Tom Gardner

Biographical Sketch

Tom Gardner is assistant professor of communication at Westfield State College, Westfield, MA.
He was formerly managing director of the Northampton-based Media Education Foundation, which he helped develop into the nation’s leading producer and distributor of educational videos on media and culture. (See listings at www.mediaed.org ).
Before joining the staff at MEF, he served as public affairs officer and editor of Harvard Divinity Bulletin for Harvard Divinity School, senior editor at the Harvard Institute for International Development, and director of communications and public education for the Union of Concerned
Scientists. He has taught communication courses for eight years, including courses in Communication Law, Persuasive Communication, Political Communication, Advanced Public Relations, and Issues in Journalism. A native Southerner, Tom became a prominent activist and leader in the Southern civil rights and national peace movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s. He later became an award-winning senior political reporter, columnist, and city editor at the Pulitzer Prize-winning Montgomery Advertiser. He subsequently served as public relations director for the Alabama State Employees Association. He holds a B.A. in sociology from the University of Virginia, an M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Georgia, a Master in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Tom’s dissertation research focused on a case study of journalism as persuasion. He has published in numerous national publications, has spoken at more than 100 campuses, and is an award-winning photographer. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Men’s Resource Center for Change and the School Council of Fort River School in Amherst, MA. He is a member of the National Communication Association, the Union for Democratic Communication, and the Action Coalition for Media Education.

Current Lecture Topics: (fee available on request) (all incorporate media clips)

“Journalism as Persuasion: The Case of ABC 20/20 and Mumia Abu-Jamal”

“War Rhetoric and Mass Media”

“Mass Media and the First Amendment in War Time”

“Race, Mass Media, and Mass Incarceration”

“Men Overcoming a Violent Culture – Defining our Humanity”

Contact Information:
Tom Gardner (413) 572-8058 - email: tgardner@wsc.ma.edu