Award-winning assistant professor, Danielle Deavours, joined the Samford University Department of Communication and Media in August 2022.
Deavours received her PhD in Communication and Information Sciences from the University of Alabama, her MA in Communication Management from UAB, and her BA in Telecommunications and Film and Political Science from the University of Alabama. She worked as an Emmy and Murrow award-winning broadcast journalist. While working for three local news stations, Deavours took on the roles of executive producer, senior producer, news producer, field producer, and internship coordinator. She also worked in nonprofit public relations for organizations like the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, and UAB Medicine.
Beginning in 2019, Deavours’ doctoral research focused on media sociology with an emphasis on the normative behavior journalists experience during crisis coverage, as well as newsroom diversity and harassment issues. Her dissertation analyzes the nonverbal neutrality of broadcast journalists during school shooting coverage. She received the 2022 Kenneth J. Harwood Dissertation Award from the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) for best dissertation in mass communication.
Deavours has been recognized by the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), BEA, the Freedom Forum, and Poynter for her teaching skills. She currently serves as the 2022-2023 vice chair of the AEJMC Broadcast and Mobile Journalism Division. She is also vice chair of the BEA Interactive Media and Emerging Technology Division, as well as a co-chair for the IMET student category in the BEA Festival of Media Arts. She is a member of and has presented research at the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, AEJMC, BEA, Poynter, Alabama Communication Association, and the Florida Communication Association. She received seven top faculty paper awards from AEJMC and BEA in the past two years, as well as eight awards for creative work since 2019. She was named the 2020 Vincent T. Wasklewski Award scholar, given to one graduate student each year. She has been recognized as a Lillian Kopenhaver Center Fellow for early career academic women, and a Knight Foundation PhDigital Fellow for her work in emerging media. Deavours is also an editorial board member for the academic journal Electronic News.
Deavours received the 2022 Emerging Scholar Award from the Nonverbal Communication Division of the National Communication Association annual conference. The award is presented to an emerging scholar whose work contributes to the field of Nonverbal Communication, shows potential to advance the understanding of nonverbal communication in interesting ways and reveals a commitment to contributing to the discipline through engagement and professional service.
Deavours lives in Hoover, Alabama with her husband Patrick, daughter Skylar, and two dogs Riggs and Jammer. When not working, she’s watching her daughter play softball, reading, or at Disney World. She is a member, women’s bible study teacher, and middle school leader at Hunter Street Baptist Church.
Degrees and Certifications
- PhD, Communication and Information Sciences, The University of Alabama
- MA, Communication Management, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
- BA, Telecommunications and Film and Political Science, The University of Alabama.