Vincent Russel is a fourth year PhD student studying Communication. His research focuses on grassroots community efforts to advance participatory and deliberative democracy. Specifically, Vincent's research (a) emphasizes communication activism for social justice scholarship, which details how communication scholars can work collaboratively with marginalized individuals, activist groups, and community-based organizations to promote social justice and (b) explores how communication practices by people in civic affairs impact individual and systemic phenomena. Vincent was recently awarded a Teaching Excellence Award based on his teaching philosophy and dedication to his students. We asked Vincent a few questions to learn more about him as a teacher and get to know him better. Read more below!
Please tell us a little bit about your pedagogical philosophy.
My teaching provides students with opportunities to develop democratic habits and skills necessary to engage in civic affairs. Students have opportunities to employ communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts; to create messages appropriate to the audience, purpose, and context; to analyze messages critically; to apply ethical communication principles and practices; to utilize communication to embrace difference; and to influence public discourse. In my courses, students develop a critical consciousness and hone their communication skills so that they can work to advance social justice. One purpose of postsecondary education is to equip students with the skills necessary to become citizens in their communities, meaning they are able to solve social problems by questioning, debating, and changing established systems that reproduce patterns of injustice over time. To accomplish these goals, students in my courses engage in experiential learning, where they are provided opportunities to practice communication skills such as advocacy, dialogue, and deliberation inside and outside the classroom with implications for the world beyond the university.
Do you have a favorite teaching resource you would like to share with other graduate teachers?
Overall, I recommend that instructors listen to and amplify the voices of Black people, Indigenous people, other people of color, women, low-income people, queer folks, and people with disabilities. Specifically, I recommend these sources to get started:
- Join our union: United Campus Workers Colorado (CWA Local 7799)
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
- Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks
- Teaching Communication Activism: Communication Education for Social Justice by Lawrence R. Frey & David Palmer
- Liberating Service Learning and the Rest of Higher Education Civic Engagement by Randy Stoecker
- The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education by Diana E. Hess and Paula McAvoy
Do you have any recommendations for continuing or increasing student advocacy and engagement?
We must push back against the neoliberal agenda for higher education, including the hegemony of market fundamentalism, standards-based educational policy, and colleges/universities as a training ground for profit-making and war-making industries. We must reclaim postsecondary education as a public good that is necessary for nurturing democratic capacities of critical thinking, deliberation, and dialogue across difference—rather than the conditions in which we work now, where education operates as a private right designed for job creation.
To continue or increase student advocacy and engagement, I would advise instructors: Do not shy away from discussions related to oppression, injustice, and activism. Instead, lean into those topics to work with students to address pressing questions and problems of our society (e.g., inequalities of all kinds, climate change, digital privacy and surveillance, and so many others). Whenever possible, incorporate liberating service-learning into the course. Find ways to connect course material to what is happening in the world, especially through the use of current events and case studies. Strive to make content practical so that students can use their knowledge outside the classroom setting. Provide students with resources so they can get engaged locally: Share upcoming community activist events (on campus or nearby) or share other opportunities for deepening their activism (e.g., fellowships, webinars, job opportunities, or internships). Invite guest speakers involved in social justice efforts to speak to your class. Try to make your classroom as democratic as possible by encouraging robust discussion and granting students chances to make collective decisions over aspects of the course (e.g., when assignments will be due, how we will review for exams, classroom guidelines for discussion, etc.).
Students need chances to learn and develop civic skills and habits, and they must be plugged into networks and life-worlds where social justice activism is the norm, rather than the exception, so that they have opportunities to practice these skills. Instructors can facilitate this kind of learning by modeling justice-oriented citizenship and by creating a classroom culture where civic engagement is expected.
Tell us a fun fact about you that is not related to your teaching and research.
Prior to pursuing graduate studies, I was a professional drummer in a progressive rock band. Rhythm and music remain life-sustaining passions of mine.