Comm Arts Faculty Profiles

Peter Seely

    Peter Seely, M.A., is a professor of communication arts at Benedictine University, where he has been teaching since 1984, and chair of the communication department since 1999.

    Seely’s educational career began as a graduate assistant at University of Illinois-Chicago in 1978, where he received his master of arts in communications the following year. Before joining Benedictine, he taught speech and mass media courses at Northeastern Illinois University and Chicago State University, among others.

    Besides teaching for over 25 years, Seely has extensive experience in media productions. He has written, produced, researched and directed everything from commercials to documentaries.

    Popular culture is another of Seely’s long-standing interests. He has moderated symposia, hosted lectures, directed media workshop programs and served as an area chair at the Popular Cultural Association of America Conference, discussing such topics as slapstick comedy, early television and music. He contributed a chapter to one of Dr. Luigi Manca’s books, and Seely also has a book of his own, titled “Scholarly Stooges.”

    At Benedictine, Seely teaches Television and Society, Television Production and Mass Media Law and Ethics, among others. He also oversees Eye of the Eagle, a magazine-style show on the university’s cable system.

Gail Pieper

    Gail Pieper, Ph.D., is a lecturer in the communication arts, humanities and rhetoric programs at Benedictine University, where she has been teaching since 1975. She has been with the communication program longer than anyone else in the department.

    After receiving her undergraduate degree in Latin and Greek at the University of Connecticut, Pieper completed her doctorate in classical philology at University of Illinois-Urbana in 1969. After graduating, she returned to Urbana as a visiting professor, marking the start of her teaching career. She taught at various Ohio institutions, including Baldwin-Wallace College and Cuyahoga College, before coming to Benedictine in 1975.

    In addition to working as a part-time instructor, Pieper also works as coordinator of writing and editing at the Mathematics and Computer Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory. Her position at Argonne includes writing proposals, preparing newsletters and editing everything from journals to books.

    Some of Pieper’s other interests include horseback riding, classical literature, opera and technical writing. She has co-authored a handful of various publications.

    At Benedictine, Pieper teaches Editing for Print, Professional Writing, Research Writing for Biology, The Mediterranean World and The Baptism of Europe.

Luigi Manca

    Luigi Manca, Ph.D., is a professor of communication arts, humanities and rhetoric courses at Benedictine University, where he has been teaching since 1991.

    Beginning in 1976, Manca taught at Loyola University. He completed his doctorate in interdisciplinary mass communications at the University of Iowa in 1981. In 1984 he became director of Antioch College’s Institute of Communication and Media Arts. He taught at several colleges before coming to Benedictine, where he was originally hired as both an instructor and chair of the department of literature and communication.

    One of Manca’s research interests is mass communication theory. He and his wife co-wrote “Gender & Utopia in Advertising,” and he also authored “Gatekeepers, Advocates and the Public.” Manca was also the Journal of Communication Inquiry’s founding editor.

    In 2001, he co-edited “A Heretic in American Journalism Education and Research,” a book about Malcolm MacLean, former director of a school of journalism.

    Working with students in a layout and editing course, Manca helps produce Benedictine’s annual publications. These include Quantum Pulp and Gender Studies-Undergraduate.

    Manca teaches The Mediterranean World, Introduction to Communication Arts, Images of Men and Women in the Mass Media and Basic Speech Communication, among others.

Kenneth Nordin

    Kenneth Nordin, Ph.D., is a professor of communication arts, humanities and rhetoric courses at Benedictine University, where he has been teaching since 1991.

    Nordin completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Chicago, after which he joined the Christian Science Monitor’s editorial staff. After receiving his doctorate in American culture from the University of Michigan in 1967, he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. When he relocated to New Hampshire, he was managing editor of various local papers; upon returning to Chicago, he taught writing and mass communication at Triton Community College.

    Some of Nordin’s research interests include film, the history of newspaper content and editorial cartooning. He plans to write a book on the latter during his upcoming leave of absence.

    Nordin is actively involved in Benedictine activities. As advisor to The Candor, he reads copy and suggests ideas for upcoming editions. He is also former director of the first-year academic programs.

    Nordin teaches First-Year Seminar, The Baptism of Europe, Newswriting and Reporting, Masters of the American Cinema, International Film, Advanced Journalism Writing, and The Literature of Journalism, among other classes. He has taught 34 different classes since joining the university.

