| | Meet Sonja Brown-Givens, UAHuntsville's first female African-American Department Chair(9/14/2009)This semester, Dr. Sonja Brown-Givens made history at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAHuntsville) as the first female African-American professor to serve as department chairperson at the university. Depending on how you look at it, Brown-Givens will actually wear two administrative hats or one fairly large one, because the departments of Communication Arts and Foreign Languages and Literatures recently joined to pool their resources. Brown-Givens succeeds Dr. Clarke Rountree, who served as chairperson and professor of Communication Arts at the university for 13 years. Rountree returned to full-time teaching duties this fall. Despite the budget crisis, Brown-Givens is "honored" to serve as the first African-American in a top academic post at the university. She began her career at UAHuntsville in 2001, after earning her Ph.D. in speech communication from The University of Georgia. "My appointment as chair is consistent with other changes occurring on campus … it’s a healthy transition. It is my hope the department is viewed as a team, rather than the focus placed on me as the first African-American chairperson. While the budget situation is not ideal, I intend to expand on the many departmental accomplishments of Dr. Rountree," she said. Because Brown-Givens is passionate about her students, she predicts her shift from professor to department chair will be a smooth transition. "I have a very good rapport with students. I understand their hardships …. I know their histories, and I know when they need help with their curriculum, to brainstorm, or just to vent. It’s very important to give students the encouragement and support they need to thrive in the college setting," she said. Brown-Givens explained that the Communication Arts and Foreign Language and Literatures departments were reorganized earlier this year due to campus-wide budget problems. She emphasized the two academic offices are still separate entities but that the move was strategically necessary for the two areas to survive. Her research interests include African-American identity recognition and communication, and cognitive processes and social decision-making. She teaches communication, mass media, public speaking, race, gender and culture college courses. In 2006, Brown-Givens and Dr. Ronald L. Jackson, II co-authored the book Black Pioneers in Communication Research. The book explores the lives, careers and contributions of men and women who were influential in the field of communication studies. The widely popular book is currently being used as a teaching tool at several institutions. Brown-Givens has also published and reviewed numerous manuscripts, served as principal investigator for several grants, as well as delivered conference presentations. She also has several manuscripts and book chapters in preparation including Surviving from the Margins: African-American Graduate Students Communicating About Race and Identity, Still Searching for my Mother’s Garden and Experiences of Female African-American Professors in Predominately White Institutions. Her academic teaching experience includes UAHuntsville, University of Georgia and California State University (CSU Fresno). Brown-Givens has a prolific community service and speaking record including Lockheed Martin, Inc., Diversity Leadership Council, National Society of Black Engineers and Upward Bound Program (Butler High School). In 2007, she received a UAHuntsville Minority Graduate Student Association MLK award; additional honors include the NCA African-American Communication and Culture Division Outstanding Book Award for Black Pioneers in Communication Research, and the prestigious Ronald E. McNair Scholarship. She is a member of the National Communication Association, International Communication Association and National Association for Ethnic Studies. Brown-Givens also serves as President of the Council of African-American Faculty at UAHuntsville. Brown-Givens earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in speech communication from CSU Fresno. She will serve as department chairperson at UAHuntsville for the next four years. Brown-Givens will also maintain the academic rank of associate professor in Communication Arts. For more information: Joyce Maples, (256)824-6414 |
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