I'm pleased to join SPC as an adjunct instructor for Speech Communication. I completed my MA in Communication at USF in 2009 with an emphasis on Systems, Performance, and Health Communication. I have been teaching as an adjunct for 5 years and really enjoy helping students along their educational paths. I believe that all students are all capable of successfully gaining skills in the art and process of communication. In my public speaking classes, I have seen students push past their comfort levels to become better public speakers and researchers. They also gain skills as active audience members and improve listening skills during the process of supporting their classmates/speakers.

I have found that participatory action research is the best method for teaching the ever-evolving field of communication. When the students take an active role in their education, they are learning by experience and ultimately, retain more of the lesson and have the contextual frames to help others learn it as well.

After each exercise or speech, the students and I reflect on our successes and failures and offer ideas and advice on how to improve for the next time. We focus on owning our criticisms and creating a space that embraces both failure and success, as we know that both are essential to learning. Students are encouraged to work on or perform their speeches or assignments as many times as they need to be satisfied with the quality of their performance. Each semester I incorporate one writing assignment dedicated to a critique of the class. Students have a chance to write their honest opinions of the class and I have used these critiques to fine tune future classes.

My ultimate goal is to foster in each student a sense of enjoyment in, an awe of, and respect towards the process of communication as a relationship building process. My public speaking students have told me that they have learned as much from being an audience member as they have being the speaker. They have found the classes useful in other classes, at home, and many other aspects of their lives.


When I'm not teaching, I enjoy working with pottery, bicycling, swimming, canoeing, and cooking with friends.