Communication and Journalism Archives

Torrey Lawson

Mr. Torrey Lawson is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and educator with over 20 years of experience across national and international media. He has worked as a producer at NBC News and ABC News, and reported internationally for CGTN Digital and BBC Worldwide. He has also served as the Joan Konner Visiting Professor of Journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and as the inaugural Stokes Visiting Professor of Journalism at Loyola University New Orleans, where he developed courses on digital storytelling, investigative reporting, film, and media studies, as also a high-enrollment course on sports, media, and politics. Besides, Mr. Lawson has taught investigative reporting at UC Berkeley. He is currently a Fulbright Specialist and Visiting Fellow at Fundação Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro, where his research examines how digital platforms are used for recruitment and exploitation across borders; it has a particular focus on human trafficking networks, platform accountability, and the global implications of AI-driven media systems.

As a Fulbright Specialist in India, Mr. Lawson will work with students and faculty at M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women in Chennai, leading workshops and lectures on investigative journalism, digital verification, and global storytelling in the evolving media landscape.

Gabriel Gomez

Dr. Gabriel Gomez earned his PhD in radio, television, and film from Northwestern University, Illinois, in 1996. From 1998, he has been a faculty member at Chicago State University, an institution committed to social justice, where he is currently a full professor in the Department of Computing, Information and Mathematical Sciences, and Technology. His numerous publications and presentations reflect research interests that span library science, technology in education, community service, and big data. He has received numerous awards and grants, including two previous Fulbright scholarships for India, which bracket more than a decade of interaction in that country through teaching, publishing, and numerous conferences. Throughout this time, he has also remained politically active with a number of groups dedicated to activism and nonviolence. He is a representative for Local 4100 of the University Professionals of Illinois (UPI), a union of the American Federation of Teachers. Other community efforts involve service as co-executive director of the Legacy Project Education Initiative and as a board member of its parent organization, the Legacy Project. In 2020, he was part of two Faculty Resource Network Scholar-in-Residence programs at New York University. He is scheduled to retire in August 2026 as a professor emeritus.

Frank Barnas

Mr. Frank Barnas is one of the leading global scholars in developing programs in broadcast journalism and mass media. His academic history includes teaching in Bulgaria and Lithuania, delivering seminars in Russia, developing online coursework in Germany, and working with study abroad programs in Russia and Ireland. He has also professional experience as a television news reporter and news/talk radio host.

As an active documentary producer with credits ranging from Antarctica to Moldova, his projects have received nearly 60 awards from festivals, including from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Telly Awards, and Worldfest Houston. His latest documentary, The Cost of Caring, examines the high suicide rate within the veterinary community. It has been distributed on PBS stations throughout the U.S. as well as on Vimeo and Amazon Prime.

Mr. Barnas holds degrees from the University of Missouri, the University of Texas, and Florida State University. His ninth and tenth textbooks will be released in 2026. When he is not in the studio, he hikes the Appalachian Trail, enjoys rock climbing, and produces the Voca Vacay travel podcast with his wife Marie.