CCOM Faculty & Staff
Dean of the College
Associate Dean
Staff
Mark Harris has been a staff member at Butler University for over 29 years. During that span, he has served as the Music Director for WAJC-FM, Operations Director for WTBU and most recently as the Technical Services Coordinator for the College of Communication, overseeing studios and facilities, camera checkout and major projects for the college and Fairbanks Center.
A Butler alum, Mark has a wide array of expertise ranging from radio and television broadcasting, audio production, video production, editing, audio mixing, studio and remote recording, and systems and studio design. Mark has a Masters of Science in Music Technology from IUPUI in Indianapolis and is an adjunct instructor in the Music Industry Studies program of the Department of Entertainment Media and Journalism. Mark has taught MI 109 Survey of the Music Industry, MI 201 Audio Production and MI 353 Audio for Video in addition to supervising audio lab experiences in remote recording for SJCM.
Faculty
Michael Aronson joined The Compass Center as Jewish Life Advisor in April 2023 during a Future Faculty Teaching Fellowship year at Butler University’s College of Communication. Michael holds a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College in Newton Center, Massachusetts, and is working towards his doctorate in Media Studies at Indiana University-Bloomington. Michael serves the Jewish community at Butler by channeling his passions for living in community, Jewish learning, adult education and pluralism towards helping The Compass Center create an inclusive and loving environment for all people at Butler.
Professor Crawford has been at Butler University since 1982. Before that, she was working on an MFA in acting at the University of Mississippi. She obtained Masters and Bachelor’s degrees from Ball State University. She directed professional theatre at the Phoenix Theater and the Jasper Playhouse. She did costume designs for the Phoenix Theater, Indianapolis Civic Theater and the Children’s Museum Theater. She has been the Director of Forensics (Speech Team) since 1999. Students travel to 5-7 tournaments a semester and attend Pi Kappa Delta and NFA Nationals. Professor Crawford also hosts 2 tournaments at Butler University. One in September and one in January.
Gary Edgerton is professor of Creative Media and Entertainment in the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media, College of Communication at Butler University. He has published twelve books and more than eighty-five essays on a wide assortment of media and culture topics in a variety of books, scholarly journals, and encyclopedias. In addition, Dr. Edgerton is the Co-Executive Editor of the Journal of Popular Film and Television. He was previously eminent scholar, professor, and chair of the Communication and Theatre Arts Department at Old Dominion University.
website: http://www.garyedgerton.com
I am an Assistant Professor and Faculty Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the College of Communication at Butler University. In these roles, I facilitate learning related to inclusion, empathy, listening and advocating for all members of our community. I teach classes on social responsibility and today’s drastically changing workplace. In class we work to understand how globalization, technology and the changing structure of work fundamentally alter the experience of working in our modern economy. While considering these changes, students learn how to work with diverse others and accomplish shared goals through effective and empathetic communication.
My scholarship interrogates the roles mobile and digital media play in structuring of political and social relationships. I have written a book called Virtually Amish: Preserving Community at the Internet’s Margins, which is scheduled for publication by MIT Press in spring 2022.
I have also published research on Twitter use by protesters and social and mobile media use for public health communication among high-risk groups. Among other outlets, my research has been published in First Monday, New Media & Society and Media Culture & Society.
In my spare time, you will find me gardening, walking my dogs, or riding my bike along the Monon trail.
Lindsay Ems’ Website
Dr. Lee Farquhar is an associate professor of Journalism and Sports Media. In total, he has been teaching multimedia storytelling and sports media courses for over 10 years. His professional experience is primarily in radio and television broadcasting. He has also worked as a freelance videographer, shooting video for Kansas State University and MTV. His research combines social media and social psychological theories. He current research focuses on social media use and the impact on how users view themselves and others.
Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh is a Professor of Journalism and Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Communication. Her textbook, “Journalism and Gender: Global Perspectives ,” with Routledge is set to be published on July 28, 2025.
She held the Richard M. Fairbanks endowed chair from 2018 to 2024 and served as Interim Dean from April 2021 to December 2022. Before her appointment as Interim Dean, Dr. Geertsema-Sligh served as Director of the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media for five years. She joined Butler University in 2005 and has taught classes in news writing, gender and news, and global media.
Dr. Geertsema-Sligh holds a doctorate in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in Communication from Washington State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from North-West University in South Africa. She is a past chair of the International Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and a past co-chair of the Gender and Communication section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research. Her research has been published in several leading academic journals. See www.margarethageertsemasligh.com for more information.
Eric Hahn is an assistant professor of Creative Media and Entertainment at Butler University. In addition to teaching, Eric works in film production and post-production, primarily as a colorist and editor. He has worked on multiple award-winning films, including Night School (Dir. Cohn, 2016), the 2021 SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner Lily Topples the World (Dir. Jeremy Workman), and the Academy Award shortlisted documentary Deciding Vote (Dir. Lyons & Workman, 2023). His research has appeared in The Journal of Popular Culture, Flow, The Routledge Handbook of Remix Studies, and In Media Res. Eric holds a PhD in Visual Studies from the University of California, Irvine, along with a BA and MA in Cinema Studies from SUNY Purchase and New York University respectively.
