Vita

Harlen Makemson
Assistant Professor | School of Communications
Elon University | 2850 Campus Box | Elon, NC 27244
(336) 278-5777 | hmakemson@elon.edu

Education

PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 2002

     Dissertation: Images of Scandal: Political Cartooning in the Presidential Election of 1884.
     Major: Mass communication history
     Minor: Communication technology
     Adviser: Professor Margaret Blanchard

M.A., University of Missouri-Columbia, Journalism, 1995
     M.A. Thesis: The Effect of Conversational Decks on Readership and Fact Recall.
     Thesis supervisor: Professor Daryl Moen

B.S., University of Kansas, Journalism, 1987


Teaching areas

Mass communication history, Internet news gathering and publishing, newspaper and magazine design, news reporting, news editing.

Teaching experience

Elon University, School of Communications, 2002-present
     Courses taught include:
     JCM220, Digital Media Convergence – Students are introduced to media convergence technologies and are prepared for advanced studies in electronic media production.
     JCM 325, Editing and Design – Students sharpen language usage, acquire layout and design skills, and examine larger issues of news judgment, ethics and legal concerns.
     JCM360, Media History – Students examine major trends, important personalities, technological advancements, diversity of audiences and societal impact from colonial newspapers in the 1600s to today’s print and electronic media.
     
JCM364, Web Publishing – Students experiment with diverse ways of using media such as text, graphics, sound and video on Web-based projects.
     JCM420, Design and Information Graphics – Students focus on effective design, information graphics and photo editing for newspapers, magazines and other publications.
     JCM495, Great Ideas: Capstone in Communications (Special Topics) – Students are challenged to think creatively and analytically about media convergence and complete a converged media project.
     HRN278, Press, Politics and Public During the Cold War – An honors seminar where students study the interactions among media, government, and citizens from 1950-1990.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
School of Journalism and Mass Communication

     Fall 2001: Instructor, Mass Media and U.S. History, a course examining the development of the mass media in the context of U.S. history. The course emphasizes major developments and trends within a chronological framework.
     Summer 2000, 2001 and 2002: Instructor, Electronic Information Sources, an introductory course required of all students in the school. Had primary responsibility for teaching a section of 20 students how to find and evaluate information on the Internet, create pages for the World Wide Web, and reflect on the impact of communication technology.

North Carolina State University, Department of English
     Fall 2000 and Spring 2001: Visiting Lecturer, Principles of News and Article Writing, an introductory news writing course. Had primary responsibility for teaching students how to gather and organize information and how to write news articles according to acceptable professional standards.

University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism
     January 1994-May 1995: Graduate Teaching Assistant, Magazine Design. Taught one lab section in each of three semesters. Instructed students in using page layout and graphics software and helped them apply design principles to assigned projects. Had a primary role in grading projects and giving extensive written feedback to students.
     May-December 1993: Assistant Sports Editor, Columbia Missourian. In charge of student copy editors and designers at the city's daily morning newspaper, which is owned and operated by the University of Missouri-Columbia journalism school. Had a primary role in assessing the students' laboratory portion of their grades.

Peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles
     “Beat the Press: How Leading Political Cartoonists Framed Protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention,” Journalism History 32, no. 2 (Summer 2006): 77-86.
     One Misdeed Evokes Another: How Political Cartoonists Used ‘Scandal Intertextuality’ Against James G. Blaine,” Media History Monographs 7, no. 2 (2005): 1-20.
      “Private Vice and Public Virtue: Political Cartoons as ‘Opprobrious Discourse’ Against Grover Cleveland During the 1884 Presidential Campaign,” International Journal of Comic Art 6, no. 2 (Fall 2004): 90-117.
      “A ‘Dude and Pharisee’: Cartoon Attacks on Harper’s Weekly Editor George William Curtis and the Mugwumps in the Campaign of 1884,” Journalism History 29, no. 4 (Winter 2004): 179-189.

