EDUCATION:

University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
M.A., Communication, May 2000

State University of New York at Buffalo
B.A., English Literature, May 1991

APPOINTMENTS:

Adjunct Faculty, Mendoza College
University of Notre Dame
Summer 2009, Summer 2008

Guest Lecturer, Communication
Purdue University (North Central Campus)
August 2007 — Present

Adjunct Lecturer, Communication, English, Humanities
Southwestern Michigan College
August 2003 — Present
(Technical Writing; Human Communication; Speech Communication; Mass Media)

Visiting Lecturer, Communication
Indiana Univeristy (South Bend)
January 2006 — May 2006

Adjunct Faculty, Communication
Indiana Univeristy (South Bend)
August 2005 — December 2005

Adjunct Professor, Communication
Southwestern Michigan College
August 2003 — December 2005

Adjunct Faculty, English & Communication
Tri-State Univeristy
January 2002 — August 2004

Adjunct Professor, Communication
Cape Cod Community College
August 2002 — December 2002

Adjunct Professor, Communication
Ivy Tech Community College
August 2001 — August 2002

Site Coordinator, Professional Degree Program
Emmanuel College (Woburn Campus)
January 2003 — July 2003

• Volunteer Driver / New Volunteer Orientation Assistance

American Cancer Society, Western New York Chapter, Amherst, NY. 9/94 — 5/98

Road to Recovery program: drove patients to cancer treatment at area hospitals and medical care facilities. Also assisted with several new volunteer orientations: wrote welcome and procedural instructions for training sessions; helped with troubleshooting and question/answer sessions.

 

• Delegate to the Cultural Conflicts on College Campuses Symposium, 4/89

Discussed intolerance in education; comparative analysis of academic, social, and cultural similarities and barriers confronting students, faculty, and staff.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Thesis:
Objectifying Female and Virtual Body-Forms: A Survey of 20th–Century War Propaganda, Photomontage, Advertising and Technology
University of Notre Dame, May 2000
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Personal identity is linked with what Mary Russo identifies as "the constrained codings of the body in Western culture." Much like the modern auto, machine, and computer, human bodies—in particular, women's bodies— are increasingly being 'engineered' (physically and socially) to be sleeker, leaner, faster...invisible. While this objectifying phenomenon pervades our modern electronic and print media (TV, magazines, film, advertising), it is not recent by any means. This paper traces the roots of the objectification of the female body-form back to late 19th-century print advertising and photomontage, as well as early 20th century war propaganda posters. I explore developments of industrial and medical technology and their coinciding with the objectification of women; a new ideology of mysogony under the guise of liberation.

As Berger (1972) points out: Dürer believed that the ideal nude ought to be constructed by taking the face of one body, the breasts of another, the legs of a third, the shoulders of a fourth, the hands of a fifth — and so on. The result would glorify Man. But the exercise presumed a remarkable indifference to who any one person really was. In the art-form of the European nude the painters and spectator-owners were usually men and the persons treated as objects usually women. This unequal relationship is so deeply embedded in our culture that it still structures the consciousness of many women. They do to themselves what men do to them; they survey—like men—their own femininity. — Ways Of Seeing, John Berger

Heidegger tells us that "technology 'enframes' the way things are done. It reinforces the idea that compulsions of development are bound unalterably to technical growth. Technology is assimilated into popular culture in ways that reinforce its authority but mask the tactic of domination." So how do our mass media and cultural representations define and redefine 'accepted' roles for women. What debilitating pathologies (body image disturbance; anorexia, bulimia) and positive developmental outcomes (empowerment; equality) might be derived from these exposures?

Interests:
Media literacy

Media Literacy and personal identity

Media effects on human development

Communiation skills as they impact wellness in aging

Mythology and self-construction in lifelong learning

PUBLICATIONS:

Your Military Life, Your Civilian Life: A Life Story Workshop for Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Veteran (2012, Elder Forest Publishing Group). Offers troops, veterans a place for quiet reflection on their military and civilian lives.

The Savvy Over 50 Pocket Guide Series® (Forthcoming). Series contributes to increased well-being for adult learners by improving communication skills.

