Adam Kuban (’05, M.S. ’07) joined the faculty in the Department of Journalism at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, in 2011, and became an associate professor in 2017. He holds a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Utah.
Kuban’s scholarship includes both traditional research and award-winning creative work, with a focus on journalism curriculum development and media production.
In teaching, he leads project-based, interdisciplinary classes with community partners. For example, Water Quality Indiana allows students from six majors to collect and analyze water samples from local waterways selected by community partners. The resulting multimedia presentations document the experience and help the public have a better understanding of water quality. His Police + The Press project, a partnership between journalism and criminal justice students and local police departments, builds rapport by allowing students to experience both the assessments required to become an officer and simulated police scenarios while also sharing the many functions of media with officers.
Kuban also leads the Louis E. Ingelhart Scholars program, a two-semester leadership and media curriculum in which students partner with The Facing Project, a nonprofit storytelling project and NPR podcast, to chronicle personal testimonies related to topics such as depression, addiction, cancer, sustainability, and advocacy and activism in sports.
Kuban’s professional experience includes time spent as a broadcast news reporter and as an online magazine reporter, writer and editor. His honors include the 2017 Ball State University Office of Institutional Diversity Research Award, the 2016 “20 Under 40” Award from The Star Press and Muncie Magazine, and many other university and academic recognitions. He has 10 peer-reviewed publications and 52 peer-reviewed conference panels, papers and posters.