Phone: (620) 947-3121 ext. 1073
Aleen Ratzlaff portrait

Education

  • Ph.D., Mass Communication (Media History), University of Florida
  • M.A., Communication, Wichita State University
  • B.A., Social Work, Tabor College

Professional Background

  • Professor of Communication, Chair of Communication, Language & Literature Department, Tabor College
  • Adjunct Professor, School of Adult and Professional Studies, Tabor College in Wichita
  • News & Feature Writer, Hillsboro Free Press, Hillsboro, Kansas
  • Adjunct Instructor, Elliott School of Communication, Wichita State University
  • Staff Director, Community Outreach, World Impact, Wichita, Kansas

Recognitions & Awards

  • Clarence R. Hiebert Excellence in Teaching Award, 2005, Tabor College
  • Doctoral Dissertation Award, “Black Press Pioneers in Kansas, Connecting and Extending Communities in Three Geographic Sections, 1878-1900,” 2001, American Journalism Historians Association
  • Honorable Mention, Kansas Press Association, 2002, Coverage of the 50th anniversary for the flood of 1951 in the Hillsboro Free Press

Courses Taught

  • Public Speaking
  • Intercultural Communication
  • Introduction to Mass Communication
  • Mass Media Writing 1 & 2
  • Senior Seminar
  • Communication Theory
  • Communication Law & Ethics
  • Digital Storytelling
  • Business Communication
  • Communication Topics (Interpersonal Communication, Gender Communication, Writing for the Web)

Selected Publications

  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (2009) “Ebony Triangle: The Black Newspaper Network in Kansas,” Seeking a Voice: Images of Race and Gender in the 19th Century Press. eds. David B. Sachsman et al. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2009. [book chapter]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (2009). “Illustrated African American Journalism: Political Cartooning in the Indianapolis Freeman.” Seeking a Voice: Images of Race and Gender in the 19th Century. eds. David B. Sachsman et al. Lafayette, IN.: Purdue University Press [book chapter]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (2009). “Ida B. Wells, Crusader Against the Lynch Law.” Seeking a Voice: Images of Race and Gender in the 19th Century Press. eds. David B. Sachsman et al. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press [book chapter]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (Fall 2004). Review of For Press and Equal Rights: Republican Newspapers in the Reconstruction South,” edited by John W. Quist, American Journalism 21, no. 4, 118-120.
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (Spring 2004) Review of Giving Voice to the Voiceless: Four Pioneering Black Women Journalists by Jinx Coleman Broussard, Journalism History 30, no. 1, 48-49.
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (Summer 2004) Review of Race Man: The Rise and Fall of the “Fighting Editor John Mitchell Jr.”by Ann Field Alexander, American Journalism 21, no. 3, 151-152.
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (Fall 2002) Review of The Black Press: New Literary and Historical Essays by Todd Vogel, Journalism History 28, no. 3): 151-52.

Selected Presentations

  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (October 2015). “Diverse Voices on the Plains.” American Journalism Historians Association annual conference, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma [panel presenter]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (October 2014). “Journalism’s Influence on Early African-American History.” American Journalism Historians Association annual conference, St. Paul, Minnesota [moderator for paper session]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (October 2013). “Perspectives on Journalism and Race.” American Journalism Historians Association annual conference, New Orleans, Louisiana [moderator for paper session]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (February 2013). Black Newspapers & African-American Newspapers in Kansas. Wichita Public Library, Wichita, Kansas [lecturer]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (October 2012). “Black Press Images in American Culture.” American Journalism Historians Association annual conference, Raleigh, North Carolina [moderator for paper session]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (July 2012). “Collecting Oral Histories.” The Kansas African American History Museum, Wichita, Kansas [lecturer]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (June 2012). “African American Newspapers in Kansas.” Front Porch Summer Program, William Allen White house, Emporia, Kansas [Lecturer]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (March 2010). Dr. Richard Kyle Faculty Lecture Series. “The Black Communities of Cowley County and the Newspapers that Served Them, 1930-1960” [lecturer]
  • Ratzlaff, A. J. (February 2005). “Drawing the Line: The Emergence of Editorial Cartoons by African American Artists in The Freeman and the Richmond Planet,” The O’Kane Gallery, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, Texas [lecturer]

Service

  • Treasurer, Hillsboro Museums Advisory Board
  • Missions Committee, Hillsboro First Mennonite Church
  • Consultant, Kansas Humanities Council, 2014-2015
  • Lecturer, Kansas Humanities Speakers Bureau, 2001-2014

Professional Organizations

  • National Communication Association, Member
  • American Journalism Historians Association, Member, Peer Reviewer
  • Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication, Member, Peer Reviewer

Other

  • Adviser, Multicultural Student Union, Tabor College, 2005 to present