Allan Linderman

    Allan Linderman, M.B.A., is a lecturer in the communication arts program at Benedictine University, where he has been teaching since 1996.

    In 1971, Linderman received his undergraduate degree from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York. He completed his M.B.A. from Loyola University in 2002. Although he has been a guest lecturer at different schools, Benedictine is the only academic institution where Linderman has taught. However, he is a de facto professor of media planning for the Association of National Advertisers.

    Linderman has been in the advertising industry for over 30 years. He functioned as a media executive at HBM/Creamer Advertising, Inc., an advertising agency. Over the course of his 16-year term of employment, Linderman became senior vice president, corporate media director. He oversaw the media departments in all of the agency’s offices.

    His career with HBM/Creamer was succeeded by a position as vice president of advertising for Alberto-Culver Company, a household products manufacturer. In 1996, he founded The Linderman Media Group, a media consulting and training firm in Vernon Hills. He remains president of the group today.

    At Benedictine, Linderman teaches Writing for the Electronic Media and Public Relations Writing.

John Madormo

    John Madormo, B.A., is a lecturer in the communication arts program at Benedictine University, where he has been teaching since 2002.

    After receiving his bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications and advertising from Northern Illinois University in 1974, Madormo taught a communications course at Columbia College in Chicago. He also worked as a full-time writer-producer-director for WGN, Chicago’s 720 AM radio station. His position included such activities as writing commercials and PSAs, and directing music and talk shows.

    Madormo left WGN in 1980, joining North Central College that same year to teach broadcast communications as an instructor, as well as to supervise WONC 89.1 FM, the college’s campus radio station. Twenty-four years later, he continues to hold both positions—although he was promoted to assistant professor in 1992—and the station has earned many distinctions under the guidance of its general manager.

    Of his many different interests and pursuits, Madormo is most focused on being a screenwriter. He has been a highly ranked competitor in multiple writing contests, written numerous screenplays, and he has even had some of his family-comedy scripts optioned by producers. These titles include “Coach Dracula” and “Two-Faced.”

    Madormo currently teaches Advertising Copywriting at Benedictine.

Edna Bautista

    Edna Bautista, Ed.D., is a lecturer in the communication arts program at Benedictine University, where she has been teaching since 2004.

    Bautista earned her B.A. in communication in 1989 from Chaminade University of Honolulu and her M.S. and doctorate degrees in mass communication and higher education from Oklahoma State University in 1991 and 1994, respectively.

    Some of the other institutions where Bautista has taught include Rutgers University, Roosevelt University and Hawaii Pacific University.  She has been head of the communication/journalism departments at Chaminade and at Tulsa Community College.  She has taught graphic design, journalism and intercultural communication.

    Her diverse interests include cake decorating, intercultural weddings and hula dancing. Bautista is the author of “Viva el Amor: The Latino Wedding Planner” and editor of The Community College Journalist magazine. She also founded the Great Ideas for Teachers program for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

    In addition to teaching at Benedictine and Roosevelt, Bautista writes for DollarWise business publications and does freelance graphic and Web design.

    Bautista currently teaches Layout and Design for Publications at Benedictine.

Joana Konova

    Joana Konova, M.A., is a lecturer in the communication arts and humanities programs at Benedictine University, where she has been teaching since 2003.

    Between 1994 and 1998, Konova studied at numerous institutions, including the University of Vienna and the University of Paris III. In 1995, at the University of Cologne, she began her master’s degree in German philology, with secondary emphases on communications and Dutch philology. She received her master’s in 2001.

    From 1997 to 2000, while studying at Cologne, Konova worked as a graduate assistant. After graduating, she worked as an administrative assistant, and then as a freelance newspaper and radio correspondent on culture and art criticism.

    The Bulgarian-born Konova has been a private German tutor for 13 years; in fact, she is hexalingual, and speaks Bulgarian, German, French, Dutch, Russian and English. Some of her research interests include visual arts, comedy theory and German literature of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

    Besides teaching at Benedictine, Konova has taught German at the Goethe-Institut in Chicago since 2004.

    At Benedictine, she designed and taught German Literature in Translation and The Comic in Film. She also teaches The Contemporary World, The Baptism of Europe and First-Year Seminar.