March 17, 2009 issue

This is my 12th year teaching journalism at Eastern. I teach the law and policies of the old and new technologies as they converge with 21st-century opportunities. I also teach how to protect creative works for professionals across disciplines in the arts and sciences.

I enjoy teaching at Eastern because the University strongly supports service-learning. I take the classroom to the community. We learn from the community, as well as teach the students. Together, we create community and professional leadership in a nurturing environment of caring, sharing and growing together.

The students grow by learning about communities that are different from theirs. It adds a multicultural aspect. Eastern promotes multiculturalism. We have the Center for Multicultural Affairs, and the African-American and Women's Studies departments that enrich our learning.

Through my courses, I promote a mutual teaching and learning of interdisciplinary green ideas and practices. I incorporate environmental subject matter into all of my courses and allow the students to focus on green issues in their own communities. Environmental media is a growing career field. I want our students to work closer with the faculty in the sciences. We all have a need to write and publish green information for the mass audience.

I started a news project called Hush Your Mouth, which is a local/global multimedia production. We look at positive things as well as problem solving that young people are doing in the community. With my wife, Professor Sandra Simmons, I'm also the co-founder of the Hush House, a community museum and human rights training center. Together, they help to create leadership among the students. They nurture the creation of new ideas, which we need for this era of crisis. They also nurture independent thinking. I want to see the students become leaders in their professions, as well as in the community. — Contributed by Heather Hamilton

 

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