LSU Manship School Welcomes New Associate Deans to Administration

September 27, 2022

BATON ROUGE—Three LSU Manship School of Mass Communication faculty members have joined the school’s administrative team as new associate deans in fall 2022:

• Joshua Darr, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Strategic Initiatives
• Nathan Kalmoe, Ph.D., Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Administration
• Meghan Sanders, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies

Darr, Kalmoe and Sanders join Manship School Interim Dean Josh Grimm in administration. Together, they are responsible for recruitment and retention, curriculum and course development, faculty research and planning, and strategic initiatives.

“Dr. Darr, Dr. Kalmoe and Dr. Sanders are invaluable assets to our faculty and student body,” Grimm said. “We are delighted to welcome them in as associate deans, and I look forward to their leadership and expertise in these new roles.”

Joshua Darr, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Strategic Initiatives

Darr holds a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Manship School and LSU’s Department of Political Science. In April 2022, Darr was one of 28 scholars nationwide to be selected for the 2022 Class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows. His research focuses on American government and political communication, with an emphasis on political behavior, campaign strategy and local media. He published his first book, “Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization,” in March 2021. Darr often writes about politics and media for The Boston Globe, FiveThirtyEight, The Washington Post, Vox, Mischiefs of Faction, The Conversation, Nieman Journalism Lab and Scientific American. He also serves on the editorial board of the journal, “Political Communication.” Darr earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and has been a faculty member at LSU since 2015. He holds the D. Jensen Holliday Professorship.

“As LSU reinforces its focus on research, this is a great time to promote and support the amazing work that our Manship faculty produces,” Darr said. “It’s an amazing time to study media and public affairs, and I look forward to exploring, securing and promoting research and funding opportunities for our faculty and students over the next several years.”

Nathan Kalmoe, Ph.D., Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Administration

Kalmoe holds a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Manship School and LSU’s Department of Political Science. From 2017 to 2022, he served as the Manship School’s political communication area head. Kalmoe’s research hinges on communication, political science, psychology and history. He studies the roots of public opinion and political action as mobilized by communication. In February, he received the LSU Rainmaker Award for Emerging Scholar in the Arts, Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences category. His book, “With Ballots and Bullets: Partisanship and Violence in the American Civil War,” was the 2021 co-winner of the David O. Sears Best Book on Mass Politics Award from the International Society of Political Psychology and the Leon Epstein Outstanding Book Award from the American Political Association’s Political Organizations and Parties division. Kalmoe earned a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has been at LSU since 2016. He holds the Howard and Nantelle Mitchiner Gittinger Professorship.

"I am honored to serve the Manship School and LSU in this new role,” Kalmoe said. “Recruiting exceptional students who reflect our state and nation and then ensuring their development as highly skilled and knowledgeable mass communicators is at the core of our mission, and I take that charge to heart."

Meghan Sanders, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies

Sanders returns to leadership in the Manship School, having previously served as the School’s associate dean for research and planning from 2012 to 2016, during which time she led the 2015 reaccreditation process. She also served from 2010 to 2022 as director of the School’s Media Effects Lab, which partnered with scholars and labs at other R1 institutions. For five years, Sanders directed the Scripps Howard Academic Leadership Academy, which trained and provided mentoring to new and aspiring communication education administrators. She continues to lead workshops on academic leadership for the Southeastern Conference, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and the Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication. Sanders’ research specializes in media psychology, focusing on the psychological effects of mass media, as they pertain to psychological and subjective well-being. Her work focuses on enjoyment and appreciation of entertainment, morality and narrative engagement, and positive media psychology. Sanders’ research has been published in numerous top-tier academic journals. Sanders earned a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University and has been at LSU since 2006. She holds the Katheryn Pate Callahan Professorship.

“I’m really excited to bring my leadership experience to the Manship School’s graduate programs,” Sanders said. “As a school, we’ve always taken such pride in educating our students to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing mediated world. Graduate education is a major part of these endeavors by providing an important training ground for future media industry leaders and scholars. I am thrilled to continue this important work.”

Hyojung Park, previous associate dean for research and strategic initiatives; Yongick Jeong, previous associate dean for research and graduate studies; and Lance Porter, previous interim associate dean for undergraduate studies and administration, have returned to faculty full-time.

###

LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: Master of Mass Communication, Ph.D. in Media and Public Affairs, Certificate of Strategic Communication and a dual MMC/Law degree. Like us on Facebook @ManshipSchool, or follow us on Twitter @ManshipSchool, Instagram @ManshipSchool and LinkedIn LSU Manship School of Mass Communication.