About

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Hi! I’m Carla.

I’m a mom, wife, educator, student, researcher, connector, content creator, writer, college football podcaster, and sometimes church musician. It depends at any given moment which hat I’m wearing. (Usually multiple!)

The intersection of media, technology, real life, and storytelling is where I tend to find myself most frequently.

I’ve had the opportunity to help forge new paths in multimedia storytelling, creating a documentary as an undergraduate student in the aftermath of Sept. 11, pioneering online news video production in the mid-2000s convergence era, and producing a live multi-day virtual event during the pandemic in 2020. I’ve worked for news organizations, online publications, interactive and communications agencies, and nonprofits, telling a wide range of real-life stories.

I’ve also been on the forefront of using Web technologies to connect people, being an early participant in blogging and Twitter meetups as well as a member of PodCamp organizing teams in both Pittsburgh and Nashville. I co-founded and currently serve as board chair of Craft Content Nashville, the next generation of those pioneering community-driven events.

Currently, as a lecturer in the world-renowned College of Media and Entertainment at Middle Tennessee State University, my teaching, research, and creative activity focuses on interactive media, multimedia storytelling, social media management, content strategy, and audience analysis. And as a doctoral student focusing on student success, I’m investigating how we can use emerging media tools and storytelling techniques to improve the higher education landscape.

For more than a decade, I’ve co-hosted a college football vidcast and podcast, mostly just for fun but also as a creative space for experimenting with new technologies.

I’m currently in a bit of a hiatus from my 25-year stint as a volunteer church musician, pianist, and worship artist as I work to reconnect with my faith journey, but I’m optimistic that church music will return to my life again soon.

Every day, I have the incredible opportunity to continue watching connections being made, whether that’s with my students in the classroom or through the eyes of my toddler daughter. And that’s something I don’t take for granted.

More about me, no studying required!

Pop Quiz

FAVORITE SONG

“Crowded Table,” by The Highwomen

Most memorable interview

Walter Cronkite

essential office supplies

Post-It notes and binder clips

Favorite social platform

Instagram

Favorite pizza toppings

Extra cheese, ground beef, and green peppers

Standard coffee order

Vanilla latte, hot or iced

Favorite TV Binge

“Home Town” on HGTV

Favorite seasonal coffee

Peppermint mocha

Favorite pro sports team

Pittsburgh Penguins

Favorite family recipe

Meatballs, meatloaf, and buckeyes … I could never choose! 

Formal Bio

An accomplished writer, producer, technologist, and social strategist, Carla Swank Fox is a lecturer in interactive media and a doctoral student at Middle Tennessee State University.

In addition to teaching, Carla is co-founder of Craft Content Nashville and co-host of the long-running college football podcast The Carla & Crappy Show. She also consults as a social media and content strategist.

Previously, Carla was a reporter, copy editor, print designer, and webcast producer for the Beaver County Times; a writer, assistant national editor, and network producer for Rivals.com and Yahoo! Sports; and the print copy editor for American Songwriter magazine. She helmed all communications and marketing initiatives at The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts for a decade, serving two years as managing editor for both the organization’s award-winning print magazine WorshipArts and weekly interactive publication Fellowship Reflections. She also has worked in various strategic communications roles in communications agencies, serving clients including Simon & Schuster, Johnson & Johnson, Thorntons, and several healthcare startups.

Originally from Western Pennsylvania, Carla holds a B.A. in Communication (with emphasis in corporate communication and media production) and an M.S. in Organizational Studies and Leadership, both from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. She is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in Assessment, Learning, and Student Success – Higher Education at MTSU.

Outside of teaching, Carla enjoys choral singing, playing the piano, watching home renovation shows, drinking coffee, spending time with her husband, David, and (most importantly!) being Ellie’s mommy.