News Story

IU Media School faculty Bonnie Brownlee and Barbara Klinger plan to retire June 30 after more than 30 years each in their areas.

Brownlee ends her career as chair of IU Journalism, where she received her master’s degree and joined the faculty in 1981. A Provost Professor, Klinger has been at IU since 1982, when she was a visiting lecturer before joining the faculty in 1986.

Bonnie Brownlee

Brownlee, BA’72, MA’75, joined the faculty of the former School of Journalism in 1981 and received her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin in 1983. She served as associate professor and associate dean of undergraduate studies for the school, and taught magazine editing, grammar and mechanics, and international reporting, among others.

For The Media School, Brownlee has worked on many committees, including the one that is devising the curriculum. She was named IU Journalism chair July 1, 2014.

In addition to ongoing Media School development, Brownlee led the journalism program’s national accreditation process this spring, ensuring that the program maintains its nearly half century of accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Brownlee has participated in journalism’s accreditation process in past years and has served as a member of ACEJMC teams that conduct site visits and analysis of other schools seeking accreditation.

At IU, Brownlee has been active on faculty and other committees, including the Council of Independent College’s Academic Leadership Program.

“I’ve enjoyed those positions a lot in the sense of being able to work with faculty and students to try to make this a better place and to help people resolve issues that are important to them,” she said.

Outside IU, Brownlee has served as a consultant for various communications and rural development projects in Central and South America, and her research focuses on international communications. She twice led the journalism class that visited Chile as part of the study of South American media.

“My strongest legacy has to do with the stewardship of the journalism program in an administrative role,” Brownlee said. “I have taught a lot over the years, but I think this last period of time is most important for this program. I was grateful to be here and to be able to steer us through our reaccreditation this last year and the transition this year into the new Media School.”

Brownlee plans to travel the rest of this year, taking a break from an academic year hectic with accreditation and Media School curriculum activities. But her time here isn’t quite over.

“I am looking forward to having the time to think about things I can’t now,” she said.

Barbara Klinger

Barbara Klinger started at Indiana University in 1983, teaching film studies in the former Department of Comparative Literature. When the Department of Communication and Culture was formed, professors concentrating on humanities-oriented film and media studies, including Klinger, moved into that unit.

She has twice served as interim chair of that department, and she is founding director of IU’s Cultural Studies Program. Klinger has taught both undergraduate and graduate classes, combining teaching with her research in film studies, such as American film, media audiences, cinema and digital media, film history, and film authorship and genre.

“It is hard to sum up over 30 years of teaching,” Klinger said. “I am proud of the fact that I contributed to the journey of film studies here at IU. One of the things I care most about is having taught students to see film and other media in new critically, historically and creatively engaged ways.”

Klinger said that when she looks back, she sees a satisfying, demanding and productive career, and that she’s happy with what she and her colleagues have accomplished.

“My experience here has been fabulous, and one I will never forget. I have been particularly happy in the Department of Communication and Culture, and I will miss moving fully into the new Media School,” Klinger said. “I’m also incredibly grateful that I was here to take part in the creation of the IU Cinema and the hiring of IU Cinema director Jon Vickers. What a treasure trove for the university and the Bloomington community the IU Cinema under his direction has turned out to be.”

After she leaves IU, Klinger will continue to serve as president of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. She will continue her academic research on the association between 1940s radio and Hollywood films, and she plans to analyze the study of international Gothic procedural television shows.

“One of the nice things about being an academic is that I can carry on with my research,” Klinger said. “That’s what most people I know who are academics do: They don’t take up knitting but immerse themselves in their research programs and look at new opportunities to teach.”