Dr. S.M. Walus, Ph.D.
Professor / Director of Television & Video Production B.A. Office: 1536 - Buzzard HallPhone: 217-581-5970
Email: smwalus@eiu.edu
Website: https://www.eiu.edu/tv/
INTRODUCTION
Spring 2024 Office Hours: M 1-2:05 / T 3-4:28 / R 3-4:28
My expertise lies understanding media and mass communication with specific knowledge in the influence of media, deconstructing messages, explaining the influence of the channel on the medium, and understanding the actual production process of media. This knowledge stems from my own professional experiences in various media industries (both promotional and creative) along with years of original research on what people do with media and what media does to people. I am the Director of the Television & Video Production B.A., the coordinator of the Radio & Audio Production, Video Production, Broadcast Meteorology, and Advertising minors.
Education & Training
Ph.D. University of Missouri - Mediated Communicaiton (2013)
M.S. Illinois State University - Communication (2007)
B.S. Illinois State University - Mass Communication (2004)
Conference Presentations
Walus, S.M. & Grube, J. (2022). 'The Medium Is the Message' - Especially When Breaking Up with Someone. Central States Communication Association in Madison, WI. Top Papers Panel.
Walus, S. M. (2016). Get Smart and Start Shooting: Fannish Producers and the Alternative History of Professional Wrestling. Accepted for presentation in the Media Studies Interest Group at 2016 Central States Communication Association conference in Grand Rapids, MI. Top Paper Award in Division.
Walus, S. M. & Potter, S. (2015). Constructing Narratives and Deconstructing Ideology. GIFT presented at 2015 Central States Communication Association conference in Madison, WI.
Walus, S.M. (2015). TMI? How Much Personal Information Should a Professor Share in the Classroom? Panel presented in Instructional Resources Interest Group for presentation at 2015 Central States Communication Association conference in Madison, WI.
Walus, S. M. (2014). The Gendered Rise and Fall: Negotiating Gender in the Myth of Rock and Roll Success. Presentation at the 2014 Console-ing Passions conference in Columbia, MO, an international feminist media conference.
Walus, S. M., & Click, M. A. (2014). “I Can't Think of a More Unlikely Rock Star Than Me”: Representations of “Averageness” in the Myth of Rock and Roll. Presented at the 2014 Central States Communication Association conference in Minneapolis, MN. Top papers panel for Media Studies Interest Group.
Walus, S. M. & Jacobs, A. (2014). Creation of Space and Place in The Office: An examination of Humor as a Mechanism for Creating Space, Resistance, and Incorporation. Presented at the 2014 Central States Communication Association conference in Minneapolis, MN.
Walus, S. M. (2014). Elevating Course Communication & Content: Traditional, Online, & Hybrid Use of Course Management Software. Presented at the 2014 Central States Communication Association conference in Minneapolis, MN.
Walus, S. M., & Mattson, J. (2013). The New Pirate TV: Examining the Online Narrowcasting 2.0 of Justin.TV in the New Media Environment. Accepted for presentation at the 2013 Central States Communication Association meeting in Kansas City, MO.
Furstenau, N. E., & Walus, S. M. (2013). The Spectacle of Rock and Roll Hybridity in Southeast Asia: An Ethnographic Study of Rock and Roll-ness in Thailand. Accepted for presentation at the 2013 Central States Communication Association meeting in Kansas City, MO.
Walus, S. M., & McDonald, J. (2013). Tracing media ownership and synergy. GIFT accepted for presentation at the 2013 Central States Communication Association meeting in Kansas City, MO.
Walus, S. M. (2012, April). Tune in, Fuzz out: The Sonority of the First Wave of Garage Punk and Its Enduring Rejection of Mainstream Commodification. Paper presented at the Popular Culture Association meeting in Boston, MA.
Walus, S.M. (2012, March). “Wait a Minute Mr. Postman: Popular Mediated Culture's Changing Articulations of the Postal Carrier and Purpose of the USPS. Paper presented at the Central States Communication Association meeting in Cleveland, OH.
Walus, S. M. (2012, March). 1000 Ways to Die: Vilifying the Deceased in order to Enjoy the Grotesque Spectacle of their Demise. Paper presented at the Central States Communication Association meeting in Cleveland, OH.
Walus, S. M. (2012, March). Connecting the Stages of Video Production. GIFT presented at the Central States Communication Association meeting in Cleveland, OH.
Walus, S. M. (2010, November). When citizens attack: Toward an understanding of the myths and codes deployed by a U.S. president during heckling. Paper presented at the National Communication Association meeting in San Francisco, CA.
Walus, S. M. (2010, November). A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Relationship between a Salesperson and a Receptionist on the American and British Versions of The Office Paper presented at the National Communication Association meeting in San Francisco, CA.
Delbert, J., Kristiansen, L., & Walus, S. M. (2010, November). Punk as ideograph: Examining through NOFX’s Backstage Passport and various 'focus forum' audience decodings. Paper presented at the National Communication Association meeting in San Francisco, CA.
Walus, S. M. (2010, May). President Obama's Rhetorical Transformation of the Health Insurance Industry into an Anti-American Big Government Bureaucracy. Presented at the Rhetoric Society of America meeting in Minneapolis, MN.
