Faculty/Staff Directory
Dr. Soumitro Sen
Assistant Professor of Public Relation
| Biography: | Dr. Soumitro Sen primarily teaches undergraduate and graduate level classes in public relations at Middle Georgia State University. Having taught at the university level for a decade and a half, he also instructs courses in the areas of media studies, and communication. Soumitro has a PhD in Communication, with an emphasis in Public Relations, from the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. A former newspaper reporter and media relations professional, he also has an M.A. in Journalism from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, and an earlier M.A. in English from Jadavpur University in India. Soumitro's research interests span the areas of public relations and new media, crisis communication and culture, and health communication in marginalized communities. His research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Public Relations Inquiry, Health Communication, and Journal of Creative Communications. He has also presented his research numerous times at international conferences such as the annual conferences of the National Communication Association (NCA), International Communication Association (ICA), and International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference (ICRCC). Besides being an academic, Soumitro is a painter by hobby. He has had two exhibitions of his oil paintings at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata, India. He is also a bilingual poet, writing in English and Bengali. A number of his poems have appeared in the |
| Syllabi: | |
| Courses: | Spring 2006 COMM 1100 Human Communication NMAC 2108 Introduction to Social Media COMM 2202 Introduction to Mass Communication MCOM 5000 Public Relations Foundations and Theory Fall 2025 COMM 1100 Human Communication NMAC 2108 Introduction to Social Media NMAC 3460 Media Criticism MCOM 4030 Crisis Management and Social Media Engagement |
| Education: (All institutions attended and degrees or credentials earned) | Ph.D. Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (August 2014). Major: Public Relations Minor: Health Communication Dissertation: How postmodern public relations practitioners use social media in their activism. Chair: Dr. Mohan J. Dutta (Purdue University/National University of Singapore/Massey University) M.A. Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno (May 2006). Major: Journalism Thesis: How journalists perceive editorial policies related to coverage of diversity. M.A. Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India (2002). Major: English B.A. Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India (2000). Major: English Minor: Mathematics |
| Professional Experience: | • Global Media Relations Specialist, Office of Marketing and Media, Purdue University (Oct 2008 – July 2010) o Developed news story ideas pertaining to Purdue University for the media around the world and monitored the coverage. o Wrote press releases and sent them to appropriate media outlets. o Worked with clients to create strategies to publicize them. o Generated publicity for various entities on campus including International Programs, Enrollment, Student Services, School of Veterinary Medicine, University Residences, and the Latino, Black and Native American Cultural Centers. • Reporter, The Union, a daily newspaper owned by the Nevada County Publishing Company, Grass Valley, CA. (Jan 2006 – Oct 2008) o Covered education, health, courts and diversity beats. o Wrote features and general assignment stories for the front page. o Created multi-media slideshows and podcasts for the newspaper’s Web site. o Edited the weekly entertainment supplement. o Took photographs for stories. o Earned more than 1,250 bylines. • Intern, Office of Marketing and Communication, University of Nevada, Reno (May 2005 – Aug 2005) o Wrote news stories for the university Web site and the alumni magazine. • Intern, Reno Gazette-Journal, largest daily newspaper in northern Nevada (Feb 2005 – April 2005) o Covered local news and events for the city desk. • Freelance Writer, Reno News and Review, popular weekly in Reno, NV (Aug 2004 – Dec 2005) o Wrote investigative stories and feature articles. • Intern, Sparks Tribune, the main local daily of the city of Sparks, NV (May 2004 – Aug 2004) o Covered local events, wrote features and hard news. • Digital Content producer, Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno (Jan 2004 – May 2004; Aug 2005 – Dec 2005) o Covered a variety of on-campus events, ranging from nationally and internationally acclaimed guest speakers to changes in school curriculum for the school’s Web site. Generated story ideas for the site. • Summer Intern, Bates India, a leading advertising agency in Kolkata, India. (March 2003 – July 2003) Managed projects, wrote copy, conducted market surveys and did visualizing as a summer intern. |
| Publications and Scholarships: (Last 5 Years) | Publications Sen, S. (2023). Subliminal Voices: Barriers to healthcare and proposed interventions by international students and their families at a large research university in the Midwest. Frontiers in Communication. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1180106 Sen, S. (2022). Organizational activism undertaken and its ramifications faced by public relations practitioners, examined through the lens of postmodernism. Public Relations Inquiry. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/2046147X211071032 Sen, S. & Dutta, U. (2017). They came by boat: The 2008 Terrorist Attack on Mumbai. In A. M. George & K. Kwansah-Aidoo (Eds.), Culture and Crisis Communication: Transboundary Cases from Nonwestern Perspectives. Hoboken, NY: Wiley-Blackwell. Dutta, M.J., Hingson, L.; Anaele, A.; Sen, S; & Jones, K. (2015). Narratives of Food Insecurity in Tippecanoe County, Indiana: Economic constraints in local meanings of hunger. Health Communication. DOI:10.1080/10410236.2014.987467. Dutta, M.J., & Sen, S. (2014). Coverage of the economic crisis in the three most-circulated English dailies in India: Ideologies of neoliberalism. Journal of Creative Communications, 9(3), 199-213. Competitively selected conference presentations George, A., & Sen, S. (2022, March). Bridging the Gap: Twitter Use by Government during Covid 19 Epidemic, the Case of Nigerian and Indian Health Ministries. Peer-reviewed paper presented by my co-author Dr. Amiso George at the International Crisis & Risk Communication Conference (ICRCC) in Orlando, Florida. Sen, S., & George, A. (2019, March). Crisis communication in an age of climate change. Peer- reviewed paper presented at the International Crisis & Risk Communication Conference (ICRCC) in Orlando, Florida. George, A. & Sen, S. (2018, March). Culture centered corporate apologia: A review of strategies across three countries: USA, India and Nigeria. Peer-reviewed paper presented at the International Crisis & Risk Communication Conference (ICRCC) in Orlando, Florida. Sen, S. (2017, May). Subliminal Voices: Barriers to Healthcare and Proposed Interventions by International Students and their families in a large research university in the Midwest. Peer-reviewed paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) in San Diego. |
| Awards and Honors: | • Recipient of the RSCA-HEERF additional employment grant worth $4,000 from the College of Liberal Arts, California State University, Long Beach, October 2022. • Recipient of the Pedagogical Stipend to Integrate the Teaching of Ethics in CSULB Courses, worth $3,000 awarded by the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership, California State University, Long Beach, Spring 2019. • Bilsland Strategic Initiatives Fellowship, worth $53,154 awarded by Purdue University Graduate School, Spring 2012. The grant was worth a total of $53,154. • Florence Rittenhouse/Edith Rittenhouse Hedges Scholarship from the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno, Spring 2005. • Walter and Vivian Cox Scholarship from the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno, Spring 2004. • Sharmistha Basu Memorial Grant from Jadavpur University, India, Winter 1999. |
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