Teaching and research interests: journalism, media history, media law, new media tech, and environmental history.
His research is located at the intersection of history, communications and the environment.
William Kovarik worked at The Associated Press, the Baltimore Sun, the Charleston
SC Post-Courier, and Time-Life Books and with columnist Jack Anderson. He has also
worked as a stringer with the New York Times, Time Magazine and a number of science
and environmental publications.
He studied history of media, technology and environment at the University of South
Carolina, earning an M.A. in 1983, and the University of Maryland, earning a Ph.D.
in 1993. His dissertation involved research into the media coverage of a preventable
environmental disaster — the development of Ethyl leaded gasoline and alternative
anti-knock additives. Kovarik has also served as an academic representative on the
board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists and as editor of Appalachian
Voice.
Kovarik’s books (so far) include “The Forbidden Fuel” (1982, republished 2010), The
Ethyl Controversy (1993); “Mass Media and Environmental Conflict” (1996, with Mark
Neuzil, Sage); “Web Design for the Mass Media” (2001, Pearson) and “Revolutions in
Communication” (2011, 2016, Bloomsbury).
In addition to serving full time at Radford since 1990, Kovarik has been a visiting
professor at Unity College, the University of Maryland, the University of South Carolina,
Virginia Tech, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Ljubljana.
Publications and Research
Kovarik, W. J. (2011). Revolutions in Communication (pp. 384). New York, NY: Bloomsbury. www.revolutionsincommunication.com
Kovarik, W. J. (2015). Revolutions in Communication (2nd edition) (Second ed., pp. 464). New York NY: Bloomsbury. www.revolutionsincommunication.com
Book Chapters
Kovarik, W. J. (2013). Biofuels in history. In Singh, B.P. (Ed.), Biofuel crops: production, physiology and genetics (pp. 544). Sao Paulo: Commonwealth Agricultural & Biosciences Institute (CABI). http://www.cabi.org/cabebooks/ebook/20133196033