Peer-reviewed academic conference papers/presentations
     “A Forgotten Legend: The Political Cartoons of Bernhard Gillam,” American Journalism Historians Association Convention, October 5-8, 2005, San Antonio, Texas.
     “Eve of Destruction, Sins of Omission: How Political Cartoonists Framed Anti-War Protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention,” American Journalism Historians Association Convention, October 20-23, 2004, Cleveland, Ohio.
     “The Weapons of Character Assassination: ‘Scandal Intertextuality’ in Anti-Blaine Political Cartoons During the 1884 Presidential Campaign,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention, History Division, August 4-7, 2004, Toronto, Canada.
     “ ‘Neither Drunkards nor Libertines’: Portraying Grover Cleveland as a Threat to the Family in Political Cartoons During the 1884 Campaign,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention, History Division, July 30-August 2, 2003, Kansas City, MO.
     “Anglophobia as Art: Free Trade and Protection in Grover Cleveland Political Cartoons,” 19th Century Press, the Civil War and Free Expression Symposium, November 1-2, 2002, Chattanooga, TN.
     “Attacking the Messenger: The Cartoon Campaign Against Harper's Weekly in the Election of 1884,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention, History Division, August 5-8, 2001, Washington, DC. Awarded runner-up in the Price Competition for best student paper.
     “The Tattooed Man as Imagetext: Reflections on Bernhard Gillam's ‘Phryne Before the Chicago Tribunal,’ " Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication/American Journalism Historians Association Northeastern Journalism Studies Conference, March 24, 2001, New York, NY.
     “Mud, Marketing and Mugwumps: Munsey's Illustrated Weekly and the Election of 1884,” American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, October 5-7, 2000, Pittsburgh, PA.
     “Hands in the ‘Cookie’ Jar: Disclosure of Transaction Generated Information Under State Public Records Laws,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention, Law Division, August 9-12, 2000, Phoenix, AZ.
     “Are Internet "Cookie" Files Subject to Disclosure Under State Public Records Laws?” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Southeast Regional Colloquium, March 17-18, 2000, Chapel Hill, NC. Awarded second place among student papers in the Law Division.

Book reviews
     Vigilante Newspapers: A Tale of Sex, Religion, & Murder in the Northwest by Gerald Baldasty. Journalism History 31, no. 4 (Winter 2006): 218.
     Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons by Chris Lamb. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 82, no. 2 (Summer 2005): 455-457.

     New Media, 1740-1915. Lisa Gitelman and Geoffrey B. Pingree, eds. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 81, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 454-455.
     American Datelines: Major News Stories from Colonial Times to the Present. Ed Cray, Jonathan Kotler and Miles Beller, eds. Journalism History 29, no. 2 (Summer 2003): 92.
     Defending the American Presidency: Clinton and the Lewinsky Scandal by Robert Busby. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 79, no. 4 (Winter 2002): 1013-1014.

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Mentored student research
     Katherine Hart, “Betrayal Close to Home: A Look at Media Bias During the Alger Hiss Perjury Trials of 1949-1950,” Elon Student Undergraduate Research Forum, 2005.
     Keren Rivas, “KPFA Radio and Post-World War II America: The Rise of an Alternative Voice During Troubling Times,” Elon Student Undergraduate Research Forum, 2004.
     Dorothy (Beth) Stevenson, “From Patriot to Activist: Media Framing of Vietnam Veteran Ron Kovic and the Uncomfortable Issues of a Contested War,” Elon Student Undergraduate Research Forum, 2004.

University and academic service
     Student Life Committee, 2005-2007.
     Honors Program Advisory Committee, 2005-2007.
     Campus Transportation and Traffic Planning Committee, 2005-2007.

     Library Committee, 2003-2005.
          - Chair, 2004-2005
     Intellectual Climate Committee (Ad-Hoc), 2004-2005.
     School of Communications Technology Committee, 2004-2005.
     School of Communications Internet Projects Committee, 2005-2006.
     School of Communications Curriculum Committee, 2004-2006.
          - Chair, 2005-2006.
     School of Communications faculty search committee, 2003-2004.
     Faculty representative, collection development librarian search committee, Spring 2004.
     Student Undergraduate Research Forum respondent, 2003, 2006.
     Manuscript reviewer, American Journalism, 2005-present.
     Reviewer, research paper competition, American Journalism Historians Association, 2005-present.
     Reviewer, research paper competition, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, History Division, 2006-present.

