Teaching

I was drawn to academia for the opportunity to teach, and teaching remains my first love.  I am particularly interested in teaching courses that deal with the intersection of new media and identity:

  • The Internet and social change
  • Narrative and identity
  • Identity and new media
  • Religion and modernity
  • Religious communication/Religion and/in the media
  • Gender and religion
  • Technology and spirituality

I am also eager to teach several general and specialized Communication courses:

  • Persuasion
  • Speech/Public speaking
  • Communication and culture
  • Qualitative research methods (including methods for online research)
  • Discourse and the public sphere/Rhetorical criticism
  • History of freedom of speech
  • Communication behavior/Media effects
  • Technical/Business writing
  • Communication history/Communication technologies and society

I am committed to teaching excellence.  In addition to obtaining a Certificate in University Teaching and Instruction from the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Teaching and Learning, I have taught or assisted several courses:

  • Instructor, “Communication technologies and society” undergraduate course, University of Tulsa, Spring 2015
  • Instructor, “Persuasive influences in American society” undergraduate course, University of Tulsa, Spring 2015
  • Instructor, “Public speaking” general education course (two sections), Tulsa Community College, Fall 2014
  • Instructor, “Spiritual communication” undergraduate course, University of Pennsylvania, Summer 2012
  • Teaching assistant, “Communication behavior” undergraduate course with Dr. Eran Ben-Porath (two recitation sections), University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2012
  • Teaching assistant, “Spiritual communication” undergraduate course with Dr. John Jackson, University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2011
  • Teaching assistant, “Freedom of expression” undergraduate course, with Dr. Carolyn Marvin, University of Pennsylvania,Spring 2009

I view teaching as an opportunity to expand students’ cognitive and affective frameworks for thinking about cultural issues.  A successful course not only imparts the hard knowledge of the discipline– including history, theory, or methodological processes– but also provides a critical lens through which to view the media, culture, and history.  My students leave a course with me re-evaluating long-held assumptions and more media-savvy and discerning to boot.