby
Departments: Art and Design

The work of Carrie Parks-Kirby, professor of art and design, reflects an ongoing interest in historical, architectural, and ceramic forms while exploring contemporary themes through personal, often autobiographical, imagery.

“I have felt deeply the influence of figures made for the tombs of ancient Chinese and Japanese nobles: Haniwa courtiers and farmers, Han dwellings and processions, T’ang horses and Q’uin soldiers,” she said. “The eloquent gestures and facial expressions of Mayan and Olmec figures and the serene dignity of Etruscan terra cotta couples never fail to move me.”

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