Department of Communication and Theatre
Students in Communication and Theatre find many opportunities to put their developing skills into action, create network connections, and learn industry standards through professional internships, conference presentations, practicums, publications, and productions.
The AUM Communication Program Helped Me Find My Career Passion.
Helped Me Find My Career Passion
Hall of Fame
Mike Winkelman
AUM Ida Belle Young Distinguished Research and Distinguished Teaching Professor, Mike Winkelman (right) was the 2022 inductee into the Alabama Conference of Theatre Hall of Fame honoring pioneers in Alabama theatre as presented by Jeff Glass, current President of ACT and 2004 graduate of AUM, BA English. The award ceremony was held at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival as part of the annual ACT Summit on Saturday, August 20. Several AUM alumni from various departments were on hand, either in person or virtually, to offer their gratitude for their experiential academic opportunities and congratulations on this well deserved honor.
ACT is a premiere resource in Alabama to improve, encourage, create, train, network, promote, and maintain theatre through their five divisions: Theatre for Youth, Secondary, College/University, Community, and Professional. ACT holds theatre festivals and provides other resources to theatre artists throughout Alabama and beyond.
Award Recipients
AUM recently participated in the Regional level Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
The festival represents Colleges and Universities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands, and Virginia.
We are extremely proud to announce that these AUM students were recognized:
| Award Recipient | Award |
|---|---|
| Tikyra Caldwell | Regional First Place Theatre Design and Technology |
| Tabitha Neyerlin | National Runner Up Dramaturgy |
| Tabitha Neyerlin | Special Recognition for Best Program Note |
| Yahzane Palmer | Honorable Mention Costume Design |
| Jalan Pedonesi | Stage Management Team Awards Gala |
Students also participated in Stage Management and Performance events. They were able to present their research and creative works, receive external feedback and experiential opportunities, audition, interview, attend round table conversations, performances, showcases, new play readings, masterclasses in every discipline, and network with other students and guest artists.
Department Programs
Department Laboratories
Student Faculty Interviews
Department of Communication and Theatre
Katherine Irwin
Senior Lecturer | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Katherine Irwin is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Theatre and teaches media writing, audio production and sound reporting, media law and public communication. She serves as faculty advisor for The AUMnibus, has mentored students recognized at BEA and SEJC competitions, and received Alabama Press Association grants for an AUM summer outreach media camp introducing high schoolers to audio-visual storytelling.
Before teaching, she worked as a newspaper journalist, graphic designer and radio host. She’s interviewed Glen Alyn and Chris Strachwitz about Texas songster Mance Lipscomb, whose legacy she researched this past summer at the University of Texas Briscoe Center archives. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Communication from Auburn University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Texas A&M University.
Matthew Killmeier
Department Chair; Associate Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Matthew A. Killmeier (Ph.D. University of Iowa) is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication and Theatre. His research focuses on theatre of the imagination: radio and audio drama. Recent work has considered conspiracy-investigative horror podcasts (i.e., The Black Tapes), 1930s-40s horror radio dramas, and World War II morale dramas. He teaches Media and Culture, Opinion Writing, Horror Film, and Intercultural Communication. Off the clock he likes to read, watch films, cook, shop at thrift stores, hike, and woodwork.
Eunyoung Kim
Associate Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Eunyoung Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Theatre at Auburn University at Montgomery. She specializes in public relations and sport communication, with research focusing on public relations, sport fandom, and social media engagement. Dr. Kim teaches courses in public relations, sport communication, and media research methods, and she advises the AUM chapter of the Public Relations Council of Alabama (PRCA-AUM).
Michael Krek
Assistant Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Professor Krek teaches Theatre Design and Technology at AUM. He also serves as Theatre AUM’s Technical Director. Professor Krek received his BA in Communication and Theatre from AUM, and his Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre from the University of Florida. His research is primarily centered on “sustainability” and how a sustainable approach to theatre design and construction can elevate artistic creativity. Professor Krek has over 30 years of professional theatre experience in a diverse number of fields ranging from design and construction to performance and direction. He is currently the Region IV Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Vice Chair for Design, Technology, and Management.
“The job of the artist is to remind people what they have chosen to forget”
Arthur Miller
Kyeongwon Kwon
Assistant Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Kyeongwon Kwon is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication specializing in advertising. Her teaching and research focus on sustainability advertising, corporate social responsibility advertising, and social media marketing. She has taught a variety of undergraduate courses in advertising, marketing communication, and mass communication at AUM and Florida State University, where she earned both her master’s and Ph.D. degrees.
Dr. Kwon’s research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including the International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Media Psychology, and Corporate Communications: An International Journal, among others. Through her teaching and research, she strives to provide insights that prepare students for careers in the communication and advertising industries while helping the field adopt pro-environmental and socially responsible advertising strategies.
