E-mail: kkenney@sc.edu

Office:
Phone: 803.777-3302
Fax: 803.777.4103
Room: Coliseum 3002

Hours:
M-F: 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Fall 2008 Course Syllabi:
Jour 537 - Advanced Photo-Communications
Jour 541 - International Communications

Keith Kenney
Associate Professor
Visual Communications Sequence

B.J., University of Texas at Austin
M.S., East Texas State University
Ph.D., Michigan State University

Keith was a staff photographer for the Sherman (Texas) Democrat from 1981 until 1983. Then he returned to school for his master's degree (1983-84) and his doctorate degree (1984-1991).

In early December 2008, Routledge will publish Kenney’s book, Visual Communication Research Designs. This book provides explicit, practical guidance on how to conduct more and better research about visual communication. Meanwhile, Kenney has begun work on a companion book, tentatively titled Steppingstones to Visual Communication Theory. In fall 2008, Kenney will also teach Jour 537, Advanced Photo-communication, and Jour 541, International Communications.

In 1986-87, while a student in the Mass Media Ph.D. program at Michigan State, he served as a visiting lecturer at Xiamen University in China. During this year he designed and installed a darkroom and taught photojournalism. He also interviewed photojournalists and picture editors for his dissertation on Chinese news photography. His documentary photographs of Xiamen were exhibited at Xiamen University and Michigan State University.

He has been teaching photojournalism, communication theory, graphic design and other courses at USC since 1988. He also taught the Army Advanced Photojournalism Course during the summers from 1989 until 1995.

During the 1996-97 school year, Keith was a Fulbright lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda. He taught photojournalism and graphics/design and took documentary photographs of the daily routines and customs of Ugandans. These photographs have been exhibited in Hilton Head, Orangeburg and Columbia, South Carolina. More than 200 of the photographs, as well as video, charts and maps appear on a CD-ROM about Ugandan society.

In May 1999, Keith took pictures and video for a CD-ROM about the Shikoku buddhist pilgrimage. The CD-ROM includes 15 brief videos and a book of text written by USC colleague Junko Baba. It can be purchased for $23 from Soufusha Shuppan (TEL: 089-953-3153; FAX: 089-953-3103; http://www.ses.co.up/soufusha/).

In December 2000, Keith taught graphic design in India at MICA (Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad). During his five-week stay, he also shot a video, called "India: In & Out," which is currently being re-edited and hopefully will appear on SCETV in winter 2002.

In July 2002, Keith participated in a one-month group study project in Korea sponsored by Fulbright. During his stay, he took photographs for a children's book about colors. Opposite a full-page picture of a color, such as brown "chimchi" pots on a rooftop, will appear text written by co-author Susanna Melo that explains each example of Korean culture.

During his sabbatical in fall 2005, Kenney taught Travel Photography and Introduction to Graphic Design for a study abroad program in Paderno del Grappa, Italy. A story and photos about this experience can be found on i-SITE. The Artists' Basement exhibited photos from Italy, Turkey and Morocco by Kenney and his wife, Susanna Melo.

In summer 2006, Keith Kenney worked for eight weeks as a volunteer in Botswana. As part of his responsibilities, Kenney conducted a one-week workshop on improving interpersonal and group communication skills for BONEPWA (Botswana Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS). More than 25 PLA (People Living with HIV/AIDS) learned how to improve their public speaking skills, tell their children and family members of their positive status, and work together in support groups. Kenney created a micro-credit agency and made loans of $20 to each of the 25 PLA. These loans are being used to create income-gnerating projects. For example, some people are buying beads to make jewelry, cellphone covers, and artwork. In addition, Kenney was one of 70 people who walked across a salt pan for three days, raising more than $55,000 for charity. Read more>>

Keith has been an active member of the National Press Photographers Association since 1980. He wrote a column, Research for Photojournalists for NewsPhotographer magazine for two years and wrote book reviews for the BookBeat column for two years. He was the founding editor of Visual Communication Quarterly, which is published in NewsPhotographer magazine. He edited the journal for three years.

Keith also has had articles published in Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, Visual Anthropology, Gazette, Journalism Educator, Newspaper Research Journal, American Journalism, Journal of Visual Literacy and other publications.