About Me
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.
I came to the study of communication and rhetoric after earning a Bachelor’s in Spanish. Prior to graduating, I studied abroad in Morelia, Mexico, after taking an intercultural communication course my junior year. What I learned in that class and my experiences abroad changed my worldview and helped me to become a more competent and compassionate communicator. After those amazing experiences, my life goal has been to provide similar opportunities for others.
I followed the path of the professor whose class changed my life, and earned a MA in Communication. I focused on intercultural communication and Mexico and wrote a thesis comparing Mexican President Vicente Fox’s Inaugural Address to the rhetorical characteristics of the US inaugural genre. A central concern of my thesis emphasizes how leaders rhetorically navigate through revolutionary changes in society, and I continued the exploration of this issue in my PhD program, where I worked under the guidance of Dr. Nathan Crick (now, also at Texas A&M).
As a doctoral student, my research interests were in rhetoric, pedagogy, and humor studies. Combined, these interests directed me to a dissertation topic, where I examined Cervantes’ Don Quixote as a rhetorical model for confronting impiety in a changing society. This hilarious book and its fountain of rhetorical education, continues to help me view life not as it is, but as it should be. I think life should be easy, breezy, and beautiful, and I tilt at windmills to make it so.
Looking back at my own learning experiences as a student at a large research institution, I greatly value the teachers that were not only research-oriented, but also student-oriented. As a Communication Lecturer at TAMU, I like to pull from student experiences to develop courses that are challenging, creative, and have an intercultural focus. Having taught in Mexico, China, and Costa Rica, I am aware of the needs and interests of a culturally diverse student body.
An intercultural communication professor changed my life in undergrad. Now that I am that professor, I strive to do the same for my students.
