ACADEMICS

  • Barbara Zang

    Contact Information
    Office L-305A
    508-929-8015
    Barbara.Zang@worcester.edu

    Education
    B.A., University of Missouri
    M.A., University of Toledo
    M.A., University of Missouri
    Ph.D., Indiana University

    I’ve testified before Congress, traveled around the world on my own for nearly three and a half years, walked about 450 miles of the Camino de Santiago from the French side of the Pyrenees across the north of Spain, and, after the summer of 2015, visited all of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. I’m a proponent of study abroad. I supervised 21 University of Missouri journalism interns in London for a semester. I took WSU students on short-term study trips to England and Italy.

    I’ve served as president of a national children’s organization, provided training and technical assistance to community groups and university colleagues in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Russian Federation, and served as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Ukraine. I’ve studied in Spain, Mexico and Argentina. My Spanish still isn’t great.

    I’ve been a reporter, copy editor, columnist or photo editor at five newspapers, produced a short film that was distributed nationally, and I am the co-author of one and co-editor of three books. My doctoral dissertation won a national research award. I’m interested in the role of the press in democracies, particularly our own, and more recently have been working in the area of pilgrimage studies. Yes, there’s a connection.

    I was born in New Jersey, grew up in the Midwest and have lived in Worcester since joining the faculty of Worcester State in 2002. I enjoy exploring the cities and towns of New England, walking on the rail trail, sharing meals with friends and keeping my houseplants alive. It’s a struggle.

    Barbara Zang
    Barbara Zang
  • Courses Taught
    • Senior Communication Capstone
    • Media Writing
    • Journalism & Democracy
    • News Reporting and Writing
    • Journalism Practicum
    • Editing
    • Media Law & Ethics
    • Introduction to Mass Communication
    • Digital Storytelling
    • Opinion Writing
    • Media Coverage of the Environment in the US and the UK
    • Media Coverage of Health
    Publications

    Books

    Both, Deborah, & Zang, Barbara (Eds.). (1990). The working poor in America: A sourcebook for journalists. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. 240 pp.

    Zang, Barbara (Ed.). (1988). Hunger in America: A sourcebook for journalists. Columbia: School of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia.

    Zang, Barbara, & Blank, Helen. (1982). Child watch: Looking out for America's children. Washington, DC: Children's Defense Fund.

    Zang, Barbara (Ed.). (1980). How to get help for kids: A reference guide to services for handicapped children. New York: Gaylord Professional Publishers and Neal-Schuman. 245 pp.

    Selected articles

    Zang, Barbara. (1999, Fall). No visa required: Journalism’s journey across anthropology’s borders. Interpreting cultures: A symposium. Bloomington: Indiana University Department of Anthropology, 43-50.

    Zang, Barbara. (1999, Summer). Thinking globally in J105 News. Chalkboard. The Program for Excellence in Teaching. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri.

    Zang, Barbara. (1997, Fall). Civic journalism. Urban Journalism, a collection of papers published by the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellin, Colombia.

    Zang, Barbara. (1995, Winter). [Review of Public journalism and public life: Why telling the news is not enough]. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 72 (4), 976-978.

    Zang, Barbara. (1994, March/April). The activist: A paper that really gets involved. Columbia Journalism Review, 12-13.

    Zang, Barbara. (1993, Fall). Out of the youth culture ghetto: Media writing as field work. QS News, newsletter of the Qualitative Studies Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 2-3, 11.

    Zang, Barbara. (1990, April). 1990s: Decade of picture editors. News Photographer, 1-4.

    Gentry, James K., & Zang, Barbara. (1989). Characteristics of graphics managers at metropolitan dailies. Newspaper Research Journal, 10 (4), 85-95.

    Gentry, James K., & Zang, Barbara. (1989, January-February). The graphics editor takes charge. Washington Journalism Review, 24-28.

    Zang, Barbara. (1989). Hunger in America: Public charity or public issue? IRE Journal, 12 (2), 5-8.

    Honors and Grants
    Honors

    Fulbright Senior Scholar program, invited special area reviewer in journalism, 2014-2017.

    Fulbright Review Board for Central Eurasia, three-year appointment to five-member peer review board for Senior Scholars, 2005-2007, Washington, DC. Invited to serve another year in 2009.

    Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, 2001-2002, University teaching in L’viv and Kyiv, Ukraine.

    New Mexico Associated Press Managing Editors 2007 annual contest award, second place, Investigative Journalism category, “The Disabled Divide.” This package of stories ran in The (Santa Fe) New Mexican in July 2006.

    Nafziger-White Dissertation Award from the research committee of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, August 1999. Award is for the best journalism and mass communication dissertation of the year.

    Journalism Leadership Institute for Diversity fellow, 2006-2007, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Columbia, SC. One of nine women faculty selected for this year-long academic leadership development program.

    Institute for Journalism Excellence fellow, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Summer 2006, Reston, VA and Santa Fe, NM. One of 20 journalism and mass communication faculty selected for the seven-week program.

    Japan Studies Institute fellow, San Diego State University, June 1-24, 2005. One of 20 U.S. professors selected for the institute.

    Media Anthropology Summer School, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, September 12-26, 1999. Sole U.S. participant selected for class of 20 new scholars in this emerging area of scholarship.

    “Syllabi for the Writing/Reporting Class: From Paper to Practice,” invited speaker at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual meeting, New Orleans, LA, August 1999. My J105 News syllabus won the Newspaper Division’s competition.

    Grants

    International Faculty Development Grant, Worcester State University, “Modern Debates along an Ancient Way” seminar in Madrid, Spain, June 2015.

    Faculty Learning Community grant to study student writing practices with Drs. Matthew Ortoleva (English), Margarita Perez (education), Maura Pavao (biology) and Meghna Dilip (chemistry), and Prof. Steve Minichiello (communication) and Mr. Matt Bejune (information literacy specialist, university library). 2014-2015, $7,000.

    Mini-grant from Worcester State University to present paper at Sacred Journeys: Pilgrimage and Beyond at Mansfield College, Oxford University, United Kingdom, July 7-12, 2014. $2,680.

    Faculty Learning Community grant to improve grammar in student writing with Prof. Lyn Branscomb (communication) and Drs. Margaret Kerr (chemistry) and Emily Soltano (psychology). Center for Teaching and Learning, Worcester State University. Spring 2014-Spring 2015. $4,000.

    Faculty Learning Community grant for West Side Business Network work with Dr. Karl Wurst (computer science) and Dr. Elizabeth Siler (business administration). Center for Teaching and Learning. Worcester State University. 2012-2013. $3,000.

    Indiana University School of Journalism alumni fellowship to participate in “A new curriculum for a new journalism,” a seminar at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, St. Petersburg, FL. Jan. 4-6, 2012. $1,250.

    Fulbright Visiting Specialist Program: Direct Access to the Muslim World, successful grant writer. Worcester State was one of 24 institutions to host a visiting specialist from the Muslim world. Dr. Masykuri Abdillah from Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta was a campus guest for three weeks in the spring of 2006.

    Assorted mini-grants for teaching and professional development from Worcester State.