(Working Papers):

Building Life Backwards: Reminiscence and the Narrative Reconstruction of the Self

COURSES TAUGHT:

Indiana University South Bend:

Public Speaking (S 121) / two lecture courses and four discussion sections
Business & Professional Communication (S 223)
Process & Effects of Mass Communication (R 287)
Human Communication Theory (S 405)

Tri-State University:

Effective Speaking (SP 203 ) / two courses
Mass Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice (LE 453/SOC 313) / two courses
– Developed curriculum for this course. Lecture/seminar examining the interchange between media, crime and the criminal justice system. Challenges student to become a critical media consumer. Explores the media environment and its influence relating to prejudicial publicity, copycat crimes, and disclosure. Provides a bridge between theory and practice for communication and criminal justice majors. Offered/taught twice at Tri-State University.
English Composition I (ENG 103)
English Composition II (ENG 113)
Directed Readings/English (ENG 400X)

Southwestern Michigan College:

Fundamentals of Public Speaking (SPEE 102) / four courses
Introduction to Human Communication (SPEE 104) / two courses
Technical Writing (ENGL 105) / four courses
Introduction to Poetry (ENGL 224)
Non-Western Civilization (HUMA 210)
– Course situated in Humanities department; I focused on relevance / impact of communication across cultures (within historical framework; Islamic societies confronting the West; Jihad vs McWorld; environmental basis for political instability, etc)

Cape Cod Community College:

Oral Communication (COM 103)
– This course combined components of traditional public speaking and elements of interpersonal communication.

Ivy Tech Community College:

Fundamentals of Public Speaking (COM 101) / nine lecture courses

COURSES DEVELOPED:

• Mass Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice. Undergraduate-level seminar examining the interchange between media, crime and the criminal justice system. Challenges student to become a critical media consumer. Explores the media environment and its influence relating to prejudicial publicity, copycat crimes, and disclosure. Provides a bridge between theory and practice for communication and criminal justice majors. Offered/taught twice at Tri-State University. See course flyer (PDF)

 

• Functions of Myth in Modern Life. Modern incarnations of ancient mythic themes, as realized through 20th and 21st- century music, drama, film, art, poetry, performance art, and social customs. A look at mythic narrative and the hero’s journey. Critical analysis of modern-day interpretations. We will explore the development of myth and archetype as they relate to our lives in a modern democratic regime. The relevance of myth as a force in medicine, science, sports, space exploration, religion, war. How mythic narrative acts as positive and negative forces: exploring the mythic underpinnings of propaganda, crowd behavior and mass hysteria.

• Service-Learning: Civic Responsibility and Personal Growth. (Undergraduate and extension-level, lecture format). An introduction to service-learning fieldwork. Discussion of the social contexts and philosophic parameters within which the student proceeds. Analysis of the key problems associated with the helper/benefactor relationship. Required are thoughtful reflection, critical analysis and documentation relevant to the service-learning experience.

 

• Life-Story. (College extension-level; seniors in congregate housing). Seminar format. Autobiography workshop that includes life-story construction and developmental exchange between group leader and participants. Goal is to compile a series of life-review essays into a significant production, and to realize subsequent cathartic effects from the process of writing and sharing life-story narratives.

 

 

• Intercultural Communication. An introductory, comparative study of the dynamics of cross-cultural communication. Explores social, moral, and religious customs as they influence cross-cultural interaction. Also, we will examine some current-event issues (Islamic societies confronting Western ideology) to determine how communicative action is influenced by exploring the rift between human rights and the imperatives of the culturally sacred.

 

• World Poetics. A survey of the comparative analysis of poetry and poetic ideas and themes across cultures. Western, Gnostic, Eastern, and other world poetries. Not a creative writing class, we focus on interpreting established poetic texts and themes of such poets as Constantine Cavafy, Hart Crane, Xavier Villaurutia, and Irving Feldman.

 

• Functions of Myth in Modern Life. Modern incarnations of ancient mythic themes, as realized through 20th and 21st century music, drama, film, art, poetry, performance art, and social customs. We will explore the development of myth and archetype as they relate to our lives in a modern democratic regime. We will look at the relevance of myth as a force in medicine, science, space exploration, religion, and war. How mythic narrative can embody either positive or negative energy through the machinery of rhetoric, crowd behavior and mass hysteria, particularly as they relate to social philosophy and instigated social change.

Extensive use of web-based learning / blended learning environments such as Blackboard.

AFFILIATIONS:

 

American Association for Higher Education

American Association of Community Colleges

National Communication Association

International Communication Association

Publishers Marketing Association

The Teaching Professor — newsletter

Communication Education — journal

 

 

 

A hard copy of this portfolio is available—in whole or in part—including transcripts, department and student evaluations, letters of recommendation, references, thesis, and detailed volunteer experience.