Olivia Bullock
Assistant Professor, Advertising Department
Read Olivia Bullock’s hiring announcement.
What are you teaching this semester?
I’m teaching Advertising Strategy, ADV3001. My teaching style is all about collaboration – between me and the students and among the students themselves, plus professional skills development. This semester, my class is working in groups to create advertising strategy for a real-world client, a startup called Boundless Immigration. I’m super excited to see what they pull off!
What is your area of expertise?
I bring a blend of experiences as a practitioner and a researcher. In both contexts, my expertise is about communicating complex health, science and technology information in a way that’s engaging and persuasive for lay audiences. As a practitioner, I’ve done this work for organizations ranging from small businesses designing microchips for the Department of Defense all the way to working as a consultant on the Center for Disease Control’s “We Can Do This” COVID-19 vaccine campaign.
What research are you working on?
I use an experimental approach to test what types of message features produce persuasion or engagement effects. I am doing a few different projects right now on different topics, including what makes people think advertisements that make environmental claims are faking it (i.e., “greenwashing”), how to encourage farmers to take up regenerative agriculture practices, and understanding how lay audiences perceive expert witnesses during trials who use a lot of jargon and complex language in their testimony. I’m always looking for students and faculty to collaborate with!
Significant other, children, pets?
I have two dogs. Rosie is an eight-year-old Australian Cattle Dog and the sweetest girl in the world. Winston is a four-year-old corgi/demon incarnate.
What excites you most about coming to Gainesville?
I can’t wait to see a football game in the Swamp!
What accomplishments, personal or professional, are you most proud of?
Getting a tenure-track job at UF is definitely up there!
Your hero or biggest inspiration (alive or historical)?
My biggest heroes/inspirations are always women throughout history who blazed trails, particularly in education. I can get super nerdy about women in the 1400-1500s who defied societal expectations by reading, spreading ideas, and creating their own books and art pieces.
What three things don’t we know about you?
- I am a sucker for reality TV
- I go absolutely wild for animals (pun intended)
- I have done stand-up comedy.