Kendra Love
Lecturer | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Kendra Love is a strategic communicator and veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience in newspapers, magazines, corporate communications, and political strategy. She began her journalism career at 16, advancing from reporter to newspaper publisher, and has worked in both daily and weekly papers, as well as in magazine design and feature writing.
Kendra holds a bachelor’s degree in print journalism and a master’s in strategic communication from Troy University and is pursuing her Ph.D. in strategic media at Liberty University. She most recently served as director of communications and marketing for the Greater Nashville Apartment Association and the Tennessee Apartment Association. She spent nearly three years in political communications, contributing to major legislative battles and playing a key role in the Supreme Court case Allen v. Milligan, which upheld Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Her work has earned multiple Alabama Press Association awards, recognition as Troy University’s Print Journalism Alumna of the Year (2022), and honors including Communicator of the Year by the Alabama Association of Conservation Districts. At AUM, she teaches journalism and communication, advises AUMLive, and was named Outstanding Advisor of the Year in 2025.
Faith Roberts
Administrative Associate Theatre Operations | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Neil Seibel
Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Neil David Seibel (he/him) is a multifaceted artist with a career spanning acting, directing, playwriting and education. His directorial work has been showcased at venues such as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Mill Mountain Theatre, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Teatro Prometeo in Miami and MiniTeatern in Stockholm, Sweden. A proud member of Actors Equity, he has appeared Off Broadway in New York City and nationwide on such stages as the Denver Center Theatre Company, the Alley Theatre in Houston, Actors Theatre of Louisville and six seasons in the Rocky Mountains as a company member of Theatre Aspen. Onscreen credits include the role of Lewis in the TV musical Passages: Lewis & Clark, the award-winning indie film Unspoken, and the dance-theatre film Clown at War. Seibel is a playwright whose works, including The Normal Giant, Paternity Leave and The Daughters of Abraham, have been staged across the country and abroad. His solo show, My Appalachia, was recorded at the LA Improv and featured on PBS. A Kentucky native who now resides in Alabama, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Kentucky University and an MFA from the University of California, Irvine. He currently serves as a Distinguished Teaching Professor at Auburn University at Montgomery.
Samuel Wallace
Distinguished Senior Lecturer | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Samuel Wallace has a B.A. in Communication from Lipscomb University and an M.F.A. in Theatre Arts from The University of Louisville. Before arriving at Auburn University at Montgomery, he was a Professor of Theatre at Faulkner University, and an Instructor of Speech and Theatre at Lipscomb University. He has acted in and/or directed shows professionally for theatres in Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, and Alabama. Mr. Wallace began teaching at AUM in 2008, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018, and was awarded the Distinguished Lecturer Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2018-2019. In the River Region, he has acted in and/or directed shows for Theatre AUM, Faulkner University Dinner Theatre, Millbrook Community Players, Prattville’s Way Off Broadway Theatre, Wetumpka Depot Players, and the Pike Road Theatre Company.
Val Winkelman
Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Val Winkelman is an Auburn University at Montgomery Distinguished Research Professor and received the Alumni Association Award for outstanding service. She is one of the campus advisors for Omicron Delta Kappa and a member of Alpha Alpha Alpha Honor Society for First Gen students. She is an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and is a Past Fellow of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans. She has been a Distinguished Guest for the Texas Educational Theatre Association. She is one of the Costume Designers for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and has been serving as the Associate Artistic Director, Production Manager, and one of the Costume Designers for over 35 seasons at the Texas Shakespeare Festival. Val is the American College Theatre Festival National Co-Chair and former National Chair for Design, Technology and Management. She has been awarded the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Gold Medallion. She received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and named a Distinguished Alumna of the University of North Texas where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Advising for the following
- All students majoring in Communication with a Theatre concentration
Yowei Kang
Assistant Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Yowei Kang (Ph.D., The University of Texas at El Paso) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication and Theatre at Auburn University at Montgomery. My research focuses on new media design, digital game research, visual communication, new media & political communication campaigns, and experiential rhetoric. My works were published in the International Journal of Strategic Communication, Howard Journal of Communication, Creative Communication, and Intercultural Communication Studies. I also co-edited Asian histories and heritages in videogames (Routledge, 2024). I received government funding to support my research in location-based advertising and consumer privacy management strategies. Taiwan’s Ministry of Education also supported my pedagogical grants to study the integration of gamification and digital game designs into college classrooms. Before joining AUM, I spent over ten years teaching in Taiwan, with most of my courses focusing on multimedia content design and production. In my spare time, I like to play video games and interact with my Maltese and Yorkies
