Education
Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, Persuasion, 2010
M.A., University of South Dakota, Rhetorical Criticism, 2004
Personal Statement
The two passions of my adult life have been teaching communication within the context of a liberal arts education and paddling the endless network of boreal-region rivers and lakes starting in the headwaters of Minnesota’s Arrowhead. To pursue my passion for teaching, I earned graduate degrees in political rhetoric (MA) and mediated social influence (PhD), taught at the University of South Dakota for more than a decade, and coached a nationally competitive individual events speech team. My most recent publication combined those three areas of my teaching career to empirically validate the potential of oral interpretation (i.e., spoken storytelling) to entertain and persuade. I came to the University of Minnesota Duluth to continue teaching communication while also deepening my appreciation for the area’s wilderness and especially, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I am grateful for the opportunity to become a member of UMD’s Communication faculty and to join their mission of providing the students of UMD with the best educational foundation to flourish as leaders and invested members of our diverse local, national, and global communities.
Courses Taught
COMM 1112 - Public Speaking
COMM 1222 - Interpersonal Communication