Professor Hantz has served on the Mass Communication faculty at UNCA since 1984 and currently chairs the department.

Dr. Hantz teaches media aesthetics, media law, broadcast journalism and photojournalism. Originally from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, he holds a B.A.in Speech and Humanities from Clarion University of Pennsylvania where he studied debate under Roger Hufford. His M.A. is from Illinois State University where he coached debate for the University's Experimental High School, and studied Political Communication with MA advisor Robert Hirsch. Dr. Hantz did his Ph.D. research on the influence of Televised Presidential Debates at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, working under Keith Sanders in Speech Communication and Erwin Atwood in Journalism. At UNCA, Dr. Hantz serves as the department liaison to Channel 16, Asheville Education Television. His students produce the news magazine "Mountain Highlights" for that channel. He also participates in the Liberal Studies Introductory Colloquia for both freshmen and transfer students. Off campus, he is a member of the Downtown Association of Residential Neighbors (DARN) and an active street photographer. His photo work has been widely displayed and he is a founding participant in the annual "Day in the Life of Asheville" photojournalism project. On the web, Hantz is active on facebook and flickr. His personal website is at castaspark.