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Department: Communication Studies

John J. Rief

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John Rief, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His areas of expertise include public speaking, rhetoric, argumentation theory and practice, deliberation, competitive and civic debate in the U.S. and best practices of international and intercultural debate.

Rief joined the Communication Studies Department in August 2019 and is currently teaching Rhetorical Foundations of Communication, Arguing Constructively and Freedom of Speech. He relaunched the MSU Denver Debate program and currently serves as the debate coach. Prior to MSU Denver, Rief was an assistant professor at Duquesne University and a graduate teaching fellow and graduate teaching assistant at Pittsburgh University.

His research areas of focus are on the history of rhetoric, the history of intercollegiate academic debate and the rhetoric of health and medicine. He has published research work in POROI: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Rhetorical Analysis and Invention, as well as other journals, including Argumentation and Advocacy and Health Communication.

Rief received his doctorate in communication and two master’s in bioethics and communication from University of Pittsburgh in 2012, 2013 and 2008 respectfully and a bachelor’s in communication and philosophy from Regis University in 2005. He also attended RAND, a post-doctoral program, at University of Pittsburgh.

Mike Monsour

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Mike Monsour, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Communication Arts and Sciences Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He has focused on friendships between women and men for the past 25 years.

He has conducted research on postmodern cross-gender friendships, interpersonal perception, identity formation and general studies assessment. Most recently, Monsour has written about friendships formed between a cisgender person and a transgender person. He is also chairing the PAC (Provost’s Office Assessment Committee) from fall 2016 through fall 2019.

Monsour received his doctorate in Interpersonal Communication from the University of Illinois in Champaign, a masters from University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and a bachelor’s from Louisiana State University in Shreveport.

Richard Kessel

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Richard Kessel is an emeritus senior lecturer of Communication Studies. He taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver for more than 20 years.

Kessel received his doctorate in human communication studies from the University of Denver, where his dissertation was on physician-patient decision-making. He developed the physician communication skills assessment and feedback program for the Center for Personalized Education for Physicians — where he became the senior communication consultant — which was subsequently licensed to the National Board of Medical Examiners and is now part of the United States Medical Licensing Examination that all medical students must pass before becoming licensed to practice.

Prior to becoming a full-time faculty member at MSU Denver, Kessel was an associate clinical professor in the Internal Medicine Department at the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine, where he taught clinical interviewing skills. He was instrumental in implementing the School of Medicine’s teaching and assessment programs utilizing simulated patients and was recognized for excellence by the Foundations of Doctoring program. Kessel also previously worked as an enrolled agent at the University of Denver’s Law School, where he helped establish its new student orientation program on financial planning (as it related to budgeting and student loans).

Kessel has spoken at academic and professional development conferences on topics ranging from the effective use of PowerPoint, the science of teaching and learning, clinical communication skills and financial planning.

He has been a nationally-recognized expert in physician assessment, education and behavior modification.

Brenden Kendall

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Brendan Kendall, Ph.D., is a professor and associate chair in the Department of Communication Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His areas of expertise are in organizational communication, focusing on workplace and professional communication.

Kendall began teaching at MSU Denver in 2015 where he is also serving as co-chairperson and team lead for the President’s Transition Sustainability Team and the President’s Advisory council of Academic Effectiveness and Student Success. In addition to MSU Denver, he consults for Assemble Consulting, LLC and Museo de las Americas of Denver. Kendall also provides leadership and presentation coaching as a freelance consultant.

His research is currently focused on exploring ethics in organization communication, communicating ‘employability’ and strategic image management in the craft brewing industry. Kendall has co-authored the book “Just a Job? Communication, Ethics, and Professional Life” and has been published in academic journals including Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture and The Critical Journal of Organization, Theory, and Society. He has also participated on panels for organizations including the National Communication Association, the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.

Kendall received his doctorate and master’s in communication from University of Utah in 2011 and 2005, respectively, and a bachelor’s in communication studies from University of Montana in 2003.

Samuel Jay

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Samuel Jay, Ph.D., is a professor of Communication Studies and interim executive director of Online Learning at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

He joined MSU Denver in 2011 as an adjunct professor and went full-time in 2014. Jay opened his own consulting company in 2015 called Jay Communication Solutions helping individuals and small businesses market themselves. He has developed and implemented content marketing campaigns, handled social media accounts of NCAA Division I sports teams and coached and managed projects for varied clients. Jay also produces and co-hosts a weekly sports podcast and radio show, called Sports Nerds, where he examines how sports influence our perception of things like race, class, gender and power. He also co-hosts a weekly podcast, called Unfiltered, where leaders in the craft beverage industry are featured, providing a behind-the-scenes look at what they do.

His research focus areas include how digital communication technologies and their users generate and circulate emotional energy and how that energy adds rhetoric effectiveness to disparate discourses, including politics, sports, and economics.

Jay received his doctorate in communication studies with a focus on rhetoric and a minor in emergent digital practices from University of Denver in 2014, a master’s in radio-television-film from University of North Texas in 2009 and a bachelor’s in cinema and comparative literature from University of Iowa in 2006.

William Huddy

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William Huddy, Ph.D., is a lecturer in the Department of Communications at Metropolitan State University of Denver where he teaches Communication Research and Theory Building, Campus Communication, Communication and Politics and Public Speaking.

Prior to teaching, Huddy worked in the field of radio and television for 20 year and has experience working in the areas of reporting, anchoring, editing, photojournalism, advertising and news directing. His primary research interests include media and celebrities, dependence on mobile phone technology, student engagement in public speaking, dynamic changes in political campaigning (and the importance of internet campaigning with less reliance on television) and new methods in communication as a means of activism and social justice.

Huddy received his Ph.D. in communication studies from the University of Denver in 2012, a master’s in instructional communication from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2003 and a bachelor’s in mass communication and international relations from California State University in 1975.

Mindy Glover

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Mindy Glover, M.A., is an adjunct professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Katia Campbell

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Katia Campbell, Ph.D., is the associate dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and former chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Her scholarship and teaching focuses on rhetoric, free speech, cultural representation, popular media and critical pedagogy. Campbell is also the Faculty Senate President. Outside of MSU Denver, she consults and facilitates workshops on communication and diversity, media literacy, free speech, public speaking, and dialogic ethics. After completing her doctorate, Campbell worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Communication at University of Colorado Denver.

Her research areas of interest include, but are not limited to, citizenship and civic engagement, cultural diversity and communication within a U.S. cultural context and cultural studies with an emphasis on media studies. Campbell has co-authored three publications in the areas of civic engagement and social justice. Her book, “Neo-Pragmatism, Communication, and the Culture of Creative Democracy,” focuses specifically on the malleable conceptions of citizenship and civic responsibility and explicates the possible social ramifications of our modern practice of citizenship.

Campbell earned her doctorate in human communication studies from University of Denver in 2004.

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