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My platform for AEJMC President-Elect During this difficult time, it is vital that we have a solid discipline-focused professional network that extends beyond a brief August stretch. We need safe spaces to ask hard questions, discuss our shared mission to research, teach, and practice journalism and mass communication, and learn about challenges our extended colleagues face in their own…

Tips on Succeeding in Class

Rivet has his pencil and paper ready for school (or for a snack). In school and college, we assume that students know how to succeed. Yet, as a parent and a professor, I’ve come to realize that many students have never been taught the preparation and study skills that have little to do with intelligence or the actual subject: proper organization, note-taking, group work, communication, and test…

How We Became Dog People (in celebration of International Dog Day)

We went from no dogs to two — plus the occasional fosters. I’ll start off by stating that I’ve never disliked dogs in general. I usually had a favorite at my Uncle Dave and Cathy’s house of dogs. Other than that, I didn’t have much experience and didn’t know much about them. In 2017, a neighbor’s incessantly barking dogs prompted us to look for a new house. Our new yard included a fenced-in…

5 Tips to Overcoming the Jitters to Give Your Best Presentation

This presentation was for middle schoolers. You better believe I was a little nervous. Most people become nervous right before giving their presentations. Even seasoned scholars feel a bit of a rush right before it’s time to be “on.” In other words, the butterflies are a natural indication that you care about what you’re about to do. Here are a few tips to transform nervous energy into…

Whew, we made it! End of the (Pandemic) School Year Why we should all celebrate and the drawbacks of distance-learning (though we all tried our best)

Left: 1st day of schoolMiddle & Right: Last day of 6th and 4th grade Tuesday, May 25th was the last day of school for us, not counting the weird 2-hour optional day on Thursday. The kiddos finished 6th and 4th grade. I was absolutely elated for them to be done, much more than in a “regular” May. In my role as an educator, I found this year to be tough. That said, I found that parenting…

Returning to Normal: Lessons from the “Spanish Flu”

Published on December 14, 1918 in The Lima Times-Democrat With the eased CDC guidelines on mask-wearing for those vaccinated, the lifting of mandates and safety restrictions have varied significantly. Public health authorities and individuals have speculated on the timeline for a “return to normal” and what that entails: how to reopen, the adjustment to social situations, and overall experiences…

Leisurely streaming a show or coming up with a thesis idea? How do you figure out the topic for your thesis, dissertation, or creative project? Obviously, you want to be passionate about your area of study. At the same time, you need to choose something you can realistically tackle. Here’s the deal: your thesis or dissertation will not be the groundbreaking discovery of the century. That’s okay.…

Not Opposed, But Not Vaccinated: Addressing the Reluctant

Others’ vaccination status affects all of us.Me after my first dose. As of April 27, 2021, 141 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine and 95.9 million are fully vaccinated, according to The Washington Post. These rates differ greatly by state and demographic. We are witnessing a growing number of people who fit in a gray space of immunization, in which they aren’t…

On Our Need for People

I got a taste of Maslow’s third stage and now I can’t get enough. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons) I’ve been dreaming about the world of people since March 2020. As an extrovert, I crave social interaction. I’m not talking about big parties or dance clubs (never my deal). Rather, I’ve missed the conversations that make up everyday life — with employees at a…

From Inoculation to COVID Vaccination: The Wonder of It All

Me after dose #1 of the Moderna vaccine, outside of my car. Skip this post if you detest emotionally-charged posts because that’s what it’s going to be. From March 4th: I got my first shot of the Moderna vaccine today, jumpstarting my immune system to protect me against COVID-19. How, you might ask? I volunteered at our campus vaccine clinic. At the end of the shift, they had extra doses to…

The Opaque Lens of Nostalgia

We tend to think fondly of the content we enjoyed as a child. I remember when my dad introduced the movie Cat Ballou to my sister and me. He touted it as the funniest movie ever, falsely predicting that we would laugh and laugh. Instead, in full teen fashion, we rolled our eyes at the corny jokes and struggled to stay awake. Yet a generation later, I’ve had similar experiences with my own kids.…

Rejection or New Direction? How to Handle a Manuscript’s Non-acceptance

Remember that we have all been there. Rejections sting. At a virtual panel on reviewing, I shared with others just how sensitive I was as an undergrad when I received what I perceived as a harsh comment on a paper or less than stellar feedback. And yet, even after participating in cycles of submission for years, I still need a moment and a sweet treat to cope when I see the “thanks, but no…

Embracing Compassion: The Challenges of Teaching and Learning During Crisis

The view from the hospital room. It’s hard to think about regular stuff in a moment of crisis. The past few days have been tough for the Foss house. Last night, my 11 year-old’s seemingly-mild sickness turned briefly scary when she became too weak to stand and too disoriented for easy conversation. We made the the tough decision to take her to the local emergency room, knowing that it would be a…

Lessons from the past: Radio in the Chicago 1937 polio epidemic

This literacy activity is based off of my article for The Conversation, found here. Until the last half of the 20th century, it was not unusual for schools used to briefly shut down for weeks or even months. I’m not just talking about holiday or summer breaks. Hunting season, the fall harvest, and inclement weather kept students at home. Times of crisis also impacted education, as coal shortages…

Creating a Balanced Content Diet and Assessing Information

The fabrication of media content occurred long before digital technology made it easy, as illustrated with “The Great Moon Hoax” of 1835.(Benjamin Henry Day (1810-1889), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) As we are all well-aware, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and distrust have become a rampant plague on society. Our seemingly-infinite media outlets mean we have choices, but also leave…

Why aren’t higher ed instructors considered teachers? (And where they stand in different parts of the country)

Not everyone has been teaching online. On December 30th, The Tennessean announced that K-12 teachers and child care workers would receive the COVID-19 vaccine in phase 1B, after health care workers and senior citizens. Many states have similarly modified their COVID immunization hierarchies, some of which include higher ed in phase 1B. Note: I recognize that all states are lagging behind in the…

Farewell, 2020: A Year of Writing and Reflecting

January 2020. In a line to pick up crates of Florida oranges. One year ago, we were preparing to leave for Florida on a family vacation on New Year’s Day. By the time we were at Universal Studios on January 6th, I had heard a little bit about the new strain of coronavirus, but wasn’t too concerned at that point. When the semester began, my teaching assistant mentioned trying to buy masks to send…