Former Graduate Assistant Teaching Communications and Sports Media at Jackson State University

by Margaret Savoie

Towery After graduating with a master’s in integrated marketing communication (IMC) in 2018, Nathan Towery continued his education at the University of Alabama, receiving his Ph.D. in the College of Communication and Information Sciences where he focused on strategic communication and sports communication. He has since moved to Jackson State University as an assistant professor of IMC and sports media.

While in graduate school, Towery was a graduate assistant for the Graduate School.

“Being a graduate assistant for the Graduate School really helped me a lot because I would be learning in the classroom but also actually doing it,” Towery explained. “That helped me a lot and put everything in perspective of what I was learning in the classroom.”

“It was a wonderful experience working with Nathan! He was creative, dependable, honest and a go-getter,” said Paige Perry, former supervisor of Towery while at the Graduate School.

The path that led to teaching was not always the focus of Towery.

“Coming out of the IMC program does not always set you up perfectly to go the academic route, it is definitely a more practical based program, but I still use those tools that I learned to go the academic route,” said Towery.

“I thought about going into the industry but then I fell in love with the research side during my Ph.D. and one thing just led to another and I ended up in the position I am today,” said Towery.

Towery said he was appreciative of his time at the Graduate School and in the IMC master’s program, and he is glad that he can give the skills and tools obtained while at the University of Mississippi to his students now.

“Graduate school was more work than I thought it was going to be, but the idea is that everyone wants to be there, and you have more intellectual conversations,” commented Towery on what he wished he knew before joining a master’s program.

During his time in the master’s program, Towery had the opportunity to work with Dr. R. J. Morgan, an instructional associate professor and the executive director of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association. The purpose of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association is to support journalism in high school across the state of Mississippi. Towery was able to help Morgan with events on campus where high schoolers would come and compete. Students had all kinds of options such as creating a news story, a layout design, an ad, and more.

“Running that event was a lot of fun and being a part of that was really memorable and has stuck with me for a while,” said Towery.

“I wasn’t really sure exactly what I wanted to do but that developed while I was in the master’s program,” said Towery, “I got the opportunity to work with one of the professors on a research paper about college football announcing and stereotypes.” The research paper led to a publication.

“Getting a paper published as a master’s student was a really big accomplishment,” said Towery. The publication, “Sometimes It’s What You Don’t Say: College Football Announcers and Their Use of In-Game Stereotypes”, was in the Journal of Sports Media. In his publication, Towery along with faculty dove into a content analysis of live college football broadcasts to analyze the comments of the game announcers and their use of stereotypes.

Towery is thankful for the opportunities he received while at the University of Mississippi, as well as the paths paved for him since working within the Graduate School.

Towery’s publication from University of Mississippi

Schultz, B., Sheffer, M.L., & Towery, N. (2018). Sometimes It’s What You Don’t Say: College Football Announcers and Their Use of In-Game Stereotypes. Journal of Sports Media 13(2), 19-37. doi:10.1353/jsm.2018.0007.

Former Graduate Assistant Teaching Communications and Sports Media at Jackson State University

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