Sharon E. Jarvis, PhD
University Distinguished Teaching Professor; Associate Professor; Associate Director for Research, Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life
Department of Communication Studies
UT Austin
Respect your students, respect the content you integrate into your courses, and respect every precious minute of class time.
For me, teaching political communication is all about respect. I work to be respectful of students by learning their names; being curious about their backgrounds; connecting class content to their generation and current events; encouraging them to listen to—and learn from—each other; showing how they can use the theories and best practices of messaging in their daily lives; and drawing on seminal research and timeless questions that might encourage them to think about the role of language in a democracy long after the semester is over.
