I believe the ability to communicate is what makes us human. Therefore, the very subject matter I teach should empower students to become better human beings. I believe in order to teach Human Communication, I must be fully engaged with my students, fully mindful, fully humane. I strive to create an atmosphere of immediacy, engagement, and supportiveness in the classroom.
Lori West Peterson has been a full-time faculty member for over twenty-five years. She came to St. Edward's University in 2001 as an assistant professor of communication and currently holds the rank of (tenured) Professor. Dr. Peterson also served a three-year administrative role as Associate Vice President for Faculty Development & Academic Programs from 2015-2018. Her frequently taught classes include: interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, and family communication. She served as the at-large representative on the Faculty Senate 2018-20 and the Senate Documentarian, as well as on numerous other committees. Lori has extensive experience teaching abroad, in Japan at Asia Pacific University as well as at UCO in Angers, France. She is a self-professed Francophile and currently is Chairperson of the Austin-Angers Sister Cities Committee.
Refer to c.v. for an exhaustive list:
Peterson, L.W. & Kiesinger, C.E. (Eds.) (2019). Narrating Midlife: Crisis, Transition, and Transformation. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield.
Peterson, L.W. (2019). And then there were two. In L.W. Peterson & C.E. Kiesinger (Eds.) Narrating Midlife: Crisis, Transition, and Transformation. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield.
Peterson, L.W. & Kiesinger, C.E. (2019) Introduction: a communicative approach to Studying midlife. In L.W. Peterson & C.E. Kiesinger (Eds.) Narrating Midlife: Crisis, Transition, and Transformation. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield.
Peterson, L.W. (2010). Cutting the meeting short: Conflicting narrative choices in one woman’s maternity leave. In S. Hayden & L. O’Brien Hallstein (Eds.) Contemplating Maternity in the Era of Choice: Explorations into Discourses of Reproduction. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, A Division of Rowman & Littlefield, 227-246.
Refer to c.v. for an exhaustive list:
Kiesinger, C.E. & Peterson, L.W. (2019, January).The narrative need at midlife. Paper presented the Symposium on Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry. St. Petersburg, FL.
Peterson, L.W. (2018, November). And then there were two, 2.0. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association (Ethnography Division). Salt Lake City, UT.
Peterson, L.W. (2017, November). “Again…there were two”. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association (Ethnography Division). Dallas, TX.
Peterson, L.W. Jasinski, L., and Young, S. (2017, March) “Fostering and sustaining vocational exploration among faculty and staff” Presentation at 2017 NetVUE Conference “Renewing the Theological Exploration of Vocation,” Charlotte, NC.
Peterson, L.W. (2016, November), “And then there were two”. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association (Ethnography Division), Philadelphia, PA.
Peterson, L.W. (2013, November). , “But now you have us!: Dis/connecting multiple miscarriages from/to a family story”. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association (Ethnography Division), Washington, D.C.
My classes tend to be highly engaging and interactive. I facilitate learning of course material through a combination of storytelling, interactive lectures/discussion, and group work.
I teach communication because I believe the ability to communicate is what makes us human - therefore, the deep, intentional study of the process of communication enriches our understanding of humanity, culture, society, our relationships, and inevitably, ourselves.