Dr. Birgit Wassmuth
Professor and Chair

SO 5116, #2207
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, GA 30144

Phone: 770.423.6298
Fax: 770.423.6740
Email: bwassmut@kennesaw.edu

Ph.D., University of Minnesota (1983)
M.A., University of Minnesota (1976)
B.A., State College of Applied Art, Kessel, Germany (1973)

Dr. Birgit Wassmuth joined Kennesaw State University in January 2006 as Chair of the Department of Communication. She brings a wealth of professional and academic experience to this position.

Wassmuth, originally from Germany, came to this country initially on a Fulbright scholarship to study advertising psychology at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in mass communication from that institution. Her professional experience includes working in advertising and public relations agencies in Germany and the U.S.

Before coming to Kennesaw State University , Wassmuth taught at Drake University (Des Moines), University of Missouri (Columbia), University of Florida (Gainesville), Temple University (Philadelphia), and the University of Kassel (Germany).

An active member of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) she served as an officer for the Visual Communication division for several years and as its Head in 1990-1991.

Wassmuth currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Collaboration for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, an alliance of colleges, universities and tribally-affiliated institutions that supports and promotes outstanding college teaching and learning.

Her undergraduate teaching areas include Advertising, Visual Communication, Photojournalism, and Race & Ethnicity in the Media. The focus of her graduate teaching is Integrated Corporate Communication. She also regularly taught courses in Semiotics and Computer Art in the Honors College. At KSU, she is teaching COM 4425 Gender, Race and Media. Throughout her career, she has been an early adopter of technology in the classroom.

Wassmuth, a 2003 graduate of the Journalism Leadership Institute in Diversity (JLID), is now a Master Teacher in that program. She facilitates workshops in “Personality Types and Leadership” for future administrators in Higher Education.

A n artist by calling, a designer by training, and a researcher at heart, Wassmuth has disseminated her creative work and scholarship internationally through exhibitions, design, book chapters, journal articles, proceedings, and conference papers.

Wassmuth, whose roots go back to Tanzania (then German East Africa ), brings an international perspective to her leadership and teaching. She encourages out-of-the-box thinking and promotes collaborative and cross-disciplinary learning.