Teaching

July 2021-present: Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University

In 2023-24 I am teaching Writing with Style (JOUR 1004), Journalism and Society (JOUR 5000), Fundamentals of Reporting (JOUR 2201) and Creative Non-Fiction (JOUR 5709).

In Winter 2023 I taught Fundamentals of Reporting (JOUR 2201) and Creative Non-Fiction (JOUR 5709).

In 2022 I taught the graduate seminar Journalism and Society II (JOUR 5500, Winter 2022), I co-taught Intro to Reporting (JOUR 5200) with Matthew Pearson (Fall 2022) and I developed a new first-year writing course for undergraduate students, Writing With Style (JOUR 1004, Fall 2022).

In Fall 2021, I taught the graduate-level Intro to Reporting (JOUR 5200) with Matthew Pearson and one section of Digital Journalism Toolkit (JOUR 2202).

In this op-ed, Christine Crowther and I discuss how the pandemic “changed how we teach journalism, forcing us to explicitly navigate, model and share skills that, in the past, may have gone under-examined in day-to-day reporting classes: how to clearly advocate and plan for staying healthy and safe.”
In September 2021, we brought first-year graduate students in Intro to Reporting to Cantley, Que. for a one-day retreat, introduction to the course and discussions about journalism.

September 2019-June 2021: Instructor II (Term), School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University
To prepare for a new year of journalism assignments, in June 2021 I worked with Christine Crowther to organize a conversation with newsroom leaders about how COVID-19 has changed reporting.

Journalism instructors discuss COVID-19 implications with newsroom leaders

In the Winter 2021 semester I taught two graduate seminars – Journalism and Society II (JOUR 5500) and Advanced Writing (JOUR 5700).

Here is a copy of my reading list for Advanced Writing.

I also worked with a student research partner to develop a series of “soft skills” professional workshops for first-year undergraduate journalism students, called J-School in the real world: Conversations with journalists.

In Fall 2020 I taught both sections of Digital Journalism Toolkit (JOUR 2202) and Intro to Reporting (JOUR 5200) with Amy Dempsey.

In December 2020, I and my colleagues Randy Boswell and Sarah Everts learned we were nominated as “favourite faculty” by students living in Carleton’s residence.

Through the second half of 2020 I worked with a team of faculty and technical instructors to prepare for the delivery of an online-only semester in response to COVID-19 restrictions. This work included developing new teaching resources, remote workshop sessions and a library of shared resources for instructors across the journalism program in 2020-21.

To develop safe reporting policies for journalism students with my colleagues Christine Crowther and Dave Tait, I invited newsroom leaders from APTN, CBC Edmonton and The Narwhal to tell journalism faculty more about how their day-to-day operations and assignments had changed through the pandemic.

In the Winter of 2020 I taught two sections of a 12-week undergraduate reporting workshop (JOUR 2201: Fundamentals of Reporting) and an advanced writing seminar for graduate students (JOUR 5700: Print Reporting).

In the Fall of 2019, I taught the 12-week undergraduate lecture-workshop course JOUR 2202: Digital Journalism Toolkit. I also co-taught the graduate workshop Intro to Reporting (JOUR 5200) with Prof. Paul Adams.

January 2019-April 2019: Contract instructor, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University.
I taught a graduate seminar, JOUR 5500: Journalism and Society II and an undergraduate lecture-style course, JOUR 1003: Discovering Journalism: Traditional Tales to Tweets.

Here is an edited version of my JOUR 1003 course syllabus.

September 2018-December 2018: Contract instructor, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University.
I taught a practical, 12-week undergraduate course, JOUR 2202: Digital Journalism Toolkit.

September 2016-December 2016: Instructor, Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University
I prepared the syllabus for, and taught, a 13-week undergraduate lecture-style course, COMS 360: Mass Communication. 

Here is an edited version of my 2016 COMS 360 syllabus.

March 2015-April 2015: Teaching assistant, Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University
I lead seminars and grade papers and exams for COMS 210, Media Criticism, which introduces first-year students to key approaches, concepts and theories.

September 2014-December 2014: Workshop leader, Graduate Professional Skills and Development, School of Graduate Studies, Concordia University
I lead a series of fund-writing workshops for graduate students.

May 2014-June 2014: Instructor, The McGill Writing Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
I developed and taught a special interest course dedicated to travel writing. 

Here is an edited version of my Spring 2014 syllabus and reading list.

January 2014-April 2014: Instructor, Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University
I taught Mass Communication to undergraduate students from a cross-section of programs. 

Here is an edited version of my first COMS 360 syllabus.

September 2013-October 2013: Instructor, The McGill Writing Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec

Here is an edited version of my first travel writing syllabus.

September 2013-October 2013: Workshop leader, Graduate Professional Skills and Development, School of Graduate Studies, Concordia University
I lead a series of reading and writing workshops for graduate students, introducing them to the goals and methods of writing academic abstracts, introductions and conclusions.

September 2012-May 2013: Teaching assistant , Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University
I led seminars and graded papers and exams for COMS 220, the History of Communications and Media, which took first-year students through the history of information collection and organization to the spread of rail, telegraph, radio, and television.

September 2012-May 2013: Writing Coach, Department of Journalism, Concordia University
I met one-on-one with first-year journalism students to discuss, develop and refine journalism writing style.