Education

Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of Florida

Qualifying Certificate, University Level Teaching, Technical University Berlin, Germany

MA, International Public Relations, Boston University

BA, Communication Arts, Georgia Southern University

BA, Philosophy, Georgia Southern University

 

About Dr. Jasper Fessmann

Dr. Jasper Fessmann joined the faculty of the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media in 2023 after previously serving as a faculty member at West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media for five years. Before entering academia, Dr. Fessmann ran his own PR agency in Germany and gained 15 years of international public relations agency experience with exclusive clients like the German federal ministries, NGOs and Fortune 500 companies. He was also active in (mostly pro bono) work focused on Holocaust remembrance and intergenerational projects.

His research interests include public interest communications (PIC), international public relations, dis- & misinformation and crisis communications. Much of his body of work has focused on developing PIC, a relatively new field of strategic communications to advance positive social change, which he helped to found. He is especially interested in how PIC can be used effectively to counter strategic misinformation campaigns by special interest harming society, in particular about climate change denial.