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Bio

April DuPree Taylor is an Assistant Professor and Public Speaking Course Director at the Â鶹´«Ã½. Before joining the faculty at Â鶹´«Ã½, she was an adjunct instructor at the University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS); Pearl River Community College (Poplarville, MS); and Jones County Junior College (Ellisville, MS).

In addition to teaching courses in the Communication Studies field, Dr. Taylor coordinates and trains adjunct instructors and graduate assistants who teach the Public Speaking course. She also serves on several departmental and university committees. She currently serves on the Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Diversity and Inclusion Council, the University’s Admissions and Records Committee and the Â鶹´«Ã½ Black Faculty/Staff Council.  She also serves on the College of Arts and Sciences General Education Assessment Committee and the Gender Studies Committee.

Dr. Taylor obtained a doctorate degree in Instructional Design and Development from the Â鶹´«Ã½, a Master’s degree in Speech Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a Bachelor of Science degree in English from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Research Interests

Her dissertation research interest focused on communication apprehension and public speaking anxiety.

Publications

Panel/Paper Presentations

• "Helping GenEd Students Succeed," Panel Presentation, New Faculty Development Day Workshop, August 2015
• "Use of Self-and-Peer Review to Reduce Communication Apprehension and Improve Speech Performance of Undergraduates" EdMedia World Conference. Montreal Canada. June 2015
• "Female to female interactions in an online debate," American Educational Research Association annual convention, April 2005
• "Strategies for Effective Communication" Michael Figures Leadership Experience, June 2003

For more publications by Dr. Taylor, please see her CV.

Presentations

• Taylor, A. D. & Thomas, C. (2018). Teaching FYE: Don’t just survive, thrive! Presentation presented at the Conference of Teaching and Learning in Mobile, AL, May 7-8.
• Lewis, J., Taylor, A. D. & Thomas, C. (2017). Designing instruction for online learning. Panel presented at the Conference of Teaching and Learning in Mobile, AL, May 8-9.

Courses

• CAS 100 College of Arts and Sciences New Student Seminar
• CA 110 Public Speaking (Honors and Leadership Scholars)
• CA 211 Interpersonal Communication
• CA 275 Small Group Communication
• CA 310 Persuasion
• CA 315 Gender and Communication
• CA 411 Relational Communication
• CA 530 Analysis of Communication in Organizations