     Editorial Assistant, Book Review section, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 2001-2002.
     Judge, Promising Professors competition, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication National Convention, Mass Communication and Society Division, 2002.

Professional journalism outreach and consulting
     Design Consultant, Iowa City Press-Citizen, 2003.
     Judge, Carolinas Golf Association Writing Contest, 2002.

Faculty development

     School of Communications course release to develop a new Design and Information Graphics course, Fall 2006
     Poynter Institute Information Graphics Seminar, St. Petersburg, Fla., October 16-21, 2005
     Newsplex Summer Seminar: Teaching and Researching in Convergent Media, University of South Carolina, May 17-21, 2004
     Elon summer online course development program, 2004
     Elon Honors team-teaching course development program, 2005
     Presenter and participant in workshop to develop a new Digital Media Convergence course, June 2003. Funding for the workshop came from an Elon University pedagogy enhancement grant.

Grants
     Elon Faculty Research and Development Grant, Summer 2005. A $625 grant to conduct media history research at The Ohio State University and Ohio University.
     UNC/IBM General College Curriculum Technology Enhancement Grant, Summer 2000. A $1,500 grant for exploring the integration of appropriate web-based instructional tools for the enhancement of undergraduate teaching.

Professional journalism experience

Lexington Herald-Leader, Lexington, KY
     June 1997-July 1999: News Design Editor. Duties included design of daily news sections, special projects and occasional feature design for a 125,000-circulation morning paper. During this period, the Herald-Leader was named one of the World's Best Designed newspapers by the Society for News Design, and I was part of a team that won an Award of Excellence from SND for breaking news design.

The Huntsville Times, Huntsville, AL
     March 1996-June 1997: Design Editor. Was in charge of news and features presentation for a 60,000-circulation afternoon paper. During this period, the Times won awards from the Alabama Associated Press for overall news and feature design.
     May 1995-March 1996: Page Designer. Duties included design of feature pages, A1 and special projects. I also had occasional copy-editing duties.

Columbia Missourian, Columbia, MO
     August-December 1994: Senior Designer, focusing on projects and Ideas, a Sunday magazine. My work during this period received awards from the Society for Newspaper Design in both student and professional competitions.
     May-August 1994: Designer, Ideas magazine.

The Hutchinson News, Hutchinson, KS
     March 1991-May 1993: Sports Slot. Was in charge of design, editing and special sections for a 40,000-circulation morning paper.
     January 1988-March 1991: Sports Writer. Covered colleges and high schools. I also had occasional design and editing duties.

The Garden City Telegram
, Garden City, KS
     May-December 1987: Assistant Sports Editor. Was in charge of covering local high schools and had design and editing duties for a daily afternoon paper.

Awards/honors

     Park Fellow, PhD program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 1999-2002.
     Promising Professors competition, first place, Graduate Student division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication National Convention, Mass Communication and Society Division, August 5-8, 2001, Washington DC.
     "Attacking the Messenger: The Cartoon Campaign Against Harper's Weekly in the Election of 1884." Awarded runner-up in the Price Competition for best student paper, History Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication National Convention, August 5-8, 2001, Washington DC.
     "Are Internet 'Cookie' Files Subject to Disclosure Under State Public Records Laws?" Second place among student papers, Law Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Southeast Regional Colloquium, March 17-18, 2000, Chapel Hill, NC.
     Lexington Herald-Leader named one of World's Best Designed newspapers, Society for News Design's Best of Newspaper Design contest, 1999.
     Award of Excellence, Breaking News Local/Regional, Society for News Design's Best of Newspaper Design contest, 1999.
     Led Huntsville Times staff to first place in deadline and non-deadline design, Alabama Associated Press contest, 1997.
     Kappa Tau Alpha, national honor society in journalism and mass communications, 1995.
     Award of Excellence, feature page design, Society of Newspaper Design's Best of Newspaper Design contest, 1994.
     First and second place, regularly appearing magazine design,      Student Society of Newspaper Design contest, 1994.
     Third place, feature page design, Student Society of Newspaper Design contest, 1994.
     President, Student Society of Newspaper Design, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1994-95.
     Harris News contest, first place, sports page design, 1992.
     Harris News contest, first place, sports story, 1988.

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