Walus, S.M. (2010, April). 8-Bit Patriarchy: A Trend Content Analysis of Female Presence in Three Decades of Video Games. Presented at the Central States Communication Association meeting in Cincinnati, OH.
Walus, S.M. (2010, April). Drawing first blood: An encoding/decoding approach to celebrity construction and articulation as found in twilight coverage on TMZ. Presented at the Central States Communication Association meeting in Cincinnati, OH.
Walus, S. M. (2010, April). Cult-Aural Capital: Exploring the Sign of the Electric Guitar Through Bourdieu's Cultural Capital. Presented at the Central States Communication Association meeting in Cincinnati, OH. Top papers panel in Graduate Student Caucus.
Smith, S., & Walus, S. M. (2009, April). Order in the Syndicourt!: A Mixed Methods Rhetorical Examination of Gender, Race, and Relationships in the Television Courtroom. Presented at the Cultural Studies Association in Kansas City, MO.
Walus, S. M. (2009, April). Getting “Real:” Audience Reactions to the Levels of Simulacra Presented by Different Presidential Debate Formats 1996-2004. Presented at the Central States Communication Association meeting in St. Louis, MO. Top papers panel in Political Communication/J. Jeffery Auer Award Winner for top graduate student paper.
Walus, S. M. (2009, April). “It’s Like I’m Playing an Old Friend:” A Grounded Theory of the Attachment of Meaning to Electric Guitar. Presented at the Central States Communication Association meeting in St. Louis, MO.
Walus, S. M. (2008, October). Nominating the Ideology of Mass Corporatization as Progress as Portrayed on The Office. Presented at the Midwest Popular Culture Association meeting in Cincinnati, OH.
Walus, S. M. (2007, November). Spin Control: A Qualitative Uses and Gratifications Exploration of the Contemporary Vinyl Niche and the Compact Disc Functional Alternative. Presented at the National Communication Association meeting in Chicago, IL.
Hunt, S., Poggi, S. T., Walus, S. M., Strong, C., Wilkinson, M. L., & Smith, T. (2006, November). Communication and Information Literacy: Assessing Information Literacy Instruction in the Basic Communication Course Presented at the National Communication Association meeting in San Antonio, TX. Top Competitive Paper in the Basic Course Division .
Publications
Walus, S.M., & Wilcox, C.D. "Facing the Heels: Fannish Producers Constructing an Alternative 'Shoot' History of Professional Wrestling through New Media." Professional Wrestling Studies Journal, vol. 2, no. 1, 2021, pp. 25-46.
Walus, S.M. & Wilcox, C.D. (2020). 1000 Ways to Die: A Televisual Template for Commodifying Tragedy and Vilifying the Deceased. Southern Communication Journal.
Walus, S. M. (2017). The Narrative Machine: Constructing Narratives and Deconstructing Ideology. In J. S. Seiter, J. Peeples, & M. L. Sanders (Eds.). A G.I.F.T.S. Collection: Activities for Teaching Communication in the Classroom.
Walus, S. M., & Click, M. A. (2016). “I Can't Think of a More Unlikely Rock Star Than Me”: Representations of “Averageness” in the Myth of Rock. Rock Music Studies.
Walus, S. M., & Furstenau, N. E. (2015). The Spectacle of Rock and Roll Hybridity in Southeast Asia: An Ethnographic Study of Rock and Roll-ness in Thailand. Iowa Journal of Communication, 46(2).
Aubrey, J.S., Walus, S. M., & Click, M.A. (2010). Twilight and the Production of the 21st Century Teen Idol. In M. A. Click, J. S. Aubrey, & E. Behm-Morawitz (eds.). Bitten by Twilight: Youth Culture, Media, & the Vampire Franchise. (pp. 225-242). New York: Peter Lang.
Funding & Grants
2018 Redden Grant Award - Audio & Voice Work Lab ($1500)
2019 Redden Grant Award - Mobile Communication Set for on-site television & film production ($1800)
2020 Redden Grant Award - DSLR on-location cameras ($1800)
2022 Redden Grant Award - Multi-Camera Production Suite / Television & Video Production Space: Stage 1. ($1732)
Frequently Taught Courses
Undergraduate:
CMN 1500 - Television & Video Development
CMN 2500 - Production I
CMN 2520 - Introduction to Mass Communication
CMN 2920 - Introduction to Public Relations
CMN 3030 - Promotional Communication
CMN 3050 - Production II
CMN 3500 - New Media Practices
CMN 3570 - Topics in Media History
CMN 3920 - Public Relations in Society
CMN 3930 - Message Strategies & Influence
CMN 3940 - Advertising: Theory and Practice
CMN 3950 - Conferences and Event Planning
CMN 4540 - Production IV
CMN 4750 - Contemporary Approaches to Mass Communication
CMN 4755 - Television Genres: Production & Development
CMN 4770 - Television Criticism
Graduate:
CMN 5040 - Communication Research Methods
CMN 5160 - Seminar in Mass Communication
CMN 5610 - Media Criticism
Also advisor and committee member of multiple graduate theses and undergraduate honors theses.
Research & Creative Interests
Multiple audio, televisual, and video productions. Specific albums / programs / pieces available upon request.
Professional Affiliations
Central States Communication Association (CSCA)
(Former Chair and Program Planner of the Media Studies Interest Group)