Dr. Abbey Levenshus serves as Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Strategic Communication. She teaches undergraduate courses in basic and advanced strategic communication, including writing, digital and social media marketing, and case studies in communication.
Dr. Levenshus’ research on government public relations, risk and crisis communication, and social media management has been published in books and top communication journals like Journal of Applied Communication Research and the Journal of Public Relations Research.
Her professional experience includes serving as communication director for a U.S. Congressman, a political technology company, and a government consulting firm in Washington, D.C. She earned her M.A. in Public Communication at American University and her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Maryland. Prior to Butler, she was an assistant professor of communication at the University of Tennessee.
In 2016, Dr. Levenshus was thrilled to return to her home state of Indiana in order to join Butler’s faculty.
Rob Norris spent more than 40 years in the field of communication. He began his career in 1976 as public relations assistant for the predecessor of Duke Energy Indiana. During his 30 years with that company, he became director of Corporate Communications,overseeing advertising, media relations, video production, and speech writing. Rob personally represented the company during environmental crises, nuclear issues, strikes, extended power outages, a financial crisis, two mergers, and an attempted hostile takeover.
After retiring from Duke Energy in 2006, Rob became a communications manager for Cummins Inc., where he provided training programs on presentational speaking and media relations for Cummins officers from around the world. Rob works today as an instructor in communication at Butler University, where he developed the University’s course on crisis communication.
Rob holds a B.A. in History and an M.A. in European History from Indiana University. He has been published in the Journal of Communications Management.
Armando Pellerano spent more than 20 years providing creative services to direct clients, agencies, and video production houses. He began his career in 1986 as the art director/production artist for E.S. Graphics in Chicago, IL. During his time there he designed produced scores of backlit advertisements for airports and malls for 3M National Advertising. Armando then moved on to stint as art director for Kutt & Company, a boutique ad agency in the Chicago market, where he designed print and outdoor ads. In 1994 Armando took a post as writer/producer with TCI Cable Advertising, creating local spots and 3D animations, and was promoted to production manager in 1996. Armando went on to provide creative services to a variety of ad agencies, broadcast networks and video production houses in the Evansville, Indiana market until 2001. Armando earned his Master of Science in New Media from Indiana University in 2002. Since then, he has taught 3D animation for the Purdue School of Technology and operated a successful photography business based out of Carmel, Indiana. Armando joined Butler University in 2011 as a lecturer in the department of Strategic Communication.
Dr. Mark Rademacher is a Professor of Strategic Communication in the College of Communication at Butler University. His teaching responsibilities include undergraduate and graduate courses, including foundations of strategic communication, research methods, audience insights, and public communication campaigns. He also serves as the Graduate Director within the College of Communication.
His research investigates the intersection of identity, mass media, and consumer culture across a variety of contexts, including self-representation strategies utilized by marginalized populations on social media, depictions of masculinity in promotional content and reality television, and the consumer socialization of young children. His research has been published in academic journals such as New Media & Society, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of Communication Inquiry, and Journal of Children and Media.
Dr. Rademacher earned his PhD and Master’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a B.S. in Broadcasting from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville.
Bob Schultz, APR, Fellow PRSA is a fulltime Strategic Communication Lecturer and serves as the Internship Director for Butler’s College of Communication where he also regularly leads pop-up courses leading Butler students in civic engagement for some of Indy’s largest community events, including the 2024 NBA All Star Weekend, the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials and most recently, the Taylor Swift concert weekend in Downtonw. Prior to these roles, Bob was an adjunct member of the Butler faculty starting in 2006. Schultz is the principal and founder of Schultz Strategies, LLC where he maintains contractual marketing and event roles with Downtown Indy, Inc. where he served as Executive Vice President prior to coming to Butler fulltime in Aug. 2023. Other clients include some of the community’s most high-profile hospitality and tourism companies and organization. Prior to joining Downtown Indy, Inc., Bob was Vice President of Borshoff Advertising & Public Relations where he delivered high-level marketing consultation for such client organizations as Eli Lilly and Co., WGU Indiana, University of Notre Dame, Defender Direct, Buckingham Companies and the 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee. Bob also had a ten year run serving Visit Indy as its primary marketing communications director from 1999-2008. He and his wife Diane (a Butler grad) are both lifelong Indy residents.
With more than 20 years of marketing communications experience, Amanda earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Franklin College in 1999 and a master’s of business administration degree from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2003. She’s also a graduate of Leadership Johnson County’s Signature Class of 2019.
Amanda has served organizations and clients in a variety of industries including healthcare, technology, accounting, insurance and retirement services, non-profit, government, legal, food service, travel and tourism. She’s experienced success increasing brand awareness, lead generation, customer retention and associate engagement through multi-channel marketing communication strategies for both B2B and B2B2C using cohesive and engaging content, events, print and digital platforms including SalesForce MarketingCloud, social media/Hearsay Social and web portals.
