J-school welcomes four new doctoral students

Two of the four new doctoral students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications this Fall are old hands at navigating the  maze-like floor plan of the Carolina Coliseum, having completed previous degrees in the School. Caroline Foster and Brett Borton know their way around, but Jack Karlis and Matthew Telleen are new to USC.

Caroline Foster, who has been teaching an entry-level writing course for the School as an adjunct professor, earned her master of arts degree in journalism and mass communications from USC with an emphasis in magazine editing, feature writing and media management. She obtained a bachelor of arts degree in English from the College of Charleston.

After completing her master’s degree, she became a freelance writer, contributing articles for almost every magazine in South Carolina on everything from health and science, to cooking and fine dining, to outdoor sports. Along the way, she also wrote  freelance public relations pieces, including “translating” technical reports for one of the banking industry’s general audience newsletters and annual reports for a local college.

Her work caught the eye of the editor of “South Carolina Wildlife” magazine, published by the state’s Department of Natural Resources, who hired her as an associate editor. She eventually became managing editor and then moved up to her final role as editor of the publication. After 13 years, she left the magazine in December.

After climbing up the ranks of the magazine world, leaving to become to a full-time student again might seem like a  scary decision. In fact, says Foster, it was an easy one.

“I read some of Dr. John Besley’s research about the dissemination of science messages. I am interested in studying how science, especially health and environmental messages, are given and received in the media, and so it seemed like a natural fit. It was time for me to go back to school,” she said.

Foster plans to work with Besley and Dr. Andrea Tanner on health and science-related topics. She will also be serving as Dr. Besley’s research assistant as well as continuing to teach writing.

In her off hours, Foster devotes most of her free time to her 10-year-old daughter and her significant other. She also has become a self-admitted “tennis addict.”

Brett Borton, also a Carolina grad, earned his master of mass communication degree from the J-school last May, commuting from Hilton Head where he has worked in management positions in public relations and marketing for the past 20 years. Borton obtained his bachelor of arts degree in print journalism from Ohio University. 

Like Foster, Borton says his decision to choose USC for his doctorate was an easy one. “I had just finished my master’s work and was very familiar with the school, faculty, etc. It was such a tremendous experience that it made the decision a no-brainer,” he said.

Borton plans to specialize in media law during his doctoral studies and will be a research assistant for Dr. Kathy Roberts Forde and Dr. Glenda Alvarado.

Borton and Sara, his wife of 25 years, have three sons, a 23-year-old and 14-year-old twins.

In his spare time, Borton enjoys golf, tennis, basketball, reading and, especially, music. “I like all types. I’ll listen to rock, Mississippi Delta Blues and 50s Rock-a-Billy,” he said.

In Hilton Head, Borton served as managing editor with newspapers and magazines before working in marketing and public relations with two large real estate/resort developers on Hilton Head Island. He also has been a freelance writer for more than 15 years, contributing articles to several regional and national publications, mostly on travel, real estate and golf. He also has written a series of books on golf travel published by Fireside Books.

For someone who has lived in the Carolina heat for many years, it may not seem odd that one of his most interesting moments came when the weather was an eyelid-freezing 59 degrees below zero.

“I was on the field covering one of the coldest games in NFL history, the 1982 AFC Championship between Cincinnati and San Diego,” Borton said. “My toes were frozen for about a week.”

Borton might not have taken on that assignment had he then known Jack Karlis, no stranger to frigid temperatures, who is also a new doctoral student this year.

Jack Karlis, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., and a graduate of SUNY College at Buffalo, spent much of his professional career working on newspapers in various capacities, including copy editor, editor, sports editor and publisher in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, N.Y. and several other stops along the way.

Karlis also was a freelance writer for 11 years, with his work appearing in daily and monthly publications from New York City to Bakersfield, Calif. He also worked for an online operation in Syracuse, N.Y., gained broadcast experience with NFL Films and learned the business side of television for Katz Media in Atlanta.

Karlis obtained a master of mass communication degree with a specialization in new media from the University of Florida in Gainesville. He eventually returned to upstate New York where he headed up public relations for his old school district in West Seneca. Karlis handled the communication needs of the district during the day, and spent his evenings as a part-time instructor at his alma mater, teaching courses such as “Writing for the Media,” “Sports Journalism” and “News Editing,” It was there he first conceived of the idea to pursue a doctorate.

“I was instructing the students in what I like to call ‘classical’ journalism skills, and it occurred to me that, although a professional journalist will always need the skills and values, the field that I grew up in had changed so much that I wondered what their careers would be like once they were graduated,” Karlis said.

No stranger to the South after his master’s degree work and a few short stints with newspapers in Gainesville, Fla. and Charleston, S.C., Karlis says he always felt comfortable in the Palmetto State.

“Some of my best friends are natives of South Carolina, and I was visiting Columbia for Memorial Day two years ago,” he said. “I just popped into Dr. Collins’ office to see what the program was like, and we ended up talking for an hour or so. I don’t think too many programs are going to take that type of time on a moment’s notice for a prospective candidate.”

Karlis went home, did his research and decided that South Carolina was the best fit for him and his primary research interest–convergence.

“I looked at the number of journals, papers and research interests of the faculty here and was very intrigued. Every time I looked for research, this school came up quite frequently,” Karlis remarked. “We live in such a dynamic time that the way we receive our news has changed, and that deserves some serious inquiry to try and get a sense of where we are going as a field.”

Karlis will be working as a graduate assistant for Dr. Augie Grant and Dr. Ran Wei, two faculty members with credentials in the field of convergence.

When Karlis isn’t trying to figure out where the field is headed, he says he plans to work out, spend time with friends, travel and try and fit in some Gamecock football games.

Joining Karlis at Williams Brice Stadium this fall will be another refugee from the cold, Matt Telleen, the fourth of the entering doctoral students.

A native of Minneapolis, Minn., Telleen received his bachelor of arts degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash and his juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota law school. Degree in hand, Telleen joined a St. Paul law firm, focusing on insurance defense, business law and family law.

“I found the practice of law rewarding,” he said, “but I fell into a teaching position at a college in suburban Minneapolis and found that appealed to me even more.”

When he decided to return to school to pursue his doctorate so he could teach at the university level, his wife (a Georgia native) asked if they could do so in her neck of the woods.

 “I chose South Carolina because of the number of JDs on the faculty and the emphasis among the faculty on convergence,” he said. “I feel this combination should provide the perfect setting for me to explore my areas of interest in online defamation and libel standards in burgeoning media.”

Telleen, his wife and their three children–ages 7, 5 and 2–are settling into South Carolina and adjusting to the heat.  The Telleens will shortly be celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary, and that makes him doubly glad, he says, he picked Carolina for his doctoral studies. 

“My wife wanted to return to the South, and I’ve learned over the years that you never go wrong making your spouse happy."

A huge sports fan, Telleen’s excited to live in a state where people care about things other than college hockey, pro hockey, high school hockey and even peewee hockey.