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I teach topical courses in media studies, inequality, and social change, as well as applied courses in media production and a range of research methods. My primary goal as a teacher is to help students understand key ideas in the social sciences and humanities, see the connections between themselves and broader social issues, and to foster the practical and analytical skills necessary for contributing to society.

To this end, I strive to create learning environments where students can engage with the course materials, interact with each other through group discussions and collaborative work, and explore different ways of seeing and acting in the social world. I combine teaching strategies and methods that foster excellence in learning and the development of critical thinking skills that are grounded in a sense of social responsibility.

Learning is a process that we all participate in. As a teacher, I bring my own professional expertise and provide the class with materials that we can use to learn and explore the subject matter. But we all bring something to share, be it expertise in an area, life experience, or skill sets that enable others to learn. My courses provide a space for us to bring the ‘outside in’, and to experiment with bringing the ‘inside out’ by contributing to the public dialog on important social issues. Students in my courses have published blogs, written social commentaries, produced radio and video stories and done original research.

Prior to teaching in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at UW Bothell I taught in the Department of Communication at UW Seattle, the Institute for Social Ecology, and the Social Ecology Education and Demonstration School (SEEDS).

Recent Courses 

• BISMCS 472 Advanced Media Production Workshop: Community Storytelling in Radio
• BISMCS 471 Advanced Topics in Media and Communication Studies: Media Policy & Institutional Change
• BIS 445 Meanings and Realities of Inequality: Discourses of Poverty and Class
• BIS 410 Topics in Qualitative Inquiry: Discourse Analysis & COM/LING 470 Analyzing Discourse: Talk and Texts
• BISMCS 343 Media Production Workshop: Community Radio Journalism
• BIS 340: Approaches to Cultural Research
• BISMCS 333: Media and Communication Studies
• BISMCS 234 Media Techniques: Working With Audio
• BCUSP 104 & 107: American Idol(s): How Stories Shape Culture and Identity

Other Courses 2005-2010

• COM 302/CHID 370: The Cultural Impact of Technology
• COM 300: Basic Concepts of New Media
• COM 301: Navigating Information Networks
• COM 220: Introduction to Public Speaking
• COM 202: Introduction to Human Communication
• COM 201: Introduction to Mediated Communication

Examples of Student Work

• Radio Stories: Audio Autobiographies, Community Radio Journalism, & Collaborative Advocacy Storytelling with CCAJ: AGRA Watch, and the Farm Bill
• Websites: Keywords in Media & Communication Studies, Media and Institutional Change, Change the Discourse, Class in Prime Time, Working Hard or Hardly Working?, The Controversy Over Contraception
• Digital Films: Autobiographical Films, Sound Food: Puget Sound urban farming and food justice