Faculty

I have been involved with broadcasting for more than twenty years. My professional background has included AM radio, FM radio, Public Broadcasting, Television, and Corporate Video. I continue to freelance as a producer, director, videographer, and editor.

Some of the most gratifying things for me as an educator are seeing students develop the necessary skills to become professionals in the various electronic media fields and to watch them grow and mature into responsible young adults.

I love sports and outdoor recreation. I especially enjoy sailing and camping very much. I also like to travel whenever I have the opportunity.

Entrepreneur, Professor and Producer, Nathan has been featured as an audio professional on MSNBC Tonight with Deborah Norville, and is the producer of numerous advanced instructional video series, including the Telly Award winning "Learn and Master Guitar", and the internationally distributed "Multi-Platinum Pro Tools" book and DVD's featuring multi-platinum music producers & engineers. He has also acted as Post Production supervisor on, and developed new digital workflows enabling the creation of the longest single-shot film in history, "Deadbox", for Amylase Productions.

As an audio engineer, he has recorded and mixed projects including the orchestral score for "Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby", and albums, tracks and radio spots for artists including multi-platinum country star Collin Raye, Jim Stafford, Larry Gatlin, Carrie Tillis, Les Brown Jr, and many others.

As the former Associate Chair of the largest 4 year Audio Production program in the US (the 1,700 student Department of Recording Industry at MTSU), Nathan presented at multiple industry conferences (including GMA, and the Art of Record Production conference), developed extensive online course content, and won numerous awards for his work in educational technology.

He is co-owner of the Walnut House recording & event production complex outside Nashville, Tennessee (walnuthouseevents.com) and Multi-Platinum.com.

Dr. Sybril Brown, affectionately known as “Dr. Syb,” is a Vanderbilt-educated, Harvard-trained, two-time Emmy award-winning multimedia journalist, author, international speaker and lecturer. Currently, Dr. Syb is a tenured professor of journalism at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dr. Syb is a master teacher with experience on and off line as well as across institutional types teaching at public, private, two- and four- year institutions and at predominantly black and white campuses.  In 2012, she was among three finalist for Belmont’s highest teaching honors. She has created numerous courses including: Digital Citizenship, Entrepreneurial Media, Social Media Reporting and Covering Diverse Populations. 

A respected journalist, Dr. Syb began her career working behind the scenes at ABC in Milwaukee, CBS in Chicago, and was a former general assignment reporter, fill-in anchor and fill-in talk show host at the CBS affiliate in Nashville. The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) named Dr. Syb the 2015 Journalism Educator of the Year and she was a recipient of the NABJ Region 3 Achiever Award in 2014. Most recently she was recognized as: the 2015 Educator of the Year by The Tennessee Tribune, the 2015 Diversity Leader of the Year by the Nashville Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and she received the 2015 Trailblazer Award for Excellence in Journalism Education from community organization Everything Underground. 

With extensive experience in traditional and social media fields spanning more than 15 years, Dr. Syb is the author of two books: Innovate: Lessons from the Underground Railroad, an examination of the UGRR and the Internet as among America's most effective, innovative and disruptive networks, and The Color-Full Alphabet Book, a Dr. Seuss-like book pairing positive images of children of color with encouraging words.

Dr. Syb earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Vanderbilt University, her M.Ed. in College Student Personnel from Loyola University of Chicago and her B.A. in Broadcast and Electronic Communication from Marquette University.

Jennifer Duck is an Emmy award-winning producer and instructor of journalism in the department of Cinema, Media and Television. She is the co-education chair and serves on the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences MidSouth Emmy chapter. Prior to her work with Belmont University, Jen was a producer for CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and Katie Couric’s syndicated show in New York. Additionally, she worked as a talent and development producer for Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in Los Angeles.

Jen began her career at ABC News in Washington, D.C. During her time with ABC, she traveled around the world aboard Air Force One as White House producer covering President George W. Bush and reported from the campaign trail as President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain canvassed the country in 2008. She earned her stripes as a local reporter and anchor at the NBC News affiliate in Bakersfield, California. Jen has also worked with non-profit organizations to spread awareness about important social issues. She produced educational campaigns for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and produced a live event for the David Lynch Foundation.

She received her bachelor's degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and her master's degree from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. Jen continues to produce and write and gets some of her best content from her husband, two daughters and the most stubborn yet lovable creature in the family – her beagle Gracie.

Dr. Lee is Assistant Professor of Journalism at the Department of Media Studies at Belmont University. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology / Instructional Technology from Kent State University; a Master of Education in Computer Education and Technology from Ohio University; and a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering from Hong-ik University in Seoul, Korea.

She has more than 10 years of professional experience in visual communication, working for major metropolitan newspapers including the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Tennessean, the New York Times and Long Island Newsday. Her teaching areas include digital storytelling, visual communication, motion graphics, introduction to video and audio production, and mass media and society.

Her current research interests include examining the connection between brain activity, spatial intelligence, and learning outcomes in visual instructions using brain computer interface technology. Dr. Lee is also interested in investigating the relationship between brain activity, intelligence, psychophysiology, and learning in multimedia presentation.

Dorren Robinson has been an instructor in the Media Studies department at Belmont since 2005. Before coming to Belmont, Robinson was a reporter at The Tennessean for 15 years. She has B.A. in journalism from Western Kentucky University and a M.A. in mass communication from Murray State University. She teaches Mass Media and Society, Foundations of Journalism, Media Writing I and II, Journalism Workshop and media-related study abroad courses. She also continues to freelance write and edit.