Paul J. Traudt, Ph.D.
Emeritus Associate Professor
Biography
Dr. Traudt was a university professor for 36 years. Twenty-one of those years were with UNLV. His undergraduate courses and graduate seminars focused on audience reception theory, the social effects of traditional and emerging media, research methods, and global media. He directed graduate student research beginning in 1981, including 30 Master’s theses at UNLV, generally focused on social theory and the impact of mass and emerging media on audience perception and communication. At least 6 of his former advisees went on to complete doctoral or terminal degrees. Traudt is a recipient of UNLV’s College of Urban Affairs Teacher of the Year Award. In addition to dozens of articles, book chapters, reviews, and invited and competitively-selected paper presentations, Traudt authored Media, Audiences, Effects: An Introduction to the Study of Media Content and Audience Analysis (Allyn & Bacon) and coedited The Social Use of Media: Cultural and Social Scientific Perspectives on Audience Research (Intellect/University of Chicago). His research consulting included clients as diverse as multinational corporations, New York and Washington D.C. law firms, and American public broadcasters. He was a visiting international scholar on four occasions, most recently for a semester at the Institute for Media and Educational Technologies/Reception and Effects, Universität Augsburg in Germany. A career-long practitioner of faculty governance and service, Dr. Traudt chaired UNLV’s Academic Standards and Sabbatical Committees. He was a long-time member of UNLV’s Faculty Senate, served as Senior Senator for the College of Urban Affairs numerous times, and was elected by his fellow senators to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. His professional affiliations include the Broadcast Education Association, the European Communication Research and Education Association, and the American Association of University Professors. Dr. Traudt and his wife reside in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1981.
- M.A., University of Utah, 1979.
- B.A., University of Colorado-Boulder, 1975.