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Ted Petersen

Associate Professor | College of Psych. and Liberal Arts - School of Arts and Communication

Director of Student Media | Program Chair Undergraduate Communication Programs

Contact Information

tpetersen@fit.edu
(321) 674-7201
Frederick C. Crawford Bldg, 518

Personal Overview

Dr. Petersen teaches journalism and media courses at Florida Tech. He is the director of student media and chair of the undergraduate communication programs. In his free time, he enjoys running,  reading, and spending time with his wife, three children, and lab mix. He's an avid Minnesota Twins fan and an admittedly fairweather Minnesota Vikings fan.  

Educational Background

Ph.D. in mass communication, University of Florida, 2010 

M.A. in communication, University of South Florida, 2007 

B.A. in communication, Bethany Lutheran College, 2003

Professional Experience

Prior to joining the faculty at Florida Tech, Dr. Petersen taught communication courses at the University of Florida and Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Fla. He taught Introduction to Public Speaking, Introduction to Interpersonal Communication, Nonverbal Communication, and Writing for Mass Media. He has also written for Florida TODAY, the Gainesville Sun, the Independent Florida Alligator, and the Florida Engineer. Before beginning his doctoral work, Dr. Petersen worked for the UF athletic association.

Additional Duties

Faculty adviser for the Florida Tech Crimson, the campus newspaper.

Current Courses

COM 5320 New Media and Strategic Communication

COM 5145 Qualitative Research Methods

COM 4226 Online Reporting

COM 3225 Reporting

COM 4301 Media Production-Audio

COM 2225 Writing for Media

COM 2223 Scientific and Technical Communication

COM 0110 Basic Writing

Selected Publications

Petersen, T.G., Boyd, A., Clark, K., and Castor, E.J. (2016). To binge or not to binge: A qualitative analysis of binge watching habits of college students. Florida Communication Journal 44(1): 77-88.

Petersen, T.G. (2015). Prisoners and Guards: Bob Dylan, George Jackson, and Popular Memory. Popular Culture Studies Journal 3(1): 34-64.

Petersen, T.G. (2015). Revenue and the reporter: Understanding the Modern Journalist’s Relationship with Newspaper Business Models. Florida Communication Journal 43(1): 73-86.

Petersen, T. (2014). Understanding the necessity of free speech events. Teaching Journalism and Mass Communication 3 (1).

“Bob Dylan’s ‘New Journalism’ Coverage of Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter’s Battle for Justice.” Presented at the at the Florida Communication Association conference in Orlando, Florida, October 20, 2012.

“Experiences that Shape the Attitudes and Beliefs of Florida Tech Faculty toward Online Tools in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study.” (Co-authored with J. Almasi, L. Gill, and J. Knight.) Presented at the at the Florida Communication Association conference in Orlando, Florida, October 20, 2012.

“‘So I can write anything?’: Confronting the First Amendment and the Spiral of Silence at a Free Speech Event,” Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in Chicago, Illinois, on August 8, 2012.

“Prisoners and Guards: Bob Dylan’s Contribution to the Popular Memory of George Jackson.” Presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 11, 2011.

“The Death of Emmett Till: An Examination of Bob Dylan’s Contribution to the Myth of Till’s Death.” Presented at the Florida Communication Association conference in Orlando, Florida, October 16, 2009.

“Singing the News: How Bob Dylan’s ‘The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll’ Functions as Underground Journalism.” Presented at the Southern States Communication Association conference in Norfolk, Virginia, April 2, 2009.

“Documenting Dylan: How Documentary Films Function for Bob Dylan Fans.” Presented at the Florida Communication Association conference in Gainesville, Florida, October 17, 2008.

Research

Dr. Petersen's research focuses on the role of popular culture artifacts on collective memory. His doctoral research examined how Bob Dylan's music of the 1960s and '70s shaped, and continue to shape, popular memory. Dr. Petersen is also exploring the way new media impacts the way news is distributed, created, and used. 

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