Photo of Kirsten Kozolanka

Kirsten Kozolanka

Professor Emerita, School of Journalism and Communication

Email:kobra@wen.net

Biography

Cross-appointed to the Communication Program and the Journalism Program of the School of Journalism and Communication

Faculty Associate, Institute of European and Russian Studies (EURUS)

Member, Board of Management, Centre for Indigenous Research, Culture, Language and Education (CIRCLE)

Non-Academic Experience

  • Assistant press secretary to a leader of a political party on Parliament Hill
  • Communications advisor to a cabinet minister (Culture and Communication) at Queen’s Park
  • Communications manager of a public opinion research program and senior communications assistant in a strategic communications management unit for a federal government department
  • Co-edited a human rights magazine, edited a student newspaper, did freelance writing, and produced communications materials for NGOs, unions and activist groups

Current Research

  • the publicity state
  • government communication
  • alternative media
  • critical media literacy 

Sample Publications

Publicity and the Canadian State: Critical Communication Perspectives, Kirsten Kozolanka, ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, forthcoming.

“In Whose Interest? Government Communication and Public Accountability” in Publicity and the Canadian State: Critical Communication Perspectives, Kirsten Kozolanka, ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,forthcoming.

“Communicating Strategically in Government” in Handbook of Strategic Communication. Ansgar Zerfass and Derina Holtzhausen, eds. London and New York: Routledge. 2013. 

Alternative Media in Canada. Kirsten Kozolanka, Patricia Mazepa & David Skinner, eds. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2012.

“’Buyer’ Beware: Pushing the Boundaries of Marketing Communications in Government” in Political Marketing in Canada, Alex Marland, Thierry Giasson & Jennifer Lees-Marshment, eds. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2012.

“Public Service Educational Broadcasting in Canada: Between the Market and the Alternative Margins” inAlternative Media in Canada. Kirsten Kozolanka, Patricia Mazepa & David Skinner, eds. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2012.

“Unworthy Citizens, Poverty and the Media: A Case Study in Marginalized Voices, Alternative Media and Oppositional Communication” in Studies in Political Economy, 2011. 86:55-82.

“Communication by Stealth: The New Common Sense in Government Communication” in How Ottawa Spends 2009-2010: Economic Upheaval and Political Dysfunction, Allan Maslove, ed. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009.

“The Politics of Media Literacy and the Struggle for Democratic Citizenship and Media: Lessons from Ontario, Canada” in Information and Media Literacy: Criticism, History and Policy, Marcus Leaning, ed. Santa Rosa, CA: Informing Science Press, 2009.

The Power of Persuasion: The Politics of the New Right in Ontario. Montreal: (Black Rose Press, 2007).

Guest editor, Our Schools/Our Selves. Issue theme: Media Education and Educating the Media, Fall 2007 (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

Additional Activities

Board of Directors, Canadian Communication Association, 2011-

Co-chair, Canadian Communication Association annual conference, Congress 09, Carleton University, 2009

Founder and director, Canadian Alternative Media Archive (project in development) (Carleton Institutional Grant, 2009; SSHRC Insight Development grant, 2011) http://www.alternativearchive.org

Member, Advisory Board, Our Schools/Our Selves (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

Selected Courses Taught

  • COMM 2301 Persuasion and Public Life
  • COMM 3409 Alternative Media
  • COMM 4307 Political Communication and the Publicity State (new title as of 2015)
  • JOUR 5500 Journalism and Society II
  • JOUR 5909 MJ Thesis Proposal Seminar (Direct-Entry Students)