Dr. Caroline Waldbuesser (Ph.D., Ohio University) is the Course Director for Public Speaking (COMM 1200). She is originally from Jasper, Missouri. She completed her BS in communication at Missouri State University (2013), MA in communication at Texas State University (2015), and Ph.D. in communication focusing on relating and organization at Ohio University (2019). Her research focuses on emotions in instructional contexts, such as the college classroom. Further, she also looks at teacher experiences including mental health and body image. 

Through her research and teaching, she seeks to understand how to improve pedagogy in the college classroom. She focuses on understanding how the personal experiences and lives of teachers can enhance their pedagogy and teaching in the classroom. Further, she focuses on how teachers can focus on their own mental health while attending to student needs in the classroom. Currently, her research has been published in journals surrounding education research such as Communication Education, Communication Teacher, The Basic Course Annual, Educational Research Quarterly, and College Teaching. She also has publications in various communication journals and handbooks.