COMM 203 Public Speaking
The Public Speaking course trains in speeches of social and technical interest designed to teach students to develop and illustrate ideas and information and to inform, stimulate, and persuade their audiences.
Howdy! I lecture at Texas A&M University in the Department of Communication. I have been dubbed both the ‘humor guy’ and the ‘intercultural dude’ by our course coordinator, and I am proud to embody that persona. My goal as an educator is to make learning a fun and worthwhile experience. Using humor, graphic facilitation, and my personal (and sometimes embarrassing) experiences, I help students retain information and remain engaged in the class.
CURRENT UNIVERSITY COURSES
COMM 301 Rhetoric in Western Thought
The Rhetoric in Western Thought course examines historical and critical evaluations of rhetorical theory from the classical era to the contemporary period–from Aristotle to Kenneth Burke.
COMM 324 Leadership & Conflict Management
The Leadership & Conflict Management course examines different perspectives on leadership, conflict, conflict management, and humor, in order to develop strategies for fostering collaboration and managing conflict situations.
COMM 335 Intercultural Communication
The Intercultural Communication course examines and practices variables in intercultural contexts including culture and meaning, nonverbal styles across cultures, patterns of symbolic transfer, culture shock and communication, values in intercultural dialogue.
COMM 434 Rhetoric of Humor
The Rhetoric of Humor course explores the persuasive elements in humor as a rhetorical strategy with an emphasis on the relationship between theory and practice. From Aristophanes to Cervantes to Jon Stewart, humor provides comic laughter and allows us to start over when we err.
COMM 485 Tourism Communication
The Tourism Communication course is by directed study only. With a focus on Costa Rica, this course introduces students to the strategies and various aspects of tourism as they relate to written and oral communication.
MY METHODOLOGY
Humor in the Classroom
It’s not that today’s students don’t want to learn; it’s that today’s curriculum is boring. By adding humor lectures, assignments, and activities, you can increase student participation, understanding, and retention.
Improv for Students and Teachers
Relevant, engaging exercises are a part of every great teacher’s toolkit, but finding those exercises can be a challenge. Applied improvisation fits the bill perfectly, pulling exercises, ideas, and concepts from the world of improv to train students in communication, leadership, and presentation skills.
Graphic Facilitation for Lecturers
We all know the dangers of Death by PowerPoint, but how can lecturers create engaging slides with the limited time given? Enter graphic facilitation, where visual note taking becomes visual learning.
STUDENT FEEDBACK
Tarvin is hilarious and makes going to lectures fun. He’s also a really good teacher and cares about his students.
He is such a great professor and cares so much for his students. He is hilarious and ALWAYS makes class interesting. I would take him every semester if I could.
Professor Tarvin is super cool! He is young and is not too serious. He makes learning fun. Pay attention, do your work, and you’ll do well. He makes the class enjoyable and you’ll actually like learning.
I LOVED Prof. Tarvin. He’s funny and his lectures are very interesting. He’s great about connecting his lessons to real life scenarios, personal anecdotes, or things like movies/TV shows.
Read more on RateMyProfessors.com.
CONTACT DR. TARVIN