The School of Communication and Media’s Prof. Christine Lemesianou to Speak at First Annual Montclair State University Distinguished Teacher Award Lecture

Dr. Christine Lemesianou, professor in the School of Communication and Media and the recipient of the 2012 Montclair State University Distinguished Teaching Award, will speak at the first annual Montclair State University Distinguished Teacher Award Lecture on March 28, from 2:30-4:00 p.m. in University Hall, Room 1010. The event is sponsored by the Provost’s Office and the Research Academy for University Learning.

Dr. Lemesianou’s talk is entitled  “Learning Unbound”  and following is her abstract:

What engages students in their own learning?  Our students today want and need to be active, inquisitive, empowered, creative, collaborative learners and problem-solvers. The most basic level of pedagogy is to facilitate students’ development of a solid knowledge base and (cross)disciplinary ways of thinking about pressing questions and issues. The next and more challenging level of pedagogy, is to explicitly create bridges from the classroom to the scholarly, professional, and civic contexts of everyday life. It is in these contexts where students can engage with real world challenges, think in innovative ways, practice newly acquired skill sets, learn from experimentation and praxis, generate solutions to problems, and become agents in the transformation of their own worlds. The presentation discusses a project-based approach to teaching and learning that invites students to pursue meaningful and consequential questions and develop their voice as scholars, professionals, and citizens of a complex world.

Dr. Lemesianou has focused her work on using communication, media, and social geography theories to examine how individuals, corporations, the media and varied publics engage communication strategies and impact how we construct our public dialogues and our public life.  Of particular interest to her is the rise of the network society and the role that emerging media will continue to play in the structures of social power.  Her passion for her field is evident in the ways that she engages her students.  She has a strong interest in pedagogy, and has done extensive work with instructional technologies, service-learning, curriculum development (in both the new School and in GenEd) and the assessment of learning.  

For consideration in the University Distinguished Teacher Program, tenured faculty members who have a long and distinguished record of teaching at Montclair State University may be nominated by another member of the University community holding faculty rank . Candidates must provide evidence of a consistent record of outstanding teaching in the form of student evaluations, peer evaluations, syllabi of courses taught, letters from alumni, innovative curriculum initiatives and any other supporting documents and materials.

For more information about the event, contact Cigdem Talgar, acting director of the Research Academy for University Learning, at 973-655-3134.