Faculty

Carol Wilder is Professor of Media Studies and Film.  

From 1995-2007 she was Chair and Associate Dean of the Department of Media Studies and Film and from 2015-17 Dean of the School of Media Studies. In 1997 was co-founded of Graduate Program in Media Management. Wilder was formerly on the faculties of San Francisco State University, Oberlin College, and Emerson College.

She received a B.S. in English and M.A. in Communication and Theatre from Miami University and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Communication from Kent State. Wilder has published many book chapters and articles in numerous journals including Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research and Family Process. She served on the Board of Directors of the International Communication Association, as President of the New York State Communication Association, and as Associate Editor of the Journal of Communication, Communication Studies, Journal of Applied Communication Research, and Western Journal of Communication. 

Wilder was awarded both a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award in 2007-08 and Senior Specialist Award from 2010-15 for media research and teaching in Viet Nam. Her first book Rigor and Imagination: Essays from the Legacy of Gregory Bateson (1982) received the National Communication Association Golden Anniversary Book Award and her book Crossing the Street in Hanoi: Teaching and Learning About Vietnam (2013) was published by Intellect/University of Chicago Press.

Her short film "Puttin' on the Dog" became part of the archive of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2016. In 2017 she received the distinguished Kent State University Centennial Award.

In addition to these accomplishments, Wilder's community service and advocacy is represented by thirty years on the Board of Directors/Advisors of Swords to Plowshares, a preeminent veterans support and advocacy organization in California. Wilder has recently written on subjects including the 1970 Kent State Killings (Public Seminar, 2017), 21st Century Propaganda Techniques (Public Seminar, 2018), and the history of film at The New School (New School Histories, 2019).

Upon retirement in 2020, she will continue writing a series of essays based upon her extensive archive from decades of teaching political media and communication.