It is the humanities and the humanities alone, and the training that the humanities provide, that will allow us to steer our way through this new multicultural world, and precisely...because the humanities are about reading and interpretation.
—J.M. Coetzee, from Elizabeth Costello
Socrates once said, “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.” This thought guides my approach to both teaching and research. A quest for knowledge and understanding of myriad topics is vital in this complex world. As a humanist, I believe that it is important to perceive the interconnectedness of things, be they philosophical, scientific, or metaphysical. Therefore, learning should be a creative and joyful process in which one examines and discovers these connections—the alliance of technology and belief, the ethical and philosophical lessons in literature, the creative impulse of both science and film. The goal of university education then, as so eloquently written by John Henry Newman in The Idea of a University, is this: to form a “habit of mind...which lasts through life, of which the attributes are freedom, equitableness, calmness, moderation, and wisdom.”
Humanities Excellence in Teaching Award Winner
Courses Taught
- Introduction to Rhetoric
This course teaches the primary tools of rhetorical analysis and argument, applying these to the study of the discourses of science and technology, the environment, and the public sphere.
- Understanding and Writing Argument
This composition course examines written, visual and oral argument and explores the rhetorical strategies that contribute to successful, persuasive communication.
- Perspectives on Hope
This critical reading and writing course explores the ideas and cultural, social, and political institutions that provide and support opprtunities
for hope, and examines those circumstances that lead to a loss of hope or despair in our own lives and community and the lives and communities of others.
- Staying Human in a Technological World
This critical reading and writing course explores the interface between humans, technology, and culture. In order to better
understand the ways in which society and our own humanity are influenced by, and often defined
by, technology.
- Philosophy of Technology
This course provides a framework for developing a philosophy of technology, raising those questions central to understanding the role of technology in modern culture. Through examing critical theories of technology, we will develop parameters for conceptualizing a technological democracy.
- Communication Technologies and Culture
This course explores the human-technology interface and investigates the ways in which communication technologies have historically been influenced by, and are currently influenced by culture, environment, and politics.
- Technical Communication
This course examines the genres of scientific and technical communication and the rhetorical, ethical, and intercultural aspects of communicating effectively in the workplace.
My curriculum vitae is available on request.
Much of my research ranges across areas of the political and public sphere, academic freedom, the history and role of higher education, and rhetoric and culture. My doctoral dissertation—for which I won the 2010 Michigan Tech Graduate Student Outstanding Scholarship Award—combines aspects from each of these research areas, exploring the noticeable shift in the use of language surrounding academic freedom that has become increasingly apparent in public debates. I argue that if academics fail to acknowledge and resist conservative rearticulations of academic freedom, they stand to lose control of the definitions of their own work, and more importantly, the freedom to pursue such work.
Other research projects examine ethics, culture, and technology in society, particularly in relation to environmental issues, and consider intercultural and feminist politics in both the public sphere and in academe.