Track Chair: Instructional Technology and Online Learning
Dr. A.Z. Bashent
Dr. A.Z. Bashet is a Dean of Instruction and Online Learning at Dallas College, Dallas, TX
Dr. AbuZafar (A.Z.) Bashet has served as a Dean of Instruction and Online Learning at Dallas College-Eastfield Campus from 2016-2021. He also served more than 10 years as an instructional designer and a technology expert at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (2010-2016) and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2006-2009) before he joined Dallas College. During his tenure with Alcorn State University (2004-2006), he coordinated with deans and directors from 18 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to lead a United States Department of Agriculture grant entitled, “1890 Libraries Integrated Virtual Environment” for producing Digital Learning Objects for the Agricultural Sciences which earned national recognition from the National Agricultural Library (Beltsville, MD) and later this effort served as the catalyst for the design of a national digital library for agriculture in 2005.
Dr. Bashet is passionate about integrating innovative technologies with best practices of effective pedagogies for continuous improvement of teaching and learning, increase access and personalize student-focused services to ensure equitable student success. He has published several academic publications. Recently, he co-authored a book chapter-”Personalized and Adoptive Learning” that was published In Innovative Learning Environments in STEM Higher Education book in February 2021. Dr. Bashet holds a PhD in Learning Technologies from the University of North Texas, an MS in Computer Science from Alcorn State University, and a BS in Agriculture from Bangladesh Agricultural University. He earned leadership and professional certificates from Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Wharton School of Pennsylvania, Educause, Quality Matters, Online Learning Consortium, and Global Citizenship Alliance. He can be contacted at [email protected]
Track Chair: Applied Communication
Dr. Avinash Thombre
Dr. Avinash Thombre is a Professor of Applied Communication. University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR
Dr. Avinash Thombre is a Professor of Communication Studies. He is Online Program Coordinator at the University of Arkansas Little Rock. Since 2001, he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Nonverbal Communication, Small Group Communication, Intercultural Communication, and Communication and Change and Communication Theory. A native of Pune, India, he previously taught and has guest lectured in India, Trinidad and Tobago and Argentina. He received his bachelor and Master’s degree from Bangalore University and his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 2004. In his first career, he has worked as a reporter with the Times of India newspaper covering health, environment, education, and new technology beats. He worked for the Pune and Bangalore editions.
Dr. Thombre has co-authored a book, Intercultural Communication: The Indian context, used in the US and internationally. He has published numerous articles in communication journals and presented scholarly papers in national and international conferences. He is passionate about issues of personal transformation and facilitating social change using positive communication strategies.
He has conducted intercultural training with Heifer International and with students from Pakistan as part of a U.S. AID Grant. He received 2010, U.A.L.R. College of Social Science and Communication, Faculty Excellence Award in Research and Public Service in 2019.
Dr. Thombre is a practitioner of yoga, uses Ayurveda knowledge for self-treatment, and loves sauntering – walking aimlessly. He meditates regularly. Dr. Thombre is married to Vaishali Thombre, the love of his life for 20 years. Their children, Aditya and Anushka love to travel internationally and very interested in intercultural communication. His reflective writing can be accessed at https://avithombre.medium.com/ He can be contacted at [email protected]
Track Chair: PR and Strategic Communication
Dr. Weranuj Ariyasriwatana
Dr. Dr. Weranuj Ariyasriwatana, Assistant Professor, Marist College, NY.
Dr. Weranuj Ariyasriwatana is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Marist College, NY. The courses that she currently teaches are Introduction to Strategic Advertising, Research and Consumer Insight, and Branding. She holds a PhD in Communication and Information Sciences from University of Hawaii at Manoa, a Master of Arts in Global Marketing Communication and Advertising from Emerson College, and a Bachelor of Economics from Chulalongkorn University. She previously taught at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Chaminade University, and Savannah State University. Her industry background lies in advertising, particularly as a Senior Strategic Planner and Consumer Insights Manager. Advertising agencies she worked for are McCann Worldgroup, Ogilvy & Mather, Hakuhodo, Publicis, and BBDO. Her research interests include food communication, mindfulness meditation, social media, health communication, intercultural communication, and consumer insights. She can be contacted at we[email protected]
Track Chair: Digital Journalism
Dr. Imran Hasnat
Dr. Imran Hasnat, Assistant Professor Digital Journalism, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Oklahoma.
Imran Hasnat is an assistant professor of digital journalism inGaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Oklahoma. His research interests are in the use of digital media in public diplomacy, and grass-root media such as community radio. He has published and presented on these issues at both national and international level. Imran teaches multimedia, digital reporting, data and visualization to future journalists. He can be reached at [email protected].
Track Chair: Political Communication
Dr. Emmanuel Nwachukwu
Assistant Professor, the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, Savannah Sate University, GA, USA
Emmanuel Nwachukwu holds a Ph.D. from The School of Communication at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has taught public relations principles, advertising principles, social media and mass communication theory and research at Winthrop University before joining Savannah State University. His research interest includes political public relations, crisis communication, social media in advertising and its impact in developing economies, new media research in public relations, and race and minorities in the media. He can be contacted at [email protected]
Track Chair: Health Communication
Dr. Raihan Jamil
Dr. Raihan Jamil, Associate Professor of Business at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh
Dr. Raihan Jamil is an Associate Professor in the School of Business at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he teaches Business, and Corporate Communication. Prior to joining ULAB, Dr. Jamil served as an Assistant Professor at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He completed his B.Sc. degree in Economics with a minor in Economics and Computer Science from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (EUP), Edinboro, PA, USA. He then completed his M.A. from the same school in International and Intercultural Communication. He followed his passion in teaching for a year in New York City before moving on to complete his Ph.D. in Health Communication from Purdue University’s Brian Lamb School of Communication. His research interests include health, culture, marginalization, and migrant population. He considers his best achievement in being a father to a baby girl. He can be contacted at [email protected]
Track Chair: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Kenneth A. Jordan is a Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Savannah State University, Savannah, GA
Dr. Kenneth A. Jordan is currently Professor in the Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences at Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia. Prior to his arrival at Savannah State University, he held positions at Georgia Southern University, Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, Prairie View A & M University. He also held numerous positions as a statistician with the Federal Government including the U.S. Bureau of the Census, The U.S. Department of Educations (Office of Civil Rights Compliance), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Throughout his teaching career, his primary teaching areas have been Urban Geography, Human Geography, Cultural Geography, Demography, Urban Sociology, Statistics and Urban and Regional Planning. Dr. Received his B.A. degree in Geography and General Science at North Carolina Central University; both his Master and Ph.D. degrees in Geography with an emphasis in City Planning at the University of California at Berkeley, California. His primary research areas have been in Urban Subsystems and Ghetto Development, Social Justice and Civil Rights, Black Politics and Black Political Behavior, Crime and Race.