CSUS Com Studies Writing Across Curriculum

Virginia Kidd, Ph.D. Dept. of Communication Studies California State University, Sacramento Contact Information Philosophy Papers and Publications Research Projects

Virginia Kidd's Links Writing Help Links Production Techniques as Rhetoric Fantasy Theme Analysis Reading Creative Solutions Creativity Web Sites Night Train to Graduation COP Talk Coffee and Ink

Contact Information, Dr. Virginia Kidd Office: Mendocino Hall 5030 E-mail: kiddv@csus.edu Telephone: 916-278-6638 (Please note: This voice mail system does not indicate an incoming call if we are on another call and does not signal a waiting message. I will eventually get your voice mail message, but also try calling back. Dept. of Communication Studies Mendocino 5014 (Message Box) Dept. Phone: 916-278-6688 6000 J St., Sacramento, Ca. 95819-6070 The department office is open 7:30 to 5:30 Monday through Thursday and 7:30 to 5:00 Friday Department FAX: 916-278-7216 (If you send a fax, be sure my name is on it; all faxes go to one office.)

Coms 100B Links Quick Check to a Better Grade Sites to Find Speeches Sites of Web Advocacy CSUS Writing Resources for Students   At right, see Virginia, ready to grade 100B papers.

My Philosophy

Education is a magic key that opens the door to the whole rest of your life--your career, your financial success, your personal interaction, your self identity. To a very large extent, what you know is who you are. I believe learning is the magic ingredient in life. In Communication Studies, you have the great opportunity to learn not only facts, but skills. You can learn the skills of speaking, listening, writing, thinking, organizing information, even the skill of learning. But . . . be aware: Learning is not a spectator sport. You have to invest your time and energy. You have to spend time thinking. Let me repeat. You have to SPEND TIME thinking. You also need to do the work assigned, and go beyond the work assigned to follow your natural interests, try things out, add your own ideas, and be creative. When you turn in written work, you need to PROOFREAD. For example when. You don't punktuate or spel write it gets. Confusing. C? I also believe that fun is good and that work and play are not opposites. I like to watch little kids learn. They will do the same thing over and over till they learn it because mastering a new skill is JOY. When they can walk without falling --and they KNOW they can walk without falling -- their faces fill with delight. We can do the same. We may be walking on the Internet instead of the living room, we may be forming shapes from words instead of wet sand, but the process is still one of excitement and fun.

A Selection of Recent Papers and Publications

"Visual Parody and the First Amendment." Presentation with Stuart Kaplan of Lewis and Clark University. Visual Communication Conference, Banff, Edmondton, Canada, June 2005. Coffee and Ink. Co-authored with the Monday Night Writers. 2004. COP Talk: Essential Communication Skills for Community Policing. Co-authored with Sacramento Police Dept. Capt. Rick Braziel [now Deputy Chief]. San Francisco: Acada Press, 1999 [now Rowman and Littlefield]. Designed for both peace officers and criminal justice students, this book explains communication theory and tells how to give a speech, lead a meeting, plan a public discussion, generate and carry out creative solutions, and relate with media. It is part of my ongoing interest in extending communication knowledge beyond discipline borders. Related Papers: "What Makes a Good Communicator?" Community Policing Exchange Online Magazine March/April 1999. http://www.communitypolicing.org. Click "Success Stories," then "Exchange." "The Challenge of Communication." Correctional News (journal of the California Probation, Parole, and Correctional Association) June 1999. 1-6. "Critical Analysis of an Internet Message: A Useful Class Assignment." Panel presentation. Western States Communication Association convention, Vancouver, Canada, February 1999. "Creating Third Spaces: Connecting with Our Students in an Era of Disconnect: The Working Adult Student." Western States Communication Asso. convention. San Francisco, Feb. 2005. "Communication and Service: Building a Shared Sense of Purpose." With Larry Chase, Josh Guilar and David Zuckerman. Western States Communication Asso. convernsin, San Francisco, Feb. 2005. "Service Learning at the Graduate Level." Co-authored with Sally Perkins and Gerri Smith. Voices of Strong Democracy: Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Communication Studies. American Asso. for Higher Education, 1999. Photograph included in Ross MacDonald: A Biography by Tom Nolan. New York: Scribner, 1999. Before page 225. Respondent. "Using Visual Messages to Change Social Consciousness." Visual Communication Conference. Lake Tahoe, June 1999. "Using Internet Assignments in Classroom Teaching." Panel presentation. Western States Communication Association convention, Vancouver, B.C., Feb. 1999. "Using Service Learning to Teach Communication." With Dr. Sally Perkins and Dr. Gerri Smith. Panel presentation. Western States Communication Association convention, Denver. Feb. 1998. "Images of the Disabled in Preschool Picture Books." Paper presented at Visual Communication Conference. Jackson Hole, Wy. June 1997. "Getting Students Into Groups. (Carl Who?)" Speech Communication Teacher. Summer 1994: 1. Reprinted in Selections from Speech Communication Teacher, 1994-1996, edited by Stephen E. Lucas for use with The Art of Public Speaking, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. "Making Group Decisions." Applied Organizational Communication. Ed. Michael Dues and Michael Burgoon. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 186-204 "How Much Difference Can We Make? When Information Is Vital: Organizational Communication in a Police Department." Western States Communication Association convention. Pasadena, Ca. Feb. 1996. "Art Venegas: National President, Hispanic-American Police Officers Association." Coast-to-Coast Section, Hispanic Magazine Aug. 1995. "Teaching Visual Communication." Member of short-course presentation panel. Speech Communication Association convention. San Antonio, fall 1995. "Institutional Maintenance: The Use of In-House Video in a Metropolitan Police Department." Western States Communication Asso. convention. Pasadena, Ca. Feb. 1996. Updated and revised version of "The Corporate Village: Using Video as a Communication Link in a Decentralized Organization (The Sacramento Police Department)." Visual Communication Conference. Flagstaff, June 1995. "Listening to the Community: Using Public Meetings to Generate a Partnership." Police Chief. Oct. 1994: 85-91. Written with Sacramento Police Chief Arturo Venegas. Editor, "California State University Strategic Plan." Spring 1993. "Revitalizing the Police Department: The Strategy of Change." Western States Communication Association Convention. San Jose, Feb. 1994. Organizer, Visual Communication Conference. Feather River, CA., June 1994. "Responses to the Sacramento Police Department Community Forums." CSUS Research Scholars Presentation. Sacramento, 30 Oct. 1993. "Representations of Reality in Visual Communication--Nordstrom's Catalog: A Case Study of Integrating the Disabled." Visual Communication Conference. Jackson Hole, June 1993. "Visual versus Verbal Rhetoric: A Case Study of the California Tobacco Education Campaign," Visual Communication Conference. Breckenridge, Colorado, June 1991. Published in Feedback, a publication of the Broadcast Educators Association, Fall 1992.

Professional Associations

National Communication Association
Western States Communication Association
Sisters in Crime

Send comments/suggestions to: kiddv@csus.edu
