Cooking jambalaya will no longer be the only way Sonya Duhé connects with her home state. Duhé, a Louisiana native, will return home as the new director of the School of Mass Communication this fall.

“I am so excited and thrilled to really be coming home,” she said. “When Katrina happened, my husband and I felt terrible that we couldn’t help.”

She cooked local food to bring Louisiana culture to South Carolina, where Duhé currently serves as a professor and science and health communication initiative director at the University of South Carolina.

When Duhé begins in the fall, she hopes to prepare students for the changes that are currently affecting the realm of mass communication.

“The industry is truly going through some tough times. I feel like this is a very challenging time but it’s also very exciting,” she said.

She wants to make sure that students are “armed and prepared to be media professionals tomorrow,” and emphasized the current trend of media convergence, in which different media are become more intertwined.

Duhé, who is originally from Plaquemine, received her bachelor degree in broadcast journalism from Louisiana State University. From there, she went on to receive her masters degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and her Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Missouri.

She has worked across media platforms, including radio and television, and owns a public relations firm with her husband.           

She believes her experience in broadcast journalism will help to propel the school toward the future of mass communication.

“I think my background in broadcast is really a good thing because if you look at every medium, video is playing a major component. Video is critical for students to understand,” she said.

The School of Mass Communication is currently working toward creating a visual communication track, she added. Duhé hopes to help the faculty implement it and other plans that are being discussed, including the merging of the advertising and public relations sequences.

One thing she would like to see added is a mentor program to help connect students with faculty. In addition, she wishes to begin fundraising to start an undergraduate research program, through which students will be able to work individually with professors to examine media issues they are interested in.

“A faculty member can make a tremendous difference in a student’s life. They can help you with your future,” she said.

Although she hopes to initiate these changes, she noted her openness to faculty and student ideas.

“I want my door to be open to students,” she said.

She plans to address their curricular needs to schedule the right classes and to help them find jobs after graduation.

Although Duhé will finish out the school year in South Carolina before beginning at Loyola, she is ready to start her new position.

“I’m very excited about meeting students and working with distinguished colleagues,” she said.            

“I can’t wait. I’m very eager to warm up and get to work.”
                                       
 Masako Hirsch can be reached at [email protected].