Pittsburg State Department of Communication

09/04/2026

🎉 Come celebrate with us in Grubbs Hall! 🎂

Join us in the Grubbs Hall first floor lobby at noon on Friday, September 25th for birthday cake and special guests as we celebrate the 150th birthday of Ora Grubbs. 🏛️

Then, stick around for the 1 p.m. ribbon cutting on the 4th floor as we celebrate another exciting milestone--the new Pitt State Press!!

08/21/2026

Join us in celebrating Dr. Kate Allred on her new role as the Director of Media Production!

Dr. Allred’s dedication to our students, hands-on leadership, and vision for media education continue to elevate everything we do in the Department of Communication. We couldn’t be more excited to see where she takes the program next.

08/18/2026

We could not be prouder to cheer Zech Boswell ('25) on, celebrate his achievements, and support every step of this exciting journey! Come see The Ferryman this Friday at 7:00 PM at the Bicknell Center for the Arts—admission is free of charge!

It's not every day we get to host an independent film screening, and even more unique when it's one produced by a Pitt State grad.

“The Ferryman,” a movie written and directed by 2025 graduate Zechariah Boswell (Pittsburg State Department of Communication), will show at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 in the Dotty and Bill Miller Theater in the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts.

The movie was filmed at multiple locations throughout the Pittsburg area, including Pittsburg State University, and features several actors and production crew members who have Pitt State affiliations.

The premise: A young man wakes up with no memories and only questions. He travels through the void, which is the meeting place of life and death. He must face his fears and decide if he truly wants to remember who he was.

The trailer for the film earned Boswell a first-place award from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.

Admission is free to the public.

Trailer (YouTube): pittstate.edu/theferryman

07/08/2026

A big thank you to our friends in the Pitt State Music Department for making our students aware of these opportunities.

Recent grads with a degree in Music, Theater, or Communication: The following jobs are open at the University of Iowa School of Music and Hancher Auditorium!

🎵 Programming & Engagement Specialist -$50,000
Bachelor’s in Music, Arts Administration, Theater, Dance, Communications

🎵 Evening/Weekend Music Library Associate – School of Music
Bachelor’s in Music or Library Science - $45,500 to $52,000

🎵 Production Manager -$70,000 to $77,500
Bachelor’s in Theatre or Stage Management

🎵 Production Coordinator -$45,000 to $50,000
Bachelor’s in Music, Arts Administration, Theater, Dance, Communications

Details: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BM3EDJfGn/

05/18/2026

Congratulations to Garrett Hughes, who successfully defended his Master's thesis: "Rhetorical Frames in Daily Fantasy Sports Promotion: Referral-Code Creators and Official Advertisers." Great work, Garrett!

05/18/2026

We are incredibly proud to announce that Lauren Shepard has officially completed her Master of Arts in Communication, graduating with Honors! Lauren successfully defended her thesis, “Adapting Genderlect Styles: Toward a Genderlect Spectrum Model (GSM).”
We can’t wait to see the amazing things you’ll continue to achieve! 🥳👏

05/14/2026

During our annual awards celebration, Dr. Kristen Livingston was awarded the 2026 Faculty of the Year by the seniors! We couldn’t agree more that’s she an outstanding teacher, mentor, and cheerleader! We’re lucky to call her our very own! Please help us congratulate her!

05/12/2026

Please join us in congratulating Mariah Laman on the successful completion of the Master of Arts in Communication degree and graduating w/ honors! Mariah successfully defended her applied graduate project--- “Reducing Uncertainty for New Transfer Students: Improving Institutional Communication of Transfer Resources” -- a timely study focusing on improving communication and support for transfer students navigating higher education.

05/11/2026

We’re celebrating that Hailey Goodrich successfully defended her graduate applied project, “Closing the Gap in Crawford County: Enhancing Collaboration Through Interorganizational Communication.” Hailey also recently accepted a position as the Community Resource Manager at Mosaic. Congratulations, Hailey!

05/07/2026

Congratulations to Jada Ortiz on successfully defending her Master’s thesis, “Religiously Online: A Digital Media Communication Audit of a Midwestern Church According to the Frameworks of Uses and Gratifications Theory and Affordance.” We celebrate this accomplishment and are excited to share that Jada has been fully funded into the Ph.D. program at the University of Oklahoma! We wish her continued success as she begins this next chapter of her teaching and academic journey.