Associate Professor of Communication Studies, College of Arts and Sciences (Class I)

Dr. Michael Waltman has focused his research on different forms of hate speech and how they are used to accomplish social and political goals. An important aspect of his research articulates the desirable features of effective anti-hate discourse. His work has been in many journals and texts including Communication Studies, Advertising, Criminology and Sociology. Waltman uses publications in his classes as a basis for creating service learning projects for his students’ work with community partners. His students have applied what they learned about hate speech to develop and conduct workshops to a range of groups, including high school students from Fayetteville in response to an incident of racial intimidation, with the Siler City Teen Center and with a Girl Scout troop from a low income neighborhood.