Katrina Overby Headshot

Katrina Overby

Assistant Professor

School of Communication
College of Liberal Arts
[email protected]
585-475-2098
Office Hours
Monday: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Wednesday: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Office Location
EAS-3200
Office Mailing Address
George Eastman Building 1 Lomb Memorial Dr, Rochester, NY 14623 Office #3200

Katrina Overby

Assistant Professor

School of Communication
College of Liberal Arts

Bio

Katrina is an activist scholar who is interested broadly in media, race, sexuality, and gender. Specifically, her research interests are in: Black Twitter, social media and culture, African American cinema, race and identity in television and popular culture, sports media, and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). She is a native of Indianapolis, IN and received her doctorate from The Media School at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN in August 2019. Her dissertation was titled: Doin' it for the Culture: Defining Blackness, Culture, and Identity on Black Twitter. Katrina received a MS in Mass Communications with a specialization in News Media Management from Oklahoma State University in 2011 and her BA in Mass Communications with a minor in Broadcast Journalism from an HBCU, Rust College, in Holly Springs, MS in 2009.

She has taught several courses at Indiana University, East Tennessee State University (online) and the University of Indianapolis. Some of the courses include: Digital Media Management and Applications, Reporting, Writing, and Editing, Race, Gender, and the Media, Public Speaking, Media and Society, and Social CRM in Digital Media. Additionally, she has served as an Assistant Instructor for Visual Communications, Design and Production, and Media and a Diverse Society. Katrina also worked as a part-time graduate assistant at the Center for Innovation Teaching and Learning (CITL) and the Black Film Center/Archive (BFC/A) at IU.

[email protected]
585-475-2098
Personal Links
Personal Website

Currently Teaching

COMM-716
Communication and Identity
3 Credits
This course engages students in an analytical and applied exploration of the connection between self, identity, communication, media, and society. Drawing from classical and contemporary readings, as well as current events, the course will address topics such as identity and discourse, performance, intersectionality, and representation. Communication has been central to the development of ideas about collective and individual identities. Therefore, the course encourages students to critically examine the political implications of identity construction in our social world. Finally, the course examines how popular notions of identity function in media texts, corporate settings, and digital environments.
COMM-361
Reporting in Specialized Fields
3 Credits
An in-depth study, analysis, and practicum of a selected advanced and focused subject in professional journalism. Specific subject matter of the course varies according to faculty assigned and is published when the course is offered; students may enroll in this class no more than twice as long as the specific subject matter is different. Examples include education journalism, health journalism, business journalism, reporting public affairs, sports journalism, editorial (or opinion) writing, and reporting for alternative media.
COMM-201
Public Speaking
3 Credits
The public speaking course is designed to equip the student with knowledge of the theories and principles necessary for formal public speaking. Informative and persuasive speeches are the focus with emphasis on organization, evidence, language use, strategy, delivery, and effective use of media aids. Public speaking is generally offered each semester.
COMM-202
Mass Communications
3 Credits
The history and development of U.S. media, theoretical aspects of mass communications, the composition of media audiences, law and regulation of mass communications and how the media affect and are affected by society are presented.

In the News

  • December 3, 2021

    man in a corn field looking at a stalk.

    Growing faculty diversity

    RIT has modernized its approach to recruiting faculty members to improve representation. Assistant Professor Eli Borrego, pictured above, is an expert in the genetics and biochemistry of plant-microbe and plant-insect communication and ecology, and he was introduced to RIT through the Future Faculty Career Exploration Program.

  • December 3, 2021

    portraits of Katrina Overby and Donathan Brown.

    Podcast: Building A Diverse Faculty at RIT 

    Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 53: RIT is diversifying its faculty in many ways, and the Future Faculty Career Exploration Program is one of the most important avenues for doing so. Katrina Overby, assistant professor in RIT’s School of Communication and a past participant in the program, talks with Donathan Brown, assistant provost and assistant vice president for faculty diversity and recruitment, about why the program is seen as a model nationally in launching the careers of underrepresented scholars.

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