Short Courses

Short Courses

Thursday
April 03, 2025

11:00 AM

1304

11:00 AM  to 12:15 PM 

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

Salon A

Community-Engaged Public Speaking: Widening the Scope of the Public Speaking Course

This short course presents the Community-Engaged Public Speaking (CEPS) framework which provides an opportunity for public speaking to blend their course with a semester-long focus on community issues. By attending this short course, attendees will: • Understand the CEPS framework and how to apply it in their public speaking course(s) • Recognize the strengths and limitations of the framework • Identify potential community partners/issues to address • Re/Develop course assignments to align with the framework

Presenters:

   Madison A. Pollino, University of South Florida

   Melissa McCormick, University of South Florida

12:30 PM

1400

12:30 PM  to 1:45 PM 

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

Salon A

Assessing Autoethnography: Analysis, Evaluation, and Craft

What makes an excellent autoethnography? In this short course the editors of the Journal of Autoethnography will review ways by which to assess autoethnography. Taking each of the three parts of auto-, ethno-, and -graphy in detail, they will provide the varied criteria to ensure robust assessment(s) to help you analyze your own work and the work of others. The goal is to provide the tools to make us all better readers and writers.

Presenters:

   Andrew Herrmann, East Tennessee State University

   Tony Adams, Bradley University

Friday
April 04, 2025

11:00 AM

2305

11:00 AM  to 12:15 PM 

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

Salon A

Creating Inclusive Spaces: Fostering Success for Neurodiverse Students

This short course will equip educators and communication professionals with the tools to engage Neurodiverse learners better. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of neurodiversity, explore strategies for motivating students with different cognitive and social processing styles, discuss practices for creating a safe learning environment, and learn techniques for managing conflicts, including regulation strategies that may arise. Through practical examples and interactive discussion, attendees will leave with tangible outcomes and actionable insights for fostering an inclusive environment where Neurodivergent students feel supported, understood, and empowered to thrive academically and socially.

Presenters:

   Malynnda Johnson, Indiana State University

   Natasha Rascon, Indiana State University

2308

11:00 AM  to 12:15 PM 

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

Caprice 2

Embodied Ways of Knowing: Incorporating Music into the Teaching of Black Rhetoric: A Performance Demonstration

Under the convention theme, "Widening the Scope," this short course presents music as a way of broadening the teaching of Black rhetoric and of understanding Black culture. Music is an essential genre of Black rhetoric and Black cultural epistemology. As a performing art, music lends itself to expressing the exigences faced by Black Americans as well as contributing to the transformation which scholars cite as essential to determining Black rhetoric's effectiveness. Contextually, in America, music for Black Americans, has been and is an agent of liberation in a climate of repression. This short course features a presentation of Black rhetorical theory involving music, as well as a performance demonstration of select traditional genres of black music as rhetorical, including gospels, Spirituals, folk songs, and blues. Participants to the short course will be allowed to engage in participatory antiphony, an essential feature of Black rhetorical effectiveness.

Presenter:

   Dorthy Lee Pennington, University of Kansas

Saturday
April 05, 2025

9:30 AM

3209

9:30 AM  to 10:45 AM 

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

Salon A

Preparing Students and Faculty to Widen the Scope Through Service-Learning: Identifying Classroom Strategies and Scholarship Opportunities

Service-learning (also termed community-based learning) provides a great opportunity for students to engage in active learning while serving members of their respective communities. Approaches to service-learning are as varied as the individuals participating in it. This short course explores service-learning from public and private institutional perspectives. We will identify courses where service-learning has been integrated and provide ideas for preparing students for interactions with others and working with community and social issues. Discussion of different strategies for projects, writing and reflection, and suggestions for assessment will also be included. Additionally, we will discuss the opportunities for faculty members to conduct scholarship in service-learning while engaging in this worthwhile endeavor. Samples and handouts will be provided. Come and join us with your ideas and questions!

Presenters:

   Donna R. Pawlowski, Bemidji State University

   Aimee Lau, Wisconsin Lutheran College

12:30 PM

3409

12:30 PM  to 1:45 PM 

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

Salon A

Teaching from a Mental Health Pedagogy: Responding to Student Mental Disorders and Promoting Student Well-being in our Classrooms

The mental health pedagogy introduced in this course draws on principles of Universal Design for Learning and various learning theories to suggest ways of stimulating conversation around mental health in the classroom and reducing mental health stigma. Sample activities include using a How Are You Feeling tree and mental health pictures which help create a hands-on atmosphere. This interactive course is also designed to introduce central elements of the recently released book, Interpersonal Communication and Mental Health Disorders and uses a mapping activity to explore the book's contents.

Presenter:

   Isabelle Bauman, Missouri State University

2:00 PM

3512

2:00 PM  to 3:15 PM 

Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

Salon A

Widening the Scope of Communication Theory: Teaching the Undergraduate Communication Theory Course to Advance the Common Good

This short course provides participants with the pedagogical resources to help students understand metatheory, theory building and testing, particular theories useful to communication scholars, and applications of theory to advocate for social change. The impetus for this short course is to highlight ways to teach theory using a new textbook from Cognella titled Theories for Human Communication: Advocating for Social Change. The publisher will provide a copy of the text to attendees.

Presenters:

   Stephen Hunt, Illinois State University

   Kevin R. Meyer, Illinois State University