Heather’s teaching philosophy.

From small liberal arts colleges to public high schools, large universities, boardrooms & C suites, prisons, refugee camps and everything in between, I have met and taught people on all kinds of educational journeys. No matter the resources, the setting, or the student, I pursue teaching and learning with the task of encouraging critical engagement in public, at work, and in everyday life.

At its center is the re-examining of evidence and assumptions, shaking up habitual ways of thinking, dissipating conventional familiarities, and re-evaluating rules and institutions to promote participation in a rapidly evolving global and digital world. In this sense, my philosophy about teaching is to see it as an exercise in the promotion of voice, engagement, and the enhancement of public life.

I believe the primary task of any learning space is to help us know and think critically about important things. The goal is then to empower us, working together, to be active in our communities, doing something about those important things. We should not only know our voice, but feel empowered to use it.

Along the way, we create beauty, laughter, and joy, together.

The important things I think about and work on with students, clients, and communities vary, but our mission remains the same:

Make our communities better for the futures we, and those who follow us, deserve.

I believe the task of any learning or work space is to help us know & think critically about important things. Then, our goal is to develop the capacity to do something about those important things.

A few influences have inspired, motivated, and made me…

From my mother, I learned that no act of kindness is ever wasted. And, the power of unconditional love.

From my father, I learned the value of waking up early. And, the immense beauty in working hard at something you love, in your soul.

From my many students, I learn joy, struggle, creativity, beauty, community, patience, happiness, dedication, and so much more. For them, I do most things. From them, I have learned most things.

Mrs. Ballard & Lorene taught me how to read, along with my 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Smith. I’m not sure I did it very well until graduate school, when I learned how to do it better from Drs. Wilson, Campbell, and Schiappa, all in the first first four months of my PhD work.

My 5th grade teacher Mrs. Rhodes taught me the power of someone who believes in you before you believe in yourself.

Justin, my optometrist in 2019, taught me grace and tenacity.

My own brain taught me that time is a resource we cannot regenerate once gone. It is also not promised.

Lauryn Hill taught me that everything is everything.

Coco Chanel taught me you cannot go wrong in black. But also, pink.

Ella Baker taught me the power of people.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught me the power of the spoken word. So did Frances Ellen Watkins. And Lucy Stone.

Joan Didion taught me the power of the written word. So did James Baldwin. And Ross Gay. And John Keats.

And, a lot of other people have taught me a lot of other things. I learn something new, quite literally, every day. This is perhaps my greatest joy.

Recently Taught Courses

  • Interpersonal Communication & Media

    In what ways do we come to understand both our own persona (personal and professional) as well as our relationships as mediated? How is our “self” increasingly portrayed in digital spaces from email to the Internet and social media? This course focuses on interpersonal development in the current electronically mediated world, with emphasis on technological and interpersonal communication theories as well as exploration of new digital developments (e.g., Chat GPT, artificial intelligence) and their impact on public and professional communication.

  • Introduction to Rhetoric & Media Studies

    What is rhetoric? And how should be understand the current mediaspace in which we find ourselves living? This course introduces students to the idea of rhetoric as symbolic action. By which we mean, how humans use symbols (from language to nonverbal to digital) to create meaning. Course focuses include language, narrative, argumentation, organization and interpersonal communication, presentational skills, media economies, social media development, and public sphere theory.

  • Public Address

    This course focuses on introducing students to the foundations of communicating in public settings, from large public stages to everyday workplaces to civic and neighborhood settings. Recent iterations of Dr. Hayes’ syllabus have included hands on work around public communication in digital settings (e.g., Zoom and social media) as well as preparation for participation in global communicative work spaces and local organizing communities.

  • Communication & Violence

    Is communication the antidote to conflict, fear, and violence or can communicative acts themselves instigate the possibility for turbulent outcomes? This course explores the relationship between communication and the broad concept of violence. Course focuses include political discourse, domestic and community development, surveillance, health systems, racialization and violence, technological development of communication and media, social media organization and protest, and contestations around resources across the globe, all with an attention to cultural as well as discursive and technological contexts.