Teaching
I often say I’m a “hybrid” scholar. By this I mean that my scholarly output is equally weighted between traditional academic scholarship (the book, the journal article, the conference presentation) and creative work, in my case experimentations with interactive storytelling platforms. Theory and praxis merge. Flexibility, and allowing the project to drive its ultimate form, is key. This approach bleeds over into my teaching.
“Both inside and outside of the classroom, I embrace hybridity.”
This sort of practical/academic merger is a logical trajectory for my approach to pedagogy. It’s also an approach which has been rewarded by my university. In 2018, I was honored to receive the Payden Award, which recognizes excellence in teaching and scholarship. I teach skills and conceptual courses at the gradaute and unddergraduate levels.
Graduate Education
Courses focus on conceptual approaches and practice based research.
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Pro-seminar in Mass Communication
Seminar on theoretical foundations for the discipline. Required for all Strategic Communication and Journalism Studies Ph.D. students. Fall 2021, Fall 2020).
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Qualitative Research Methods
Seminar on qualitative methods used in social science and mass media research. Required for all Media Research and Practice Ph.D. students (Strategic Communication, Media Studies, Journalism Studies). Fall 2016, Fall 2013.
Doctoral Professionalization Seminar
Seminar on academic practices and procedures. Required for all Strategic Communication and Journalism Studies Ph.D. students. Fall 2019.
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Environmental Journalism and Science Communication
Elective. Examines how media and communication as use to conceptualize nature and science. Spring 2020.
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Visual Communication
Elective. Interpretation and conceptualization of visual imagry. Spring 2016. Fall 2014. Fall 2012. Fall 2011.
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In-Depth Reporting
Asynchronous 5-week online reporting course required for all MA students in Journalism Entrepreneurship. Spring 2021.
Cross-Listed Courses
Skills-based courses for upper-division undergraduates and professional masters students.
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Video Documentary Production
Introduces students to the fundementals of long-format documentary production.Spring 2020, Fall 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2009.
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News Team
Production of twice-weekly live newscast. Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013. Also taught with one-weekly production as Television News Production ) at Miami University in Spring 2010 and Advanced Television Production at University of Oregon in Winter 2006.
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Digital Newsroom
Production of news stories using experimental online reporting methods. Fall 2010.
Undergraduate Courses
Skills-based and conceptual courses, mostly offered in the journalism major.
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Concepts and Creativity
College-wide required introductory course in visual communication, taught in two seven-week modules. Spring 2017, Spring 2016.
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Contemporary Media Analysis
Teaches students the foundations of media analysis. Spring 2013. Also taught as Media and Socity at Miami Univeristy in Spring 2009 and University of Oregon in Spring 2008.
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Concepts in Visual Culture
Students demonstrate advanced skills in visual literacy through the creation of a research paper or creative project. Fall 2021, Fall 2019, Spring 2010.
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History of Broadcasting
Survey coursse of the historic role of electronic media, with a focus on the United States. Spring 2021, Fall 2008, Fall 2009. Also taught as Communication History at the University of Oregon in Winter 2008 and Summer 2007.
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History of Documentary Film
Explores the evoluation of the documentary, both in feature films and in television, to understand how the genre offers both an historical context and an understanding of the world. Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Summer 2013.
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Social Media Storytelling
Students learn the techniques of telling a journalistic story across a variety of social media platforms. Spring 2018 (two sections), Spring 2017
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Television Reporting
Students learn story production basics. Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2012. Also taught as Television Field Production at the University of Oregon in Summer 2006.
Media Ethics & Professional Practice
Students learn the foundations of ethical approaches to jounalism, advertisting, public relations, and media studies. Spring 2011
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Radio and Televisoin News
Foundation in news writing and story reporting. Spring 2011. Also taught as Introduction to Journalism at Miami University in Fall 2009 and Fall 2008.
Teaching for me isn’t limited to the traditional — or even Zoom-based — classroom.
In addition to the thesis and dissertation supervision, I regularly am selected as faculty advisor for internships and independent studies. My philosophy is to offer support where it is needed, but not get in the way of the student’s professional experience or creative process.
When funds are available, I hire students to work as production assistants on my own creative work. I’ve had students tell me they’ve learned more in these experiences about production and research practices than in traditional classrooms (one comment came from a Ph.D. student who felt the experience offered more value in qualitative research than our department’s required qualitative methodology course).
As a professor who often works with industry-oriented students, I work to balance their professional focus with my desire to provide them the intellectual and critical thinking skills they’ll need to be successful citizens.
Curriculum Review
In Spring 2022, I was given a course release to review the University of Colorado Boulder journalism video curriculum and make recommendations for change. I compared the curriculum with more than 80 programs internationally. The resulting document led to a committee that developing a full curricular change for journalism, not just video courses.