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Find faculty bios and office hours or learn more about their background, teaching interests, research and more. Faculty are listed alphabetically by last name – visitors can click on the page navigation buttons to be taken to that part of the alphabet.

Eric P. James, Ph.D.

Eric James Headshot

Professor and Department Chair of Communication Studies

Eric’s research focuses on critical issues related to identity and organizational wellness. His published work has appeared in Organization, Management Communication QuarterlyCommunication & Sport, and the Journal of Applied Communication Research.  He teaches classes in organizational identity, culture, and communication theory.

Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM

Wilfredo Alvarez, Ph.D. (he/him/él)

Wilfredo Alvarez Headshot

Assistant Professor

Wifredo teaches and studies communication issues related to social identity (e.g., race, ethnicity, social class, immigration). He is interested in how micro (personal relationships), meso (groups and organizations) and macro-level (popular culture) communication practices (e.g., pervasive discourses of race and ethnicity) create, conserve, and challenge social systems of oppression, discrimination, and inequity in U.S. society. He teaches courses in diversity and communication, organizational culture and identity, fundamentals of oral communication, intercultural communication, interpersonal communication, and organizational communication.

Office Hours: Coming Soon

Additional Information

Sarah Chorley, Ph.D., C.C.S.P

Dr. Sarah Chorley, PhD

Associate Professor

Sarah K. Chorley (Ph.D., University of Colorado) is an Associate Professor of Applied Communication at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Dr. Chorley researches the intersections among obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), employment, and organizing, including the communicative construction and negotiation of OCD and identity in the workplace. Her applied research goals are to help adults with OCD find, keep, and enjoy employment for a higher quality of life. She is currently developing a communication-based vocational rehabilitation intervention for adults in intensive OCD treatment. To disseminate her work to as many people as possible, Dr. Chorley regularly partners with programs and institutions to present practical translations of her research.

In 2021, Dr. Chorley was honored with the National Communication Association’s Outstanding Teaching in Organizational Communication Award for her excellence in teaching. She currently teaches COMM 4910: Applied Communication Project, COMM 2300: Introduction to Organizational Communication, and COMM 2010: Gender and Communication. As a Certified Career Services Provider, Dr. Chorley provides her students and research participants with individualized career coaching. Go see Dr. Chorley for the best advice on jobs you can get with a communication degree!

When she isn’t working, Dr. Chorley paints with watercolor and gouache, plays the piano, and teaches kickboxing.

Office Hours: Coming Soon

Additional Information

Christina Foust, Ph.D.

Christine Foust headshot

Professor

Christina R. Foust (Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) is a Professor of Communication Studies. Foust also serves as the Associate Chair of COMM, is Faculty Co-Fellow of Community Engaged Learning with the C2Hub, and helps lead MSU Denver Dialogues. Foust’s teaching and research engage rhetoric, power, and social change in a variety of contexts, including environmental communication, social movements, pop culture, and everyday talk.

Foust’s recent projects build from the question: How do groups of ordinary people support each other and strive for change, when it seems that the deck is stacked against them in so many ways? Intergroup dialogue, community engaged learning, and rhetorics of social movement, have a lot to teach us as we try to steer away from the proverbial cliff, and toward a shared future.

Foust’s work as a faculty member support her in serving the community. For instance, Foust was the founding Parent Coordinator of the Westerly Creek Elementary School Green Team, where she helped lead the school in earning a Climate Champions Grant from Denver Public Schools, and helped lead the school to earn the prestigious Green Flag award from the National Wildlife Federation eco-schools program. She also writes a semi-regular column for the Front Porch newspaper on practices that address climate change.

Office Hours: Coming Soon

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Brian Healy, M.A.

Brian Healy Headshot

Lecturer

Lecturer of Communication Studies, specializing in Diversity, Gender, Popular Culture, and Performance. Areas of expertise, Automethodological Performance (Autoethnography, Autobiographical Performance, Chautauqua Performance, and Storytelling); Performance Art (Cast-generated Performance, Improv Performance, Art Installations, Guerilla Performance, and Collaborative Art Making); Nonverbal Communication; Intercultural Communication, Gendered Communication, Rhetoric, popular culture and media criticism, queer theory, critical race theory, progressive masculinity theory, and whiteness studies.

Office Hours: Coming Soon

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William (Bill) Huddy, Ph.D.

Bill Huddy Headshot

Senior Lecturer

Prior to my 21 year University Teaching Career (Univ. of CO., Colo Spgs, Emerson College/Boston, MA, MSU Denver) I had a 20-year Career in Television News starting as a News Photographer, then later Anchoring newscasts in Colorado Springs, El Paso, Fort Myers, FL., and Milwaukee, WI.  In 1991 I left Broadcast Journalism, and entered the political world (Party Treasurer & 1992 Candidate for County Commission), merged into Investment Advising (Series-7 Investment Advisor with Paine Webber), and Retail Sales (Automotive), then…Academia.  I am also the Father of two beautiful daughters, Caitlin & Mary!

Office Hours: Coming Soon

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Brendan Hughes, Ph.D.

Dr. Brendan Hughes, PhD

Senior Lecturer

Brendan Hughes is a lecturer in the Communication Studies department at MSU Denver. As a critical rhetorician, Dr. Hughes deconstructs the ways that power and meaning are conveyed and (re)created through communication phenomenon and practices. His research primarily focuses on LGBTQIA+ history, horror and monstrosity, and rhetorics of difference. Dr. Hughes regularly teaches the Gender and Communication course, but also teaches Presentational Speaking, Diversity and Communication in the USA, and Fundamentals of Oral Communication.

Office Hours: Coming Soon

Jason Jordan, Ph.D.

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Lecturer

Jason Jordan is a Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies.

Office Hours: Coming Soon

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Brenden Kendall, Ph.D.

Brenden Kendall Headshot

Professor

Brenden is a Professor of Communication Studies who joined MSU Denver in 2015. His expertise areas include organizational communication, teamwork and collaboration, communication ethics, and communication education. He is a Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults-certified mindfulness meditation teacher. When he isn’t on campus he can be found, on occasion, at various locations around Colorado in a 20-year-old pop-up camper named “Dirty Gertie.”

Office Hours: Coming Soon

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Charles LuLevitt, Ph.D.

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Lecturer

Charles LuLevitt is a Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies.

Office Hours: Coming Soon

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Parameswari Mukherjee, Ph.D.

Parameswari Mukherjee Headshot

Assistant Professor

I am an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies and have been teaching at MSU Denver since 2023. I approach communication through a constitutive lens, meaning that communication produces the realities in which we live. As a teacher-scholar, I am committed to critical and social justice pedagogies in both my teaching and research practices.

My research is in the area of health and organizational communication. I interrogate how individuals from underserved communities communicate about health and access to health resources organized by various health organizations and community members.

When I’m not working, I love to spend time in nature, plan adventures, and take naps.

Office Hours: Coming Soon

Additional Information

John Rief, Ph.D.

John Rief Headshot

Associate Professor

I received a B.A. in Philosophy and Communication from Regis University. I completed M.A. degrees in Communication and Bioethics and a Ph.D. in Communication at the University of Pittsburgh. During my time as a graduate student, I was an assistant coach and then associate director of the William Pitt Debating Union. After the completion of my Ph.D., I was admitted into the RAND-University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Scholars Program (funded by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality). During my postdoctoral studies, I focused on communication practices in online healthcare delivery. After working for several years at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, I moved home to Denver to be closer to family.

I have been teaching at MSU Denver since 2019. I typically teach courses focused on the history and theory of rhetoric, argumentation and debate, and presentational speaking.

In addition to teaching, I run the Gary Holbrook Debating Union & Archive which houses our student debate program: MSU Denver Debate. My role is to foster student learning in the areas of leadership, public and civic advocacy, event planning and implementation, and the promotion of democratic culture. Students who join our debate program have opportunities to participate in intercollegiate debate tournaments, civic debates with public and expert audiences, present-and-defend competitions, and public debates on our campus featuring local, national, and international guests. Recently, we attended a present-and-defend competition at Yosemite National Park and hosted the Irish Debate Series.

Office Hours: Coming Soon | Office Location: KC 460 

Additional Information

Elisa M. Varela, Ph.D.

Elisa Varela Headshot

Assistant Professor

I hail from Los Angeles, California. And I was raised in Aurora, Colorado from the time I was 10 years old. I attended MSU Denver where I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies with a concentration on organizational communication. In 2012, I pursued graduate education and in particular practice-based research at Colorado State University, where I earned my master’s degree with a concentration on Organizational Communication and Rhetoric in higher education. After completing my M.A. degree, I moved to Boulder to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, where I specialized in understanding and intervening into the various interactional dilemmas interlocutors manage to accomplish democratic ideals in dialogue and deliberation.

Office Hours: By appointment Thursday, 12:00-2:00 p.m., via Teams | Office Location: Central Classroom 120L

Additional Information

Department of Communication Studies

Book an Appointment with an Advisor

Campus Location:

Central Classroom Building 120

Mailing Address:
Campus Box 34
P.O. Box 173362
Denver, CO 80217-3362

Phone:

303-615-0400

Email:

[email protected]