All of you students and alums know all about service-learning, as you are/were each required to complete a service-learning course while here at USF. But did you know that if you took Ethnography of Communication from Professor Evelyn Ho, you took the course from an award-winning service-learning professor? That’s right! Professor Ho won the University Faculty Service-Learning Award this past spring!

I know students may feel that they do all of the work for a service-learning course, putting in all those hours at the nonprofit and writing papers, but it takes a lot of time and dedication from the professor of the course as well. Professor Ho won the award for her Ethnography of Communication course for her “commitment to service-learning, development of service-learning opportunities for students, connecting academic experience and public service, and demonstration of leadership in the field of service-learning.”

Award-winning professor, Evelyn Ho

Congratulations, Professor Ho, on this distinguished award! If you have fond memories of Ethnography of Communication with Professor Ho, let us know!

If you are like me, you are probably still feeling full from Thanksgiving leftovers… the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pies, etc. Although this is a departure from our usual “Faculty Feats” (which involve feats of the academic variety), this is a feat by one of our faculty member’s nonetheless. Earlier this semester, Professor Ho engaged in an experiment, where she and her husband lived on a food stamp budget for one full week. It seems like an appropriate reminder that not everyone is able to indulge in big holiday dinners, and to be thankful for the gifts that we have this holiday season. I’ll let her tell you about it…

“October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Filipino American Heritage Month, apparently National Pork Month, and at St. John’s Presbyterian Church: Hunger Awareness Month. So as part of this month, my husband Mark and I decided to live for one week on a Food Stamp budget. That’s $4.72 per person per day for everything you ingest in one week. We had a total of $66.08 to spend. And we couldn’t accept free food from friends. See the whole challenge at: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5420/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=9057

We were shocked by some of the statistics about hunger in our own communities. For example, did you know that 5.1 Californians (13.7%) are living below the poverty line ($22,350 for a family of four!). And in San Francisco, 197,000 people struggle to feed themselves every day. Read more at http://www.sffoodbank.org/about_hunger/

So we decided to do the hunger challenge from October 24-30 because it was the only week in October when we didn’t already have plans that involved eating! We planned and re-planned our menus and shopping list so that in the end we had three meals a day with at least some meat throughout the week and at least some vegetable/fruit every day. We couldn’t afford anything organic and made everything from scratch.

Day 1 was exciting! I had greek yogurt and honey for breakfast, peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch, and for dinner we had a very fancy (canned) clam + olive oil sauce pasta. Dessert was ½ an apple that I split with Mark! I felt full enough and was happy to put the rest of our pasta away for another dinner. The only drawback of our meals for today? Everything I ate was beige!

Day 4: I’m holding up well. Dinner tonight is homemade pizza and our splurge was mozzarella cheese (to go with mushrooms and onions – no meat). It’s been extremely time consuming to make everything from scratch but it is to eat home-cooking for every meal. I’m also mindful of how hard it is to work full-time and still have enough energy at the end of the day to cook. Both of us are missing things: Mark misses his post-dinner snacks and I’m missing drinks and fruit!

Day 7: Today is, thank goodness, our final day of the hunger challenge. Yesterday and today, our lunches and dinners were definitely the end of the rope. I’ve never seen our fridge so empty. For our final two days, we made chili for dinner, but portions were very small. This wasn’t helped by the fact that lunch consisted of a very brothy chicken noodle soup. Mark and I combined have lost 10 pounds and we’re both looking forward to eating more tomorrow.

This challenge may not have taught me anything I didn’t already know. However, it did remind me of some important things that I often forget or choose to ignore. It reminded me that on most days, I have a lot of options. I have the option to eat a second helping, I have the option to toss out a bruised banana, I have the option of eating junk food for a meal, I have the option of eating out when I’m tired, and I have the option to see friends ‘over coffee.’ I chose to be a little hungry this week, but I always knew that by the end of it, things would return to normal. That’s a luxury that fewer and fewer of our neighbors have – especially in this economy. I am thankful for that luxury and wish others had those same options.

When I was young and wouldn’t eat everything on my plate, my mom used to warn me, ‘There are starving people in X.’ In a fit of rage, I once yelled back, ‘Fine! So box up my food and send it to them!’ Of course, I knew you couldn’t. This week has been a good reminder though that I can box up the food – at least sort of. St. John’s has a weekly food bank in partnership with the SF Food Bank that serves the Inner Richmond and we’ll be boxing up some of our food budget to support those projects. If you’re bored with your regular eating habits, need some time for self-reflection, or up to the challenge, try the hunger challenge yourself! http://www.sffoodbank.org/about_hunger/”

Congratulations to Professor Ho for her feat and for bringing this important issue to our attention. Here is a picture of her indulging in cookies and candy after her week on a food stamp budget:

I have no idea why this picture is sideways and why I can't fix it...

