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Art Silverblatt is Professor of Communications and Journalism at Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri.  He earned his Ph.D. in 1980 from Michigan State University.  He is the author of Media Literacy: Keys to Interpreting Media Messages,  (Praeger Publications, 1995, 2001, 2007), co-author ofThe Dictionary of Media Literacy  (Greenwood Press,1997), and Approaches to  the Study of Media Literacy (M.E. Sharpe, May, 1999), International Communications (2004), and Genre Studies (2007).

View resume of Art Silverblatt.
 

Janis Valdés is an adjunct professor in the School of Communications, Webster University. She teaches Introduction to Mass Communication, Media Literacy, Television: A Critical Study and Applied Media Aesthetics. In addition to teaching, Janis is the Creating Critical Viewers (CCV) coordinator for the St. Louis Chapter of the NATAS, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

View resume of Janis Valdés.
 

Julie Smith has taught at Webster (both undergrad and grad school) on and off since 2001. MS 1996 Mass Communications from SIU; wrote thesis on Media Literacy's Future in the US. She is married with three sons. Addicted to "The Office", "24" and still mourning the loss of "Arrested Development". Collects racy magazine ads as a hobby. Has no shame when it comes to keeping the class interested and will resort to tap dancing and/or caffeine as needed.

julnilsmith@sbcglobal.net
www.smithdanceparty.blogspot.com

Debra Finkel has been an adjunct professor at Webster University since 2001. She teaches Introduction to Media Writing, Media Criticism for Publication and Media and Culture. Her professional background is in public relations and journalism.

Debra Finkel's Blog
dfinkel@webster.edu                                                                                      Link to Media Criticism Students' Blogs      

Jessica Z. Brown is a media literacy proponent and educator. Jessica is also an award-winning communications professional with more than 30 years experience, including newspaper reporting and photography, television news and feature programming, video production, corporate marketing communications, customer service management and education consulting.  In addition to her career credentials, she is a highly-respected community leader on the subject of media education and the importance of on-going media literacy education as a vehicle toward economic development and healthy communities.   She is founder and director of a growing bi-state effort-- the St. Louis-based Gateway Media Literacy Partners (GMLP)--that brings public-, private-, volunteer- and independent-sector individuals and organizations together to create and sustain media literate communities: www.gatewaymedialiteracypartners.org. For more information, Jessica's full biography is located here.

Mary Cox teaches Media & Culture as an adjunct professor in the School of Communications. Mary gets an up-close-and-personal view of the "media" part of the equation, traveling to a different newsroom every week to teach workshops in "best practices" for journalists.  

More on Mary's background