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Welcome
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The University of
Wisconsin-Madison
was one of the first universities to establish
a program in communication, and its Communication Arts
Department has taken a leading role in the development
of the discipline throughout its history. The
department offers a variety of courses focusing on the
principal media and modes of human communication.
Our undergraduate major consists of two tracks: Communication
Science and Rhetorical Studies, and Radio-Television-Film. On
the graduate level, we offer four major areas of study:
Communication Science, Film, Media and Cultural Studies,
and Rhetoric.
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Awards to Communication Arts Faculty
Congratulations to award-winning Communication Arts colleagues Susan Zaeske and Kelley Conway.
Dean Gary Sandefur has announced that Professor Susan Zeaske (pictured at right) was selected to receive a Hamel Family Faculty Fellowship. Ten such awards were made across the College of Letters and Science in a highly competitive review of nominees from all L&S departments. Fellowship winners will receive five years of funding to support research and career development. The award recognizes Professor Zaeske's outstanding career achievements in teaching, research, and service, and the high potential of her future research. The Hamel Family Faculty Fellowships were established through a generous gift to the College from George (BA '80) and Pamela Hamel.
 The Department is also proud to announce that Professor Kelley Conway (pictured at left) has won a 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award in an equally competitive review. Only 8-10 UW-Madison faculty are selected annually for this award from among the University's many outstanding teachers. The award recognizes Professor Conway's exceptional skills in the classroom as well her successful outreach initiatives. For example, Professor Conway has developed an innovative course to teach French cinema to UW students in residence in Paris, and she will be the Resident Director of the study-abroad program in Aix-en-Provence in 2008-09. Professor Conway joins Professors Steve Lucas, JJ Murphy, and Susan Zaeske among current Communication Arts faculty who have won the Distinguished Teaching Award.
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Governor Dreyfus (1926-2008) and Communication Arts
 Former Wisconsin governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus passed away on January 2 at age 81. He is well remembered by Wisconsinites as an enlightened political leader (he signed the state's 1982 gay rights legislation), a successful grassroots campaigner, and a flamboyant public figure sporting a distinctive red vest. Those of us in Communication Arts are proud to recall Governor Dreyfus's special connection to the Department and the University.
Lee Dreyfus earned his BA ('49), MA ('52), and PhD ('57) degrees at UW in the Department of Speech, the earlier incarnation of what is now Communication Arts. After completing his studies he launched successful parallel careers in higher education and broadcasting, teaching at Wayne State University while working in public broadcasting. He combined those interests when he returned to the UW-Madison Speech Department as a Professor of Speech and Educational Television (1962-67). A popular and dynamic lecturer, Professor Lee Dreyfus taught in areas ranging from public speaking to television studies. He pioneered forms of distance education, including an intercontinental classroom exchange between the US and Europe using early satellite technology. He also served as general manager of WHA-TV and was an effective public advocate on behalf of educational television.
He left the Department to take over the leadership of UW-Stevens Point, and, as is well known, eventually launched his maverick political career, leading to the governorship.
The Department is honored by its connection to one of Wisconsin's leading public citizens.
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Professor Van Swol Wins Award for Publication
PROFESSOR LYN VAN SWOL, who joined our faculty this fall, won the National Communication Association Group Communication Division's 2007 Dennis Gouran Research award for the best published paper in group research. She received her award at the past NCA meeting for her article "Differences between Minority, Majority, and Unanimous Group Members in the Communication of Information," published in Human Communication Research in 2006. |
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Department Thanks Pamela and George Hamel, Opens Hamel Family Digital Media Lab
 Communication Arts faculty and staff gathered recently to welcome two very special guests, George (BA '80) and Pamela Hamel. At a September 28 reception hosted by Communication Arts, these generous supporters received the Department's collective thanks, and the event was capped off by the public introduction of the newly-completed Hamel Family Digital Media Lab.
George Hamel is a 1980 graduate of Communication Arts and he and Pamela have been active supporters of the University and the Communication Arts Department for several years. And there was much to celebrate at the reception. Through a 2005 gift from George and Pam Hamel, Communication Arts was able to establish its first named professorship. During the September 28 visit, the Hamels met for the first time Professor Sabine Gruffat, the Department's first Hamel Family Professor. The Hamels have also provided gifts to underwrite faculty research in Communication Arts and to provide stipends for Communication Arts student interns. While offering thanks to the Hamels on behalf of the College of Letters and Science, Dean Gary Sandefur also confirmed at the reception that their recent gift to L&S will establish the Hamel Family Faculty Fellowships.
George and Pam Hamel have a special interest in the Communication Arts teaching mission, and they took the initiative to fund implementation of the Hamel Family Digital Media Lab, a state-of-the-art instructional laboratory in Vilas Hall. With the support of Dean Sandefur and the College, construction and installation on the high-tech facility took place over summer 2007, and it was ready for service at the beginning of fall classes. The Hamels joined Communication Arts faculty and guests in visiting the new lab and learning about its impressive capabilities.
The Hamel Lab allows the Department to offer new courses in such fields as computer animation and interactive media. The facility features sophisticated computer work stations where students can simultaneously learn about digital media practices and develop their own creative skills. High speed interconnections allow students to view each other's work and to cooperate on projects, part of an intimate and collaborative learning atmosphere sustained by the lab'scareful design.
 George Hamel described his and Pamela's feelings for the occasion and their connection to the Communication Arts Department: "It was a thrill for Pam and me to be there for the official opening of the new Digital Media Lab. Seeing students at work in the new lab, on state of the art computer equipment, instructed by Sabine Gruffat, was one of the most gratifying personal moments of our lives that either Pam or I can recall. Our personal goal is to continue to support the vision of the Com Arts faculty and help in our small way to ensure that it remains one of the most highly respected communication arts departments of any college/university in the country." For such support and good will, the Department confirms its deep appreciation.
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