Dr. Kathy Previs
- Professor
Contact Information
- Department: Communication
- Office: 320 Combs
- Mailing Address: Combs 317
- Email: kathy.previs@eku.edu
- Phone: 622-8936
- Expert Areas: Public Relations
Bio
Dr. Kathy Previs holds a B.A. (1988) from Virginia Tech in Communication Studies, with an emphasis in Public Relations. She has an M.S. in Mass Communication from Middle Tennessee State University (2000), and earned a Ph.D. in Communication from The Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps College of Communication in 2007. As a Guggenheim Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in 2004, she was able to advance the research for her dissertation pertaining to the Apollo program.
Dr. Previs brings a variety of practical public relations experience to the classroom. She has worked for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Film Office, an environmental consulting firm, and the First Amendment Center/Freedom Forum. Dr. Previs also spent many several years working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in the Office of Commercial Programs, the Office of Space Flight, and later in the NASA History Office. There, she cultivated her research interests in addressing how issues and stories of science and technology are communicated to the public, and what role public relations has in those discourses.
In addition to science communication, Dr. Previs’ research interests are in health communication related to public relations campaigns, how public relations practitioners utilize social media platforms, and public relations ethics. She has published numerous articles pertaining to public relations practices and ethics, public opinion, presidential rhetoric, and representations of scientists in popular culture. Previs is the 2015 recipient of the Applegate Award for Excellent in Research. She taught at Charleston (SC) Southern University, Lipscomb University, and Vanderbilt University before joining the PR faculty at Eastern Kentucky University.
Dr. Previs is the current president of the Kentucky Communication Association, serves on the Board of Directors for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Thoroughbred Chapter, and served as the PRSSA faculty advisor at EKU.
Courses
| Subject | Title | Dates | Location | Term |
| CMS 100 | Intro to Human Communication | Internet Classes | Fall 2023 | |
| PUB 305 | Public Relations Research | MW 11:15am-12:30pm | Combs Building 108 | Fall 2023 |
| PUB 425 | Crisis & Risk Communication | Internet Classes | Fall 2023 | |
| PUB 475 | Advanced Public Relations | MW 12:45pm-2:00pm | Combs Building 108 | Fall 2023 |
| PUB 491 | Senior Seminar in PR | Internet Classes | Fall 2023 |
