A closer look into the life and career of Dr. Robert Bodle, Professor of Communication & New Media Studies in the School of Business & Communication at Mount St. Joseph University.
Dr. Robert Bodle, Ph. D., is a faculty member at Mount St. Joseph University in the School of Business & Communication. He is a Professor of Communication & New Media Studies who teaches several undergraduate courses within the Department of Communication & New Media Studies. Dr. Bodle’s life and early career started on the West Coast in California before making his way to Cincinnati, Ohio in 2006 for a faculty position at Mount St. Joseph University. In addition to being a Professor at the Mount, Robert is a husband, dog dad, and is currently contracted to write a textbook on Human Rights in the Digital Age by Routledge Press, which should be out later this year.
Early Life & Career:
Robert Bodle was born and raised in Ventura, California, “a beach community just South of Santa Barbara in Southern California.” (Dr. Robert Bodle, Ph. D.) Robert obtained his BA with honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz, his MA is in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Film Studies from Arizona State University, and his Ph. D. in Critical Studies from the School of Cinematic Arts, from the University of Southern California. While at USC, he obtained a MBA Certificate in Entertainment Business. He also earned a Digital Law Certificate from the University of Geneva.
Early in Robert Bodle’s career, he “worked at a mom-and-pop video production company in San Diego making TV commercials. I taught courses in the Communication Department at the University of California, San Diego, teaching communication studies courses such as media history, political economy, documentary filmmaking, and non-linear video editing. I worked in the nonprofit sector as Director of Education at the San Diego Media Arts Center where I ran a youth video production education program known as Teen Producers Project, which trained Latino, Eritrean, and Native American youth to shoot and edit documentaries about local topics such as immigration, gentrification, and youth culture.”
Cincinnati & the Mount:
Robert moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, from California in 2006 when he accepted a faculty position at Mount St. Joseph University as an Assistant Professor with tenure in Communication Studies. Robert cited the reasons he and his wife wanted to move to Cincinnati were “to expand our life experience by moving out to the Midwest. I was drawn to the Mount by its Catholic Tradition under the Sisters of Charity, small size, commitment to academic freedom, focus on service, and the prospect of a stress-free creative city, compared to other places I had lived before.”
Dr. Bodle teaches a variety of undergraduate courses within the Department of Communication & New Media Studies, such as New Media Law and Ethics, Visual Communication, The Capstone course: Human Rights in the Digital Age, Social Media Marketing, Social Media, Social Change, Film Studies, and Spoken Word courses. When asked what his favorite courses to teach are, he responded, “Visual Communication is fun to teach because it draws directly on a semiotic analysis of students’ visual experience of daily media consumption and exposure. Human Rights in the Digital Age is integral to my research, scholarship, service, and commitment to staying abreast of digital media’s impact on society.”
Dr. Robert Bodle has a lengthy list of academic research projects he is involved with. He is currently “contracted to write a textbook on Human Rights in the Digital Age by Routledge Press, which should be out by the end of 2025. I am also focused on working with my colleagues in the School of Business and Communication to envision and develop a unique, innovative identity. This includes creating programs, curricula, workshops, events, and collaborations with other disciplines on campus.”
When asked his favorite publications he has worked on to date, he specifically references, “Ethics of Anonymity which was used as a kind of amicus brief for a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Report on encryption, anonymity and surveillance. A close second is probably my book chapter that appeared in my co-edited collection on advertising as surveillance, since it has proven to be a prescient analysis of the dynamics of media, culture, and power in the digital age.” In addition to these works Dr. Bodle has “published extensively on the human rights implications of digital media in terms of freedom of expression and right to privacy.”
Robert Bodle pictured at the United Nations General Assembly working as an advocate for the Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition under the UN's Internet Governance Forum back 2015.
A list of these articles and book chapters are cited below:
Serving the Student Experience:
Robert Bodle is a true believer in enhancing the student experience through collaborative efforts. “I often measure my success as an educator with how well I collaborate with my students to make a memorable experience in the classroom. One skill of mine is to take a salient news story related to digital media, technology, and society, and adapt it to my lesson plan and class assignments, breathing significance into the class. I profoundly believe most of the educators at the Mount are helping to shape the values, priorities, and critical thinking skills of future leaders, citizens, and community members, many of whom might not recognize it at the time, but later discover upon reflection that the impact is profound.”
Department of Communication & New Media Studies:
The Communication and New Media Department merged and morphed into the School of Business and Communication and it is a whirlwind of possibility. We are now working on visioning and getting acquainted, resource mapping, and dreaming out loud. Communication has so many applications across the Business curriculum, but also the new things that will come out of the School will combine the relevance of technology, society, and communication with the real world imperatives of business, finance, economics, social change and service to others.
Personal/Family Life:
“In my recreation time, I enjoy hiking with my wife and canine crew, landscaping, backpacking, playing guitar, reading, watching good movies, grilling and chilling.”
The School of Business & Communication at Mount St. Joseph University is moving FORWARD due to leaders like Dr. Robert Bodle. His lengthy career at the Mount, his variety of education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and his extensive research projects make him a uniquely qualified faculty member of the School of Business & Communication. Thank you, Dr. Robert Bodle, for all the people you serve as a Professor of Communication & New Media Studies!
