Department of Speech Communication

Dr. Sarah VnSlette earned her MA and PhD in Public Relations from Purdue University.  She previously taught Public Relations, Event Planning, Research Methods, Public Speaking, and Intercultural Communication at John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH, and is happy to be at SIUE and back in her hometown of St. Louis, MO.  Dr. VanSlette’s undergraduate degree is from Saint Louis University. 

Dr. VanSlette’s research interests include public relations pedagogy, social media in public relations campaigns, and corporate reputation management. She approaches her study of public relations and strategic communication from a rhetorical perspective. Her most recent publications include an article in Communication Quarterly, and book chapters in "Culture, race, & class-based perspectives in PR," "The Handbook of communication and corporate reputation," and "The plugged-in professor." She enjoys her ongoing research on "the St. Louis question" ("Where'd you go to high school?"). Her research on that question has been featured in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Riverfront Times, KSDK Channel 5, KMOX, and other local and national media. Dr. VanSlette also serves as the Director of Internships for the Speech Communication Department and tweets about job and internship opportunities under the department twitter account: @SIUESPCJOBS

Dr. VanSlette lives with her husband, son, daughter, and dog in West St. Louis County, close to many of their family and friends.  She used to thoroughly enjoy traveling internationally, but since welcoming her children, has realized that traveling with young children is not nearly as fun. She remains an advocate for study abroad experiences and would be happy to advise students who may be interested in studying abroad.