Kathryn Pallister
Biography
As a five-year-old fan of the show “The Brady Bunch,” Dr. Kathryn Pallister knew somehow that television would play a major role in her life, and today her teaching and research frequently focus on the storytelling power of TV and film. Her time at the liberal arts-focused Gonzaga University netted her an honor’s degree in Public Relations, as well as the desire to learn more about how communication impacts people’s everyday lives. She went on to earn an MA in Communications Studies at the University of Calgary, focusing on multicultural feminism in the CBC television show “North of 60.” She then completed a PhD in Sociology, specializing in Communications and Cultural Studies, at the University of Alberta.
During her time at U of C, she began teaching part-time in the Communications Studies area at Red Deer College, eventually moving into a full-time continuous position. Her current teaching workload at RDP includes courses in writing and interpersonal communication, along with courses in mass media, popular culture, and film history. Teaching these subjects allows her to read what she considers to be the most interesting student papers on campus, on topics such as movie franchises, fashion, advertising, and television series. Her scholarship has recently focused on how parenting is portrayed in popular culture, and she has edited a collection of essays on nostalgia television in the age of Netflix. This is pretty much a full-circle return to her five-year-old self’s fascination with “The Brady Bunch.”
Education
- PhD - Sociology, University of Alberta
- MA - Communications Studies - University of Calgary
- BA - Public Relations - Gonzaga University