Dianne Bragg brings passion for students to role in JN department
By Kelsey McLellan
What started out as a long-distance relationship spanning between Memphis and Tuscaloosa now has become a short-distance marriage, spanning from one office in Reese Phifer to another just down the hall.
Dianne Bragg and her husband, Rick, have recently become colleagues in UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. This fall, Dianne Bragg began work as an instructor and advising coordinator for the Department of Journalism. Her husband has been a professor of writing in the department since 2005.
“I’ve been teaching and I love to teach,” Bragg said. “But in this particular position, I’m going to be working with advising students, too.”
Jennifer Greer, Department of Journalism chair, said she was looking for someone with “a mix between tough love and encouragement to fill the advising role.”
After posting the job nationally, Greer and the journalism faculty found who they were looking for in their own backyard and invited Bragg to join the faculty.
“She is a hard worker,” Greer said. “I knew that she would be a good fit for the department both as a teacher and in her role with advising.”
Prior to moving to Tuscaloosa in 2006, Bragg had always lived in Memphis. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Memphis. She was then hired by Memphis as the director of a citywide high school newspaper. There, she had the opportunity to mentor and work with students. Bragg helped many of them with the college application process and with securing scholarships.
To this day, Bragg still keeps up with several of her past students. Her new position as advising coordinator is “bringing her back to her roots,” she said.
While Dianne and her future husband met briefly at a book signing in 2001, it wasn’t until a few years later when Rick Bragg came to speak at the University of Memphis that the two really connected. They were married in 2005, and Bragg moved to Tuscaloosa in 2006 to start her doctoral work at UA.
This year, the couple was among thousands in Tuscaloosa personally affected by the April 27 tornado. The family was in the southern part of the state that day, but they watched footage of the EF-4 tornado that tore through their neighborhood. They could only sit and pray for friends and family, Bragg said
The Braggs were lucky. Their house remained primarily intact with damage to the roof, windows, ceilings and walls. Almost all of the trees and half of the homes on their street were completely destroyed
The tornado somewhat delayed the progress of Bragg’s dissertation, which focuses on antebellum Southern newspapers and the events they reported that might have led to the Civil War. While she’s finishing her dissertation, she’s settling into a new job and anticipates the biggest challenge will be keeping up with curriculum changes from year to year. Nonetheless, she is excited at the opportunities that lie ahead.
“I enjoy helping students find direction,” Bragg said. “This just seems like the perfect fit for me right now.”
Kelsey McClellan is a senior majoring in Public Relations. She plans to graduate in May 2012.