School of Journalism and Mass Communications names new director

Dr. Carol Pardun will become the director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina Aug. 1.

Pardun, whose research has focused on the effects of advertising on adolescents, is currently director of the School of Journalism at Middle Tennessee State University.

She says it was the history of, and opportunities available at, South Carolina’s journalism school that attracted her. The School of Journalism and Mass Communications was founded in 1923 and has nearly 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students, about twice the size of the program at Middle Tennessee.

“Dr. Pardun has a significant record of research and publishing; her teaching record is admirable, and she brings administrative experience and national stature to the program,” said Charles Bierbauer, dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, which houses the journalism school. “She liked us, and we liked her.”

Her forthcoming book, “Choosing Sides: An Introduction to the Controversies Surrounding Advertising and Society,” will be released later this year. In 2009, Pardun will become president of the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The international organization that promotes high standards for journalism educators is headquartered in Columbia.

She previously was on the faculty at the University of North Carolina and Kansas State University. She earned her doctorate in mass communications from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Wheaton College.

Pardun succeeds Dr. Shirley Staples Carter, director of the school since 2003, who is a professor of advertising and public relations.