I’ve been showcasing student achievements for quite awhile now, and thought it was time to showcase our faculty! Our faculty have been busy inside and outside of the classroom, just as our students are.

Those of you in Professor Burgess or Professor Ho’s classes already know that they were away at academic conferences last week (no, they weren’t just taking a sick day!). Here are the details:

Professor Burgess attended the University of South Carolina Conference on Rhetorical Theory in Columbia, South Carolina. Her presentation was entitled “Emergencies on the Scene: The Time of a Rhetorical Ethics.” This conference, unlike some others, is a full time job! Only 30 professors attend and they have all day discussion sessions focused on their work. Congratulations to Professor Burgess!

Professor Ho attended the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare in Chicago and presented a poster called “Framing Diabetes as Control vs. Balance: Analyzing Diabetes Health Information for Chinese Americans.” Congratulations to Professor Ho on her presentation! Check out the picture of her posing with her poster below (which is now the newest piece of wall art in her office!):

Professor Ho and her poster

Our faculty present their research at conferences throughout the year. Congrats to both Professor Burgess and Ho on their recent conferencing!

Today’s “Faculty Feats” features Communication Studies Professor Marilyn DeLaure, who recently gave a featured talk about her research at her undergraduate alma mater, Drake University in Iowa.

Poster for Professor DeLaure's Talk

Congratulations to Professor DeLaure on her talk!  How fun to go back to your alma mater and address the current students!  Maybe some of our current students will one day return to USF to give a featured presentation!

This past weekend, three of your Communication Studies professors attended the Western States Communication Association (WSCA) annual conference.  This year’s conference was held just down the coast in beautiful Monterey, CA.  The Western States Communication Association is one of four regional professional organizations made up of communication scholars.  Professors use academic conferences to present research papers and to share ideas with other scholars who share their interest in communication.  Professor DeLaure, Professor Ho, and yours truly (me) were involved in sessions at this year’s conference.  Here’s a run-down of what happened at WSCA:

Professor Ho was on a panel entitled “Teaching Language and Social Interaction in Communication Courses.”  She was joined on the panel by professors from several other universities, including  UCLA and CSU San Bernardino.  Language and Social Interaction (LSI) is one of Professor Ho’s research and teaching specialties.

Professor Ho, super excited to be discussing LSI at WSCA

Professor Doohan (yes, I am talking about myself in the third person) was recognized as one of two “Master Teachers” by the Communication and Instruction Interest Group.  What was really special for me (back to first person) was that my undergraduate professor and advisor, Dr. John Caputo, presented the award to me at the panel.

Professor Caputo (left), me (right), and the other Master Teacher award recipient, Professor Deetz from UC Boulder

Professor DeLaure also attended WSCA and was involved in a panel entitled “Digital Fusion: Classroom Instruction = Community Engagement” based on work from her Rhetoric of Social Movements service learning course.  What is especially impressive is that Professor DeLaure brought two Communication Studies majors with her to present a paper they worked on for her course this past fall!  Who are they and what was their paper about?  You have to wait until tomorrow’s blog post to find out!  (Don’t you love cliffhangers?).

Our second “Faculty Feats” focuses on Professor Allison Thorson and her work with Kids Turn, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping families dealing with separation or divorce.  Professor Thorson is currently serving on their Board of Directors and is leading a support group for parents going through divorce.   

Professor Allison Thorson

I asked Professor Thorson how she became involved with Kids Turn:

“I first learned about Kids’ Turn (www.kidsturn.org) at a USF mentoring event.  I was at the event to meet with students and connect them with members of the San Francisco community.  Little did I know that I would be the person making connections that evening.  It was at this function where I met Gerard Corbett, Founder and CEO of Redphlag LLC, who is also a member of the Kids’ Turn Board of Directors.  As Gerry and I made small talk, I happened to share that my research generally focuses on family communication surrounding hurtful and or unexpected events.  Before I knew it we were exchanging business cards and making plans to connect again.  After learning more about Kids’ Turn, their programs, their mission, and meeting individuals associated with the organization in the weeks following my initial encounter with Gerry – I just knew I had to be involved.  I had never met a group of individuals this passionate about helping children and families in times of transition.”

You can read more about Professor Thorson’s research in an article for USF News here: http://www.usfca.edu/newsroom/Research/After_Infidelity__Trouble_for_Parent-Child_Relationship/

Congratulations to Professor Thorson for her service to this important organization.  It is great to have our faculty involved in the local community in this way!