Photo by: Paul Martens
Alena Amato Ruggerio
Doctoral Student in Communication and Culture, IU Bloomington
| "One afternoon, my
student Rachel announced to me before the beginning of class,
'I'll never be able to watch TV the same way again!' I knew
that her life was in the process of being truly changed by the
ability to analyze the communication messages all around her,
and I wish the same kind of productively unsettling new consciousness
for all my students." |
| —Alena Ruggerio |
|
All good teachers seek to impart knowledge, but some are not content
to stop there. These teachers want to transform how their students
perceive and think about the world. Alena Amato Ruggerio not only
has this goal—she also achieves it.
Producing this result involves work on many levels. Inside the classroom,
Ruggerio has crafted an energetic and active teaching style that
incorporates video clips, song lyrics and an ever-changing assortment
of group activities. These qualities were recognized in 2000, when
Ruggerio won two teaching awards, the Outstanding Associate Instructor
Award in Communication and Culture, and the Teaching Excellence
Recognition Award.
Ruggerio's efforts to productively unsettle her students extend
beyond class periods. A model of accessibility, she not only offers
generous office hours, she also keeps regular electronic
office hours and even goes a step further by holding some office
hours in the eating areas of residence halls.
Ruggerio, who expects to earn her Ph.D. at the end of this semester,
has also excelled as a peer mentor. Her efforts to help novice instructors
include collaborating on lesson plans ideas, finding video clips
for use in class, and making a presentation on technology and teaching.
On top of all this, Ruggerio served on the committee entrusted with
redesigning the Department of Communication and Culture's foundational
course on interpersonal communication.
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