If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.
Isaac Newton
For of those to whom much is given, much is required.
John F. Kennedy paraphrasing Luke 12:48
I’m Michael Dreher, Professor of Communication in the Department of Communication at Georgia College & State University. I’ve joined the GCSU faculty after a 24 year career at Bethel University, where I was named Professor Emeritus of Communication and was the Director of Forensics, in addition to serving stints as director of the M.A. in Communication program and as department chair. I also taught and directed forensics at Palm Beach Atlantic University. What is forensics, you ask? Why, there’s a whole page just devoted to forensics on this site!
My background is in rhetoric and public address, but as a communication generalist, I’ve taught a variety of classes in communication on both the bachelor’s and master’s level, including qualitative and quantitative methods, communication technology and media, public speaking, and interpersonal communication. I’ve even taught a homiletics class for a Catholic seminary. I’ve taught rhetoric courses including Myth and Value Analysis, Social Movements, and the Rhetoric of Religion.
Since joining the Georgia College faculty, I’ve taught Media Literacy (Introduction to Mass Media), Fundamentals of Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, Disaster Rhetoric, Communication Theory, Mass Communication Theory and Research, Rhetoric Capstone and Critical Analysis of the Media. In Fall 2024, I’m teaching Communication Theory, Mass Communication Theory and Research, Media Literacy, and Small Group Communication.
So why call this site “A Communication Polymath in Training?”
Dictionary.com defines polymath as “a person of great learning in several fields of study.” I’m not sure that I can call myself or my learning great, but my research and reading interests wander in many directions, which is what I suppose attracts me to liberal arts institutions. Unlike many critics, I don’t believe that the liberal arts is dead, and if anything, we need more polymaths today, not fewer.
My undergraduate background includes a double major in math and speech communication/theater, both with a secondary education emphasis. That’s part of why “polymath” serves as a definition and as a pun for this site. It allows me to talk about the rhetoric of mathematics, which was my dissertation area and where I’m still writing and publishing many years later. I’m very interested in how we talk about mathematics both within the discipline of mathematics as well as how we talk about mathematics as a culture.
I’m also interested in the rhetoric of inquiry — how rhetoric functions within a variety of academic disciplines and how rhetoric is used to persuade people both inside and outside of various disciplines.
My other major academic interest is in web accessibility, both in terms of its rhetoric and the practical “how to make a website compliant” nitty-gritty. I’m working on an article concerning the lawsuit filed against Winn Dixie.
The “so what”
So why have an academic website when there are already thousands of my colleagues who write blogs? Most academic blogs tend to follow one of three forms: the blogging version of a vita, cultural reflection, or “academic takes” on the world at large.
I’m not fully interested in doing any of those things, although you’ll (eventually) find my vita here, along with other details about my teaching, and I’ve started putting up syllabi (since others have been so gracious to do so, I thought I should as well.).
Rather, I intend for this site to be both a compilation of things that I’ve learned that can hopefully help others, as well as a place to explore larger issues that involve academia in general or academic ideas. So, what you will and won’t find:
What you won’t find:
- Long detailed personal analyses of politicians or politics, although I’m very interested in political communication, and have taught in that area. The Spring 2016 primaries made my life and that class both interesting and hectic. Nothing like having your lecture/discussion notes changing minutes before class started…Besides, Heather Cox Richardson, John Fea and others have that territory pretty well covered. Although I am happy to talk about political communication, and did an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune about what Senator Amy Klobuchar needed to do during the debates before the 2020 election. It’s fair to say she didn’t take my advice. 🙂
- Lots of social commentary.
- Lots of theological musings. There are many places to find thoughtful commentary about faith and the intersections of faith and teaching. Especially since I’ve taught for a few years now, I know I don’t have all the answers.
What you’ll likely find:
- Straddling the world of Mac and Windows, and how each operating system can be helpful in workflows and productivity. That includes tips and tricks and things I’ve learned by trying — and occasionally succeeding — when it comes to particular programs and workflows.
- Books and articles about higher education pedagogy that have forced me to think, and hopefully may encourage you to think as well, as well as some practical tips that help my teaching. I’m working on an internal teaching website for my department, and some of that material may pop up here.
- Things I’ve learned along the way about web and document accessibility. There’s always a lot to learn, and there are many smart people in the accessibility space that make important arguments about accessibility that can benefit those of us in the professoriate.
- Occasional noodlings about forensics, how we direct and tabulate tournaments, and the state of the activity.
- Ideas that may make their way into conference papers or other types of research. In other words, all the stuff that’s too long for Facebook.
- Perhaps some reflections about being a (slightly older) new soccer referee, and what we can do both to help existing referees, as well as soccer parents dealing with referees.
- And perhaps some chess related material… I decided to get more involved in chess again since my son has been involved in chess, and I figured I needed to learn more. The “comeback” as it were isn’t doing too badly, and there may be an occasional chess post or two. I’m a little bit older than most of Ben Johnson’s adult comeback chess players.
My suspicion is that I won’t be as prolific of a blogger as some of my colleagues; after all, I’m trying to balance my changing position, being a decent husband and father to Tammy and Joshua, and teaching and writing. I’ve become one of those “minivan” parents, only without the actual minivan. At this age, that means lots of soccer (and longer trips since I’ve moved to Georgia) and cross country and track. And there’s always something more to do or read or learn….
Confessions:
- Like many others, I like listening to podcasts. I probably have about 300 episodes that are sitting on my iPad waiting to be listened to. Without a doubt, iCatcher is the app that takes up a lot of storage space on my iPad.
- I think I use PowerPoint/Keynote maybe a few times a semester. That doesn’t mean technology isn’t important to my teaching. It just happens a lot more on the back end. But that doesn’t mean I’m averse to showing (funny) YouTube clips in classes. I did show a clip of how there’s now a Reese’s Peanut Butter makeup line during my teaching interview as a part of a regular segment I do in my classes. I don’t know if that helped me get my current job or not. 🙂
Obligatory Disclosures:
Ideas and information on the site do not represent the views of Georgia College & State University, the GCSU Department of Communication, or any of my previous employers. Copyrights are owned by those respective owners. When it comes to software programs, I’m not compensated for the programs I mention on this site, except that I do receive educational discounts given to college educators.