Dr. Amy May
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Dr. May's current scholarship focuses on understanding gender and power disparities in the #MeToo movement along with how power may be used in digital media to silence marginalized and disenfranchised populations, excluding them from conversations regarding climate change and environmental science. Dr. May’s research has been published in Journal of Communication Pedagogy, Teaching in Higher Education, and Qualitative Research Reports in Communication. Dr. May also presents at regional, national, and international conferences, including the National Communication Association (NCA) and International Communication Association (ICA). She served as editor for Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner: Communication Approaches to Military Pedagogy and Education(Lexington, 2020) and Women of the Wild: Challenging Gender Disparities in Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (Lexington, 2022). Dr. May also serves as the current Director of the Public Speaking Center and Graduate Student Coordinator for the MA in Professional Communication.  

How do I feel about the upcoming semester? As we continue to navigate this pandemic, I am inspired by our students who continue to prioritize their education. I feel honored to be part of their academic journey! Together we can get through this and come out stronger on the other side.

Victoria (Tori) McDermott is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland in the Public Relations track of the Department of Communication. Her research explores how power is communicated in traditionally masculine environments, specifically the military and higher education. Tori is the first editor of three edited volumes Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner: Communication approaches to military pedagogy and education (2020), Women of the Wild: Challenging gender disparities in field stations and marine laboratories (2022), and On the Front Lines: Women Educators’ Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic (forthcoming). Her research can be read in the Journal of Communication Pedagogy and Public Relations Review. Tori has presented research at a variety of conferences including but not limited to the National Communication Association Conference, International Communication Association Conference, and the Organization of Biological Field Stations. She is currently the co-chair of the Committee on the Status of Women at UAF and co-chair of the IDEA+ committee at the Organization of Biological Field stations.

I joined the Department of Communication Faculty in 2010. I have a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Washington, a M.S. Ed. in Counseling and Counselor Education from Indiana University, and a B.S. in Psychology and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

My academic interests include statistics, quantitative research methods, organizational communication, interpersonal communication, and small group communication. My current research focuses on superior-subordinate communication.

Professor Arundale joined the Department of Communication in 1979. He retired in 2011, and continues to publish in his areas of specialization: Communication Theory, Language and Social Interaction, and Interpersonal Communication. He taught both at Michigan State University and the University of Washington before joining the faculty at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research focuses particularly on understanding how interpersonal relationships emerge in everyday conversation. His volume, Communicating & Relating: Constituting Face in Everyday Interacting, was published in 2020 by Oxford University Press. Part 1 offers the Conjoint Co-constituting Model of Communicating as a new theoretical model of human communicating in everyday interacting, and as an alternative to widely accepted encoding/decoding models. Part 2 offers Face Constituting Theory as a new understanding of human relating and of what is known cross-culturally as “face.”

Taylor Caslin came to UAF in Fall 2022 as the first fully virtual graduate teaching assistant. Caslin is a North Carolina native, and still resides there. She is currently pursuing her M.A. in Professional Communication while instructing undergraduate courses for COJO121X, COJO131X, and COJO141X. She also serves as the Assistant Director of the Communication Center, formerly known as the Speaking Center. Caslin earned a Bachelor of Arts in both Strategic Communication and Religion from High Point University. Since then, she has worked professionally as a marketing specialist, graphic designer, and most recently as Director of Marketing for an aerospace company. She specializes in copywriting, and graphic design.

Emily is a graduate student pursuing her Master's Degree in Professional Communication.  She lives in San Antonio, Texas and is a UAF distance education student and takes all of her classes through UAF's e-campus.  She graduated from UAF in the Spring of 2022 with her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology!

She is also a licensed veterinary technician and is still very active in the veterinary industry, lending her skills to general practice management, shelter medicine, emergency and critical care, as well as learning and development opportunities for both credentialed and aspiring veterinary technicians.

She is also an aquarium hobbyist and loves hiking, mountain biking, and disc golf.