Anna Grace Usery

Biography

Dr. Anna Grace Usery is an assistant professor of strategic communication and leadership at Belmont, and her passion for storytelling, leadership, entrepreneurship, and understanding the idiosyncrasies of people led her to the teaching profession.

Anna Grace is originally from Elkmont, Alabama and attended neighboring University of North Alabama for her bachelor’s degree in mass communication. She earned her master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communication from the University of Mississippi, and, most recently, her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Alabama. There, her research specialized in media sociology, media ethics, solutions journalism, and news media collaboratives, but she is excited to explore research on AI initiatives as they relate to the field of strategic communication.

She has published work in journal articles and book chapters as well as at conferences, including the International Communication Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). Her dissertation, “Mapping Solutions Journalism in College Media Programs: A Field Theory Analysis” is the first of its kind of primary research, intersecting the fields of journalism innovation, pedagogy and field theory.

Professionally, Anna Grace has worked as a community journalist and editor. As editor-in-chief of Hotty Toddy News in Oxford, Mississippi, a community news platform-turned journalism school laboratory, she developed curriculum and created an internship training program that helped graduate more than 200 interns. Wearing many marketing, PR, business, advertising, and other digital strategy hats in this position helped her discover a passion for strategic communication. Additionally, Anna Grace continues to freelance for magazine publications in her free time.

When she's not in the classroom, Anna Grace is usually out picking at flea markets, antique stores, thrift stores, and the occasional dusty old barn to source inventory for her vintage jewelry business. She and her 12-year-old cat, Miss Amelia, also listen to old records and binge watch reruns of ER and Cheers.