Communication Faculty
Lisa Van Valkinburgh, M.A.
Clinical Associate Professor and Chair, Communication Department
Lisa Van Valkinburgh (lvanvalkinburgh@medaille.edu) earned a master's degree from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications, and began teaching at Medaille in 1990. Her courses in the Communication Department include broadcasting, media law and ethics, public speaking, and media criticism. She advises the on-campus radio station, WMCB, and directs the TV talk show Medaille Magazine, which airs on Adelphia Cable's public access channel.
Louis Pozantides, M.S.
Clinical Assistant Professor
Louis Pozantides (lpozantides@medaille.edu) has taught in the Communication Department since 2002, and earned a master's in education from Canisius College. He has previously taught and lectured at Niagara University, Niagara County Community College, the ITT Technical Institute, and SUNY Fredonia. Pozantides was part of the local radio market for many years as a director of news, programming and on-air broadcasts, and as a weather anchor. His course specialties include Writing for the Media, advertising, public relations, media promotions, public speaking and journalism. As Medaille's Communication Field Placement Coordinator, Pozantides works to connect students with internship opportunities in local, regional and national media organizations. He also is the co-advisor for the on-campus radio station, WMCB, and was selected Professor of the Year by students for 2004-05 and 2005-06, and tied for the title in 2006-07.
Haydar Badawi Sadig, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. Haydar Badawi Sadig (hsadig@medaille.edu) has taught at Medaille since 2005, focusing on mass communication and public speaking courses. He is a Fulbright Scholar who earned a Ph.D. in communication from Ohio University, and has previously taught at University of Khartoum (Sudan), Ohio University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Central Piedmont Community College, and many Arab Gulf universities (in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar). Sadig is a member of the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, the African Studies Association, and Phi Beta Delta. Sadig has lectured and published widely on topics of international communication, culture, and identity, and has appeared on several television and radio broadcasts in the Arab world, Africa, Europe and the United States.
John Schedel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. John Schedel (jschedel@medaille.edu) currently teaches public speaking and general education courses. He has also taught Communication Theory, Small Group Communication, Advanced Public Speaking, and U.S. History classes.
Dr. Schedel is a former chairman of the Humanities Department and the Media/Communications Department. He has written the course outlines for all of the speech courses that are currently being offered at Medaille College. He has also served as Medaille College’s Director of Forensics and as the faculty advisor to the college’s Native American Club. In 1999, he was named “Faculty Member of the Year” by Medaille College’s annual yearbook.
Dr. Schedel is a rhetorical theorist and critic whose primary areas of study include classical, medieval, Renaissance, and modern rhetorical theory, the history and criticism of public address, and the study of rhetorical movements. His most recent work includes a symposium paper on the rhetoric and academic vision of Cardinal Henry Newman and an in-process collaborative study of the rhetorics of the anti-German movement in the United States during The First World War. Dr. Schedel has also written articles on issues which pertain to educational theories and practices.
Sarah Whitehead, M.A.
Visiting Instructor
Sarah Whitehead (sarah.whitehead@medaille.edu) came to Medaille after earning her master’s degree from the University at Buffalo's School of Informatics. Her thesis research was on non-voluntary dislike relationships, but she also holds a strong interest in media effects, women’s studies and weblogging. Previous research includes work on technology adoption and the use of weblogs in the classroom. Her courses at Medaille include Critical Thought and Public Speaking, but she hopes to expand to teach media theory, film criticism, and women’s studies courses in the near future. Whitehead is a member of the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association.
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