Chazni Darden Named MAIP Fellow
Chazni Darden, a senior advertising student in the School of Advertising and Public Relations was named as a MAIP Fellow for 2021. The Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) fellowship focuses on placing highly skilled BIPOC or multicultural students within the advertising industry. The highly competitive program combines real-world training and professional development through an immersive summer program. This year, the program will be held virtually for all fellows.
MAIP fellows are selected from over 3,800 colleges, universities, and portfolio schools and are interviewed by industry recruitment professionals. MAIP’s slogan “together we triumph” embodies their goals of bringing a diverse community … Read more “Chazni Darden Named MAIP Fellow”
Industry-experienced Lecturers Bring New Perspectives
Lecturers bring real-world experience to bridge theory and practice in an important way. Practitioners from the industry are experts that have lived in the workforce and can integrate new strategies and tactics into our classes. Many of our adjunct lecturers facilitate experiential-learning and community outreach through their real-world clients and cases. The following illustrates the accomplishments of four ADPR lecturers.
Ellie Amador
Ellie Amador is the director of marketing for the University of Tennessee System. She engages with Tennesseans and university stakeholders across the country to promote the UT brand. Amador provided strategy, development, and execution of the “Everywhere … Read more “Industry-experienced Lecturers Bring New Perspectives”
Beth Avery Foster and Courtney Childers #ChooseToChallenge
March was Women’s History Month – All month ADPR highlighted the women in ADPR who #ChooseToChallenge. Two faculty members from the School of Advertising and Public Relations are doing that by fighting the opioid epidemic.
Under the direction of UT President Randy Boyd, the University of Tennessee System is working to combat the TN opioid crisis. In August 2019, UT held its first Summit for Opioid Addiction and Response (SOAR).
To diminish opioid fatalities, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded faculty members at UT a grant to strengthen opioid prevention resources in rural Appalachian communities, to understand community … Read more “Beth Avery Foster and Courtney Childers #ChooseToChallenge”
Jill Williams Joins ADPR
We’re pleased to introduce to you our new ADPR student assistant, Jill Williams! Originally from Nashville, TN, she enjoys traveling, cooking, reading, and spending time outdoors. Jill attended UT for her undergraduate education where she received her bachelor’s in communication and information with a concentration in PR. Before graduating in May of 2020, she began to explore her options and decided she wanted to reach new heights and become a master’s candidate in PR here at UT. Her research interests include computer-mediated communication and how it affects relationships and also crisis communications. “Attending graduate school amid a pandemic is a … Read more “Jill Williams Joins ADPR”
Assistant Professor of Practice in Public Relations
Assistant Professor of Practice in Public Relations
Position Description
Assistant Professor of Practice in Public Relations (NTT)
School of Advertising and Public Relations, – Full Time – The University of Tennessee, School of Advertising and Public Relations seeks to a non-tenure track (NTT), Assistant Professor of Practice position to begin August 1, 2021, on a 3-year, renewable contract.
Qualifications
Qualifications include Master’s degree in communications or related area or equivalent and evidence of excellence in teaching or significant professional experience in the field of public relations. A Ph.D. is preferred but not required.
Responsibilities
Responsibilities include teaching undergraduate level courses … Read more “Assistant Professor of Practice in Public Relations”
ADPR Celebrates International Women’s Day
March 8 was International Women’s Day (IWD). IWD celebrates women’s achievements, raises awareness against bias, and takes action for equity. The IWD 2021 theme was #ChooseToChallenge, which encourages us to question stereotypes and help forge an inclusive world. The UT ADPR office was pleased to recognize this deserved focal point for women that is crucial to the women’s rights movement. To engage in the celebration, ADPR shared the accomplishments of its amazing faculty and staff who rewrite the narrative every day. Throughout Women’s History month ADPR is sharing the stories of students, faculty, and alumni who have helped us achieve … Read more “ADPR Celebrates International Women’s Day”
ADPR Featured Among Top Programs
The School of Advertising and Public Relations master’s program is featured among the top 15 programs in 2021 by Best Value Schools. The ranking criteria is based on the best academic strategy centered around creative campaign development, research and analytics, brand management consumer behaviors and media buying. A master’s in advertising and public relations helps equip students with the skills needed to excel in a variety of industries.
Read the entire article at Best Value Schools
Advertising PhD Student Analyzes Super Bowl
Our very own Advertising PhD student, Alex Carter, has spent the past two years using the Adam Brown Social Media Command Center to understand how various social media platforms react to major events like last night’s Super Bowl.
Especially in an event like the Super Bowl, companies use engagement on Twitter to measure the success of an advertisement in order to gauge whether the millions spent were worth it.
Click HERE to read more into Alex’s findings of the Super Bowl LV advertisements and performers.
ADPR Graduate Student and Assistant Professor Published

Graduate student Shelby Luttman and ADPR Assistant Professor Dr. Sifan Xu have recently been published in New Media & Society for their research paper about how people developed online networks in protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. The two worked on social media and coding to research this.
“I was learning how to do it [coding] as we went along. Dr. Xu was incredible the whole time and I learned so much,” Luttman said.
The research paper was presented at the International Communication Association Conference digitally.
“It was a long process but it’s been so exciting. When I visited Tennessee there
CCI Alumni Start VOLs Remote Internship Program for Students
As many students around the country had their summer internship plans put on hold because of COVID-19 and economic uncertainty, the University of Tennessee’s New York City Alumni Chapter quickly organized a virtual internship program for future communicators.
The VOLs Remote Internship pilot program paired five interns from CCI with social media and digital communication roles at nonprofit organizations dedicated to education.
CCI Board of Visitors member Jamie Lonie (PR ’10), who also serves as president of New York City Alumni Chapter, said the idea for a digital internship program was born from the November 2019 CCI Board of Visitors … Read more “CCI Alumni Start VOLs Remote Internship Program for Students”