Chelsea Slack, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
Dr. Slack is an assistant professor and the John Alario Endowed Professor at Southeastern. She joined the faculty as an instructor in 2018 and was promoted to assistant professor in 2023. She has studied and worked across the South: originally hailing from Arkansas, she earned her master's at the University of Memphis and her Ph.D. at Clemson University. Her career in education began in 2008, spanning roles as a TRIO Supplemental Instructor, a Library Sciences Graduate Teaching Assistant, and a high school teacher for four years. Prior to joining Southeastern, she worked within the University of Arkansas System for four years. Now based in New Orleans, she serves as the faculty adviser for The Lion’s Roar and Le Souvenir and is a freelance content creator and Mardi Gras artist for multiple Mardi Gras krewes.
Slack designs "flipped" asynchronous courses and project-based curricula. Her higher-level classes focus on helping students recognize how they are conditioned by the all-encompassing media environment — illustrating McLuhan’s adage that "we don't know who discovered water, but it wasn't a fish" — and thereby teaching students how that mediated environment can then be used to influence audiences. Students examine the "influencer and the influenced" dynamic and algorithmic control through video reflections and simulations. She uses intensive peer-review systems to simulate professional feedback loops, and encourages students to ethically leverage AI as a cutting-edge asset for creative innovation.
Dr. Slack chronicled the university’s modern era (2000–2025) in the centennial history book, Southeastern 100: The Story of Southeastern Louisiana University’s First Century. Additionally, she has published three peer-reviewed articles and is recognized for aiding in the renewal of a strong student press on campus at Southeastern. She was also a 2022 recipient of an Elizabeth Dole Foundation grant.
A McLuhanist scholar, Dr. Slack is primarily an AI researcher, authoring papers in AI pedagogy and the changing nature of converging technologies. She also writes occasionally on feminism, a subject she pursues for a bit of intellectual fun when not inundated by technological research. Her background includes extensive work in media ecology and media effects.