Dr. Joseph E. Etienne

Department Head/Audiologist, CCC-A
Tate Page Hall, Rm. 111
Phone: (270) 745-8998
Fax: (270) 745-3441
E-mail: joseph.etienne@wku.edu

Dr. Etienne has taught at Western Kentucky University since the Fall term, 1991. Initially, his responsibilities included teaching twenty-one credit hours of courses annually in the Department of Communication Disorders and providing audiological services to the university and surrounding community.

In July, 2004, Dr. Etienne assumed the role of Department Head. Since that time, he has taught twelve credit hours per year and continued to advise undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing a career in either Audiology or Speech-Language Pathology.

His research interests center around the acquisition of noise-induced hearing loss and the effects that such hearing loss has on the communication ability of an individual. Particularly, how does noise related hearing impairment, whether acquired recreationally or occupationally, impact on the individual socially and emotionally, and does this noise exposure and subsequent hearing loss have an impact on an individual’s perceived health and productivity?

Additionally, due to the increasing availability of graduate level courses in communication disorders via distance learning, Dr. Etienne is currently investigating and developing virtual instructional delivery protocols in the content areas of audiology and speech science.

Courses Taught

CD 280 Introduction to Speech Pathology and Audiology
CD 290 Introduction to Clinical Experience
CD 347 Bases of Speech
CD 482 Audiology
CD 487 Aural Rehabilitation
CD 509 Speech Science
CD 515 Pediatric Audiology