CURRICULUM VITAE
Elinor Christopher Light
Department of Communication University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, 84109
(970) 443-3429
Email: [email protected]
Education
Current Ph.D., Communication University of Utah GPA 3.98 Advisor: Dr. Kevin DeLuca
2009 M.A., Communication Studies Colorado State University G.P.A. 3.96 Advisor: Dr. Greg Dickinson
2006 B.A., Speech Communication Colorado State University Cum Laude
Academic Employment
Jan 2015-Present Special Assistant Professor, Communication Studies, Colorado State University 2014 Online Instructor, Department of Communication, Front Range Community
College
Fall 2012 Adjunct Faculty, Department of Communication, University of Colorado, Boulder
2010-2013 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Communication, University of Utah 2009- 2010 CLEAR Instructor/Graduate Teaching Fellow, CLEAR Program, University of
Utah
2007- 2009 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Communication Studies, Colorado State University
Areas of Specialization • Rhetoric
• Visual and Mediated Communication
• Public Deliberation
• Online Teaching
• Gender Studies
• Social Movements
Awards, Grants, and Certifications
2013 Online Teaching Certification, Front Range Community College
2009-2013 Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Utah, Communication Studies 2011 CLEAR (Communication, Leadership, Ethics, and Research) Summer Teaching
Grant
2010 CLEAR (Communication, Leadership, Ethics, and Research) Summer Research Grant, University of Utah.
2010 ORWAC Top Paper, WSCA Conference, Anchorage, AL
2007-2009 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Colorado State University, Communication 2008 Graduate Student NCA Achievement Award. Colorado State University,
Communication Studies Department 2007 National Issues Forum Facilitation Certified
Research Publications
Elinor Light, “The Rhetoric of Visual Play: An Analysis of Banksy’s Post-Subject Voice in New York City,” Visual Communication Quarterly, 2015. [Under REVIEW].
April A. Kedrowicz, Maria Dawn Blevins, and Elinor Christopher, “100 freshman civil Engineers: A Model for Integrating Communication and Teamwork in Large Engineering Courses.” ASEE
Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 2011, American Society for
Engineering Education.
Published Reports
Martίn Carcasson and Elinor Christopher, “The Goals & Consequences of Deliberation: Key Findings and Challenges for Deliberative Practitioners,” Research report prepared for Kettering Foundation, Project #34.35.00, August 18, 2008.
Competitive Conference Presentations
Kevin M. DeLuca, Natasha Seegert, Elinor Light, and Elizabeth Brunner, "The Architecture of Oppression: Using Place to Crush Free Speech" ALTA Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, August 2013.
Elinor Christopher Light, “Visual Transgression in Postmodern Space: Dog Leaders and Riot Police in Occupy Denver” Western States Communication Association Conference, Rhetoric
and Public Address Division, Reno, NE, February 2013.
Elinor Christopher Light, “The Heidelberg A/Effect: Intersectional Rhetoric in the Streets of Detroit,” National Communication Association Conference, Rhetoric and Public Address
Division, New Orleans, LA, November 2011.
Elinor Christopher Light, “The Uncanny Landscape: Critically Image[ing] Consumerism, Progress and Modernity,” National Communication Association Conference, Visual
Communication Division, New Orleans, LA, November 2011.
Elinor Christopher, “The Salt Lake City Borderlands: The Political Aesthetic of the Mestizo
Coffeehouse,” International Communication Association Conference, Visual Communication
Division, Boston, MA, May, 2011.
Elinor Christopher, “The Opaque Qualities of the Postmodern Aesthetic: Depoliticizing Gender Issues in The Gallery Underground,” Western States Communication
Association Conference, ORWAC, Anchorage, AL, February 2010. ORWAC Top Paper Panel
Elinor Christopher, “Performing Liminality: Curtain Call for Gallery Underground,” Western States Communication Association Conference, Rhetoric and Public Address Division, Mesa, AZ, February 2009.
Elinor Christopher, “Barack Obama’s Campaign Rhetoric: The Use and Consequences of a ‘Feminine Style’,” Western States Communication Association Conference, Mesa, AZ, February 2009.
Greg Dickinson, Elinor Christopher, and Brian L. Ott, “The White Urban Aesthetic: Cultural Capital and the Racialization of Cultural, Retail, and Residential Space,” National
Communication Association Conference, San Diego, CA, November 2008.
