My Manchester Story

Director of Honors Program and Assistant Professor of Communication Studies

“What brought you to Manchester?”

“Um, I came to Manchester [for] a couple of different reasons. 我去了一所类似的学校——内布拉斯加州的韦恩州立学院，它有2个,500 students and the focus was on students and the professors teaching. So, when I was looking for schools… I kind of, 在我的整个教育过程中——获得博士学位等等——我一直想在一所以教学为中心、以学生为中心的学校结束. I like doing research and I still like doing research, but I wanted to provide students opportunities like I was provided.”

“What interests you about Communication Studies?”

“It all interests me. 我认为最让我感兴趣的是交流对日常生活的重要性, and [how it] kind of challenges people’s concept of what communication is. 我认为这通常被认为是理所当然的，我们不经常考虑如何改进它. We know how important communication is for the work place, for relationships, 但是很难去思考如何提高我们的听力和沟通的策略. 所以，我喜欢它成为我们日常生活的一部分——无论是工作、人际关系还是其他任何事情. 用批判的眼光来思考也很重要，因为我不认为我们会那样做——我甚至都不会那样做. 在我的很多课上，我从很多学生那里学到的是“我从来没有那样想过”或“我为什么要那样做”?“我从学生和以前的教授那里学到了很多东西，挑战了我自己的看法.”

“Are you working on any special projects at the moment?”

“Well, there’s a lot of stuff in the works. 一件事是——我给你们举三个例子——我正在写论文中的一篇文章. 我的论文研究的是男同性恋和女同性恋是如何在工作场所出柜的. And so, 有一篇文章是关于隐形导航的——很多研究都谈到了多样性，其中一些是在表面上的, 但是，当你的多样性特征被忽视时会发生什么，你该如何驾驭它? And so, 我们已经讨论过做一些比较经验的研究，以及在工作场所隐形是什么样子. Another thing is I worked with Carly Kwicien this summer. 我们采访了十大网赌正规网址的药学专业学生，观察他们是如何在药学课程中成为专业人士的，(观察)工作场所的专业精神，以及药学专业学生与医学专业学生相比有何不同. And the last thing is a teaching activity for the Emotion in the Workplace classes. 我做一个情感工作审计，学生们在那里找工作，面试某人，做一个分析，所以我想利用这个活动，把这个活动发表在一本叫做《十大网赌正规网址》的杂志上, 哪个地方我们可以与其他人分享教学理念，让人们可以使用我们的理念.”

“Why do you love teaching?”

“I love teaching because… I really love it for the students. 我与学生建立的关系，了解学生，在课堂上玩得很开心. I love students being engaged in the classroom, which doesn’t always happen. Also, 就是在课堂上建立这些关系，用想法吸引或挑战他们. 但在课堂之外，当不是这个专业的学生来和我谈论生活，或者只是来谈论电视节目或其他方面的教学. I like building relationships with students and doing stuff out of the classroom, 无论是参加活动还是成立俱乐部之类的事情，都能让他们运用在工作场所取得成功所需的知识.”

“What is something most people don’t know about you?”

“I have two kids – we’re in the adoption process for our two boys. Troy is six and Alex is four, and we’ve had them for a little less than a year. They’re crazy and energetic. Also, I’m speech and debate captain, I’m from Colorado, I’ve been married for almost five years to Josh, I have a dog named Pepper, but my life has changed a lot since adopting kids. 我们去年四月得到了他们，就像旋风一样——不是坏的，只是一个改变.”

“What are you looking forward to as the new director of the honors program?”

“我期待着在学生中扮演更多的行政角色，成为荣誉项目的一个人. [Recently] students were often left on their own to navigate it, so I want to be the kind of person to show them the way. 事实上，在过去的一个学期里，我们做了很多工作，确保每个人都知道他们在荣誉课程中的位置，确保他们走上正轨，知道他们是否需要提高他们的GPA. And also, 让学生更容易管理，让成绩优秀的学生在大学里创造一种卓越.”

“What kind of shared experiences have stood out to you?“

I think – I have a couple. The first one [was] my first year [where] we did advanced public relations. 我的学生开始创建他们自己的VIA，我认为最让我印象深刻的是学生们对这个项目的主人翁精神, which is kind of the goal of that class, but we really had a successful event. One of the really large VIA’s had filled up the upper JYSC, like it was to capacity, and so it was just an exciting experience. The VIA was called 'Small School, 《十大赌博正规信誉网址》，这是关于你在十大网赌正规网址毕业后可以用你的学位做些什么. 我们邀请了三位校友来谈谈他们的经历:他们在曼彻斯特学到的东西，以及这些东西是如何影响他们今天的职业生涯的. But the students – I can’t take ownership for it, I was just the proud bystander watching my students pull it all together.”

“How has your time at Manchester shaped you?”

I think in many ways… I don’t know. 我在这里有一群很好的支持者，朋友们就像第二个家一样. Like, when we adopted the boys, 有很多人帮助我们，因为我们很快就找到了男孩. 我想说，这里有一个非常好的社会支持网络，它塑造了我，我[认为]这与十大网赌正规网址教职员工之间建立的社区有关, staff, and students. 我喜欢学生们的一点是，当我们收养这些男孩的时候，他们很感兴趣，这在很多其他大学是不会发生的. So, 我认为它塑造了一个包容的社区，我也——我研究的是LGBT问题，在工作场所出柜，我总是担心我会在哪里结束，如果我在这里被接受，这从来都不是一个问题. So, 我认为它也塑造了我对其他想法的开放态度，对一个社区的开放态度，为别人服务.“