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 鈥� 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鈥檚 books (so far) include 鈥淭he Forbidden Fuel鈥� (1982, republished 2010), The
Ethyl Controversy (1993); 鈥淢ass Media and Environmental Conflict鈥� (1996, with Mark
Neuzil, Sage); 鈥淲eb Design for the Mass Media鈥� (2001, Pearson) and 鈥淩evolutions in
Communication鈥� (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.
Kovarik, W. J. (2015). Revolutions in Communication (2nd edition) (Second ed., pp. 464). New York NY: Bloomsbury.
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).