Faculty & Staff

Professor Hickerson has a B.A. in Journalism and International Relations from Syracuse University; a M.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin; and Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Washington.  She joined the RIT faculty in 2009, when the journalism degree program officially launched.

Professor Hickerson conducts research on journalism routines and political communication, specifically as they relate to immigrant and transnational communities.  She is currently working on a project called “The Immigrant Journalist in the Digital Age,” which explores the role of media in immigrant communities in the U.S.

Professor Hickerson is also interested in open source and journalism innovation.

In 2011 Professor Hickerson and Dr. Vic Perotti in RIT’s Saunders College of Business received a Presidential Grant of $155,000 from the Knight Foundation to create and pilot a new interactive model for journalistic event coverage using mobile technology. The project, “Rise Above the Crowd” (rise.rit.edu) premiered at RIT’s Imagine Festival on May 7, 2011. 

Finally, Professor Hickerson remains active in journalism, writing the column “The Fair-Weather Runner” for the Democrat & Chronicle (http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/fair-weather-runner/).

Courses offered

• Newswriting
• Law & Ethics of the Press
• The History of Journalism
• Reporting in Specialized Fields: Political Reporting
• Senior Projects