Introducing three new faces as UQ Ipswich PR program grows

The University of Queensland’s communication and public relations program has welcomed three new faces to teach students in the increasingly popular three-year degree program based at Ipswich.

Director of UQ’s Bachelor of Social Science (Communication and Public Relations) program Dr Eric Louw said the arrival of distinguished communication educator and ethicist Dr John Harrison, international research specialist Dr Brad Jorgensen and experienced corporate communication practitioner Trina McLellan would round out an impressive teaching team.

Dr Harrison, a UQ graduate who formerly lectured at the Queensland University of Technology, specialises in ethics, communication strategy and technology and is a regular media commentator on issues of ethics, business and communication.

As a research specialist with considerable international experience, Dr Jorgensen has made his name in environmental psychology and was formerly based at the University of Bath in the UK. Dr Jorgensen will be closely involved with the development of students’ research skills throughout undergraduate and postgraduate programs within UQ’s School of Journalism and Communication (which has nodes at both Ipswich and St Lucia).

Ms McLellan, a corporate communication manager and print journalist since 1981, has recently conducted research into the impact of news reporting on victims and survivors of traumatic events and will teach public relations writing as well as production skills for online communication.

Dr Louw, who has himself been a lecturer in media studies, communication and journalism at a number of universities in Australia and overseas, specialises in media policy, political communication, development communication, alternative journalism and participatory communication.

The other members of the program’s full-time teaching staff are Dr Susan Hopkins and Dr Kathy Ahern. Dr Hopkins, who specialises in sociology and communication, has research interests in youth culture, popular music and feminine subjectivities while Dr Ahern’s research interests are in the areas of family and interpersonal communication.

Media: For more information, contact Dr Eric Louw (telephone 07 3381 1516), Trina McLellan (telephone 07 3381 1549, mobile 0402 338311) or Loretta Porche (telephone 07 3381 1068, mobile 0418 772 819).