Teaching Experience
Course Design and Instruction
Visual Communication (SPCM347), Primary Instructor, Colorado State University, Communication Studies Department, SP 2015.
Development of syllabus, course assignments, lecture materials and case studies to explore contemporary visual culture from a rhetorical perspective. Rooted in rhetorical criticism, this course aims at providing students a vocabulary for understanding practices of looking and image production in their historical context, develops their
ability understand the force of images in the contemporary moment, and teaches students to become more competent producers and consumers of visual products. Interpersonal Communication Online (COM125), Online Instructor, Front Range Community College/Communication Department. SP 2014.
Development of a fully online course using the D2L platform. Development of syllabus, course assignments, lecture materials, and case studies to explore how
communication is involved in interpersonal relationships occurring in family, social, and career situations. Relevant concepts include self-concept, perception, listening,
nonverbal communication, and conflict with particular attention to culture and gender. Communication Criticism Online (COMM 3460), Instructor, University of Utah/
Communication Department. FA 2012, SP 2013, SU 2013.
Development of a preexisting Communication Criticism course into an online format
using the CANVAS instructional system. Use of current technology to develop of
syllabus, assignment design, and lectures to explore a wide range of rhetorical
approaches to rhetorical research including Neo-Aristotelian criticism, genre analysis, narrative analysis, visual analysis, and spatial studies. This course fulfills a writing requirement for a number of majors, causing research, critical thinking skills, and rhetorical writing becomes a focus for students.
Communication and Gender Online (COMM 3470), Course development and Instructor,
University of Utah/ Communication Studies Department. SU 2012, FA 2012, SP 2013, SU 2013.
Development of a preexisting Communication and Gender course into an online format
using the CANVAS instructional system. Use of current technology in teaching,
assessment, and writing assignments to explore a variety of issues surrounding gender, communication, and culture that move beyond simple constructions and reductionist bi-polar models to approach gender as something individuals do and communicate in everyday life. The differences between gender, sex, and sexuality, the ways that gender is culturally shaped, and the theories of how we become gendered beings become key tools for critically understanding gender as communication. Students examine how gender is communicated and defined in various cultural contexts such as the home, the organization, the media, and in interpersonal
relationships. We will also consider the implications on race, sexuality, class, and power in how gender is defined and expressed in these contexts.
Interpersonal Communication (COMM 2500), Instructor, University of Colorado, Boulder/ Communication Department. FA 2012.
Development of lecture material and in-class activities for an introductory
interpersonal course while adhering to the larger University and Departmental goals, course design, and functions. This course examines how we perceive self and others, how we use information we gather about self and others to guide our interactions, and the essential role of communication in the development and maintenance of human relationships. The larger goal of the course was to foster an understanding some of the factors affecting communication in relationships and to appreciate the impact of communication on our relational lives. In this course, we will work to develop a theoretical understanding of human communication processes and to improve interpersonal communication skills.
Communication and Social Justice (COMM 5490), Instructor, University of Utah/ Communication Department. SP 2012.
Development of syllabus, course assignment design, lecture materials, and case studies to explore how communication, and in particular, visual communication shapes culture and how culture, in turn, shapes communication with respect to social justice. Drawing on a theoretical notion of justice that is grounded in the elimination of oppression, the course centers the conceptualization and practice of social justice as inherently and inevitably linked to race, class, gender, and sexuality and more
significantly, to racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and heteronormativity. environment, and the body.
Communication and Gender (COMM 3470), Instructor, University of Utah/ Department of Communication. SU 2010, FA 2011, SP 2012.
Development of syllabus, course assignment design, lecture materials, and case studies to explore a variety of issues surrounding gender, communication, and culture that move beyond simple constructions and reductionist bi-polar models to approach gender as something individuals do and communicate in everyday life. The differences between gender, sex, and sexuality, the ways that gender is culturally shaped, and the theories of how we become gendered beings become key tools for critically
understanding gender as communication. Students examine how gender is communicated and defined in various cultural contexts such as the home, the organization, the media, and in interpersonal relationships. We will also consider the implications on race, sexuality, class, and power in how gender is defined and expressed in these contexts.
Communication Criticism (COMM 3460),Instructor, University of Utah/ Communication Department. SU 2011.
