Meet the Adapting Authors

William F. Kelvin, Ph.D., Professor of Communication Studies, Florida SouthWestern State College

William Kelvin earned his Ph.D. in communication and information from Kent State University in northeast Ohio and his master’s degree in communication studies from California State University, Chico. Dr. Kelvin’s research focuses primarily on advancing environmental sustainability through analysis of environmental discourse in media. He taught his first public speaking course in 2004 and began teaching at Florida SouthWestern State College in fall of 2020.

A background in competitive speaking informs Dr. Kelvin’s public speaking lessons. An undergraduate on his university’s speech and debate team for three years and volunteer teaching assistant for a year after that, he also competed in the Three Minute Thesis competition three times as a doctoral student, being selected a finalist twice and once winning the People’s Choice Award. Dr. Kelvin also teaches journalism courses.

Katharine E. O’Connor, Ph.D., Professor of Communication Studies, Florida SouthWestern State College

Katharine E. O’Connor received a Master’s Degree in Communication with a certificate in Public Service from Monmouth University and received her Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. Dr. O’Connor’s research focuses on community-engaged learning, international education, diversity, inclusion, and equity. Dr. O’Connor enjoys integrating student-led research into her courses, and she has partnered with her colleagues to develop a new course at FSW called the “Creative Capstone”. She also enjoys taking students to study abroad and has recently returned from Italy with her class!

Jamie C. Votraw, M.A., Professor of Communication Studies, Florida SouthWestern State College

Jamie C. Votraw is a Professor of Communication Studies at Florida SouthWestern State College. Professor Votraw received her Master’s Degree in Communication from the University at Albany and currently stands as a Ph.D. candidate for a doctorate in Political Communication. Professor Votraw’s research focuses primarily on the impact of media use and information exposure on political attitudes and polarization. She teaches Public Speaking, Communication Studies, Mass Communication, Political Communication, and a student-led research course called “Creative Capstone.” Professor Votraw enjoys taking a policy-inspired approach to public speaking instruction and encourages students to investigate and speak out about socio-political issues that matter to them.