She makes the time to share this vast knowledge and her real-life scenarios with students. Amanda currently serves as Instructor of Strategic Communications with Butler University and previously with Harrison College as a Business Faculty member.
Amanda and her husband Matt Holmes share their Greenwood, Indiana home with two rescued mutts, Cash and Bentley, named after country music stars, not materialism. They support several local animal rescues, as well as regional and global conservation efforts through the Indianapolis Zoo.
Dr. Eileen Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Communication in the College of Communication.
Dr. Taylor’s research and expertise are organizational leadership communication with a focus on change and diversity of perspectives is complimented with a Bachelor of Science in Management, MBA, Master of Arts in Advanced Leadership Studies, and Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership. She earned her credentials from Indiana Wesleyan University. Dr. Taylor was a First Generation student as the first in her family to become a college graduate. At a young 45 years of age, she officially retired as a federal government career professional with 27 years and 7 months of business administration expertise that included human resources, financial management, and organizational leadership.
Dr. Taylor believes the essence of leadership is communication. She teaches organizational leadership and communication, speech for business, public speaking, communication ethics, financial management, introduction to human resources management, and principles of marketing at the college level.
Dr. Taylor is the textbook author of Diversity of Perspectives. Her professional philosophy is partially rooted in opportunities to live throughout the United States and Europe as a military dependent. At the time, a 5-year residency in Europe was pivotal in preparing Dr. Taylor to embrace the 21st century of globalization where technology continues to transform the method and scope of communication. This inclusive mindset has been the cornerstone of her personal authenticity and work ethics throughout the years. It has helped Dr. Taylor positively influence others in profit and not-for-profit organizations. As a leader and researcher, she inspires others to strengthen their personal foundation of individual values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations that add value to any organization. The ability to also learn about and understand others who may be different from you are crucial skills in an ever-growing global market.
Organizations benefit from Dr. Taylor’s ability to demonstrate theories and practical experiences while she serves as Guest Lecturer, Keynote Speaker, and Professional Trainer. Dr. Taylor’s positive leadership perspective may help organizations overcome challenges that become future success stories.
Dr. Taylor also serves as the NFHS Project Director which is an external research grant partnership initiative between Butler University and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). This research has been published in the Journal of Mother Studies and High School Today magazine (February 2024 , November 2022 , May 2020 ).
Nick White is a Lecturer, Professional of Practice in Sports Media and Journalism for the College of Communication. His courses both past and present include:
SPM 101 – Introduction to Sports Media | SPM 120 – Intro to Sports Production | SPM 130 – Sports Production Lab | SPM 220 – Sports Shooting and Editing | SPM 320 – Live Sports Production | SPM 390 – Special Topics: Name, Image and Likeness for College Athletes | JR 112 – Intro to Multimedia Journalism | JR 411 – Multimedia Newsroom
Outside of the classroom, Nick is the General Manager of BULTER+ Media. This production group services home broadcasts for Football, Women’s Soccer, Men’s Soccer, Volleyball, Women’s Basketball, Baseball, Softball and Women’s Lacrosse for the Big East Digital Network and Flo Sports. Nick is in charge of managing broadcasts, hiring crew and talent and overseeing productions. He hires both freelance broadcast professionals and current Butler students to the broadcast team.
Nick moved into education in 2017 after nearly a decade in sports and news broadcasting. Fittingly, his television broadcasting career started in Hinkle Fieldhouse with WISH-TV broadcasts of Butler Basketball games. He produced news in Austin, Texas with KXAN (NBC) where he won two TX AP Broadcasting Awards. He then worked in Chicago, Illinois with NBC 5 and won an Emmy Award with CBS 2 in 2014. He moved back to Indianapolis as Executive Producer for CBS 4 and relaunched the station as the CBS affiliate.
Nick holds a M.A. in Applied Communication and a B.S. in Sports Communication – Broadcast from Indiana University. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America – East and regularly serves as an Emmy Awards Judge for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Education:
Ph.D.,University of Connecticut
M.A., Michigan State University
M.A., Columbia University in New York
B.A. Tsinghua University
Xiaowen Xu will teach Principles of Strategic Communication and Global Strategic Communication this fall. She has a Ph.D. at University of Connecticut specializing in new media technology. She is interested in examining users’ motivation and perceptions through the adoption of new media technology and processing of persuasive messages, in consumer, health and pro-environmental behavior contexts. Her works have been published at Internet Research, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, American Behavioral Scientist, etc.She has served as ad-hoc reviewers for journals including Internet Research,Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Telematics and Informatics.
Her teaching experience has shaped and strengthened her ideal for higher education: teach to inform and teach to inspire. She believes that an educator should foster critical thinking, encourage students to reach their full potential and enable them to appreciate the complexity of the world. She has taught Digital Advertising,Research Methods, Communication Theory, Mass Communication courses before. In her spare time, she enjoys watching movies, doing Zumba and Yoga, and performing Peking Opera, which is a traditional Chinese stage art form.
Website: http://xuxiaowencomm.com/