Development of syllabus, assignment design, and lectures to explore a wide range of rhetorical approaches to rhetorical research including Neo-Aristotalian criticism, genre analysis, narrative analysis, visual analysis, and spatial studies. This course fulfills a writing requirement for a number of majors, causing research, critical thinking skills, and rhetorical writing becomes a focus for students.
Introduction to Professional Communication (CVEEN 1000), Communication, Leadership,
and TeamworkInstructor, University of Utah/Civil Engineering Department. FA 2009 and FA
2010.
Served as one of three instructors in an introductory course to Civil Engineering of over 100 students as primarily the oral communication instructor. Developed lectures, new assignments, and in-class activities to introduce students to basic leadership, oral communication, and research skills to meet the demand of higher enrollment rates. Also actively negotiated new and innovative ways for interdisciplinary engagement and team teaching strategies.
Technical Communication (CVEEN 3100).Communication, Leadership, and Teamwork
Instructor, University of Utah/Civil Engineering Department. FA 2009,
SP 2009, FA 2010, and SP 2012
Served as the oral communication instructor in a mid-level civil engineering course as part of a three-instructor team. Development of course lectures and assignments in coordination with other instructors with the goal of helping civil engineering students to improve in their understanding and practice of Technical Communication. In addition to guiding students through the established course, the instructor team collaborated to lay a foundation for a workable process by which the engineers can contribute
problems suitable for team projects. Specific contributions included increasing lecture time for conflict resolution in working environments, non-graded speaking assignments through appropriate in-class activities, and increasing the amount of written and oral feedback on team presentations.
Professional Practices and Development (CVEEN 3100), Communication, Leadership, and
Conflict Resolution Instructor, University of Utah/Civil Engineering Department.
Served as the oral communication instructor in a capstone civil engineering course as part of a three-instructor team. Development of course lectures and assignments in coordination with other instructors with the goal of helping civil engineering students to improve in their practice and understanding of professional skills. Specific contributions included increasing the amount of lecture time devoted to specific feedback on oral
presentations as well as continually highlighting the importance of specific conflict resolution techniques in small group projects and serving as a model for conflict resolution and mediation skills.
Public Speaking (SPCM 200), Instructor, Colorado State University/ Department of Communication Studies.
Development of lecture material and in-class activities for a basic public speaking course while adhering to the larger University and Departmental goals, course design, and functions.
Teaching Assistantships
Visual Communication. Teaching Assistant (COMM 3550), University of Utah/Communication Department. Primary Instructor: Craig Denton. FA 2011.
Women in Communication. Teaching Assistant (SPCM 317), Colorado State
University/Department of Communication Studies. Primary Instructor: Dr. Greg Dickinson. SU 2008 and SU 2009.
Visual Rhetoric. Teaching Assistant (SPCM 347), Colorado State University/Department of Communication Studies. Primary Instructor: Dr. Giorgia Aiello. SP 2009
Communication and Popular Culture. Teaching Assistant (SPCM 100), Colorado State University/ Department of Communication Studies. Primary Instructor: Dr. Dennis Phillips. FA 2008
Service
Academic Associations
Reviewer, Western Journal of Communication, 2015-present.
Reviewer, International Communication Association Visual Communication Division, 2011-present
Reviewer, National Communication Association Visual Communication Division. 2011- present Western States Communication Association convention volunteer, Western States
Communication Association, Broomfield, CO, 2008
Departmental/University
President. Lambda Pi Eta, Mu Sigma Chapter, FA 2008 - SP 2009.
Assistant Program Designer and Guest Speaker “Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program, Colorado State University, Summer 2008.
Textbook Review Committee member, Public Speaking, Department of Communication Studies/ Colorado State University. 2008.
Graduate Liaison for the Conflict Resolution Faculty Position Candidates Communication Studies Department, 2008.
Community
-La Familia/The Family Center, Art Teacher Volunteer, Fort Collins, CO, May 2015 -Volunteer Manager, Opiate Gallery, Fort Collins, Colorado, November 2012- May 2013 -Community Art Instructor, Fort Collins, Colorado, Summer 2009.
-Project Organizer. Kickoff Event: Agency Communication ‘Tune Up’: Make a
-Communication Contribution to a Nonprofit Service Agency,” Western States Communication -Association, Broomfield, CO, 2008.
-Job Skills Committee Member, Pathways Past Poverty, Fort Collins, CO, Spring, 2008. -Facilitator, Center for Public Deliberation, 2006-2009.
