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Dr. Amanda Ruth joined the College of Charleston communication faculty in 2005. Dr. Ruth teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, including Introduction to Communication Theory, Business Communication, Public Relations Practices, Public Relations Campaigns, and Risk/Crisis Communication. In addition to her teaching background in corporate communication, she has professional experience in public relations.

Dr. Ruth came to the College of Charleston from the University of Florida, where she earned her Ph.D. in Agricultural Communication. During her graduate work, Dr. Ruth received the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Jack Fry Teaching Excellence Award and the University of Florida’s 2005 Graduate Student Teacher of the Year Award for her role as a graduate instructor. Prior to earning her doctorate, she earned her master’s degree from the University of Florida in agricultural communication and her bachelor’s degree from Clemson University in agricultural economics.

Her research interests include communication about scientific issues, organizational public relations, and media relations. Dr. Ruth has authored numerous journal articles and conference articles. She has received several recognitions, including Outstanding Graduate Student Research Paper for two consecutive years from The Association for Communication Excellence, as well as Outstanding Faculty Research Paper in 2005 and 2006. Most recently, Dr. Ruth’s dissertation, titled “Sources of Agricultural News: The Media Relations Environment of Agricultural Communication Professionals” won the 2006 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Association for Communication Excellence. Dr. Ruth has both authored and co-authored several conference papers presented at the Association for Educators in Mass Communication and Journalism and the Association for Communication Excellence.  Her journal publications include articles in Science Communication, Communication Quarterly, Journal of Extension, and Journal of Applied Communication.

Currently, Dr. Ruth is working on a co-authored book that will provide a resource to the agricultural and natural sciences field for conducting theory-based research in an applied context. This book is intended to be a handbook for academicians and practitioners in enhancing the quality as well as the value of research conducted to inform practice.

Dr. Ruth currently serves as the advisor of the College of Charleston's PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) chapter, is a member of the Department of Communication Graduate Committee, and chairs the College's Committee on Graduate Education, Continuing Education and Special Programs. In addition to her campus service, Dr. Ruth is a member of the Charleston Young Professionals, the Public Relations Society of America, and the Association for Communication Excellence.  She also serves as the Collegiate Relations Director for the Charleston Chapter of the American Marketing Association.

Fun Fact: Dr. Ruth is the only faculty member at the College of Charleston to have a permanent office at the North Campus.

Sample Research Project: The most fun Dr. Ruth had while conducting research was through a qualitative study that investigated student opinions and perceptions toward the portrayal of agriculture in popular media, specifically the reality television genre. Through focus groups, Dr. Ruth, along with her co-authors (Lundy and Park), asked students to share their perceptions of agriculture and "life on the farm"; following initial discussion, students were exposed to clips from the popular reality television show The Simple Life and asked their opinions on the realistic nature of the clips. Results were interesting and varying; however, overall students who had previous exposure to "real" agricultural situations suggested that the portrayals were unrealistic and staged, while the students who had limited to zero previous exposure to "real" agricultural situations believed that portrayals from the clips were realistic with a bit of exaggeration to make them humorous. Read the entire study in Journal of Applied Communication, along with a follow-up to the study on reality television viewership in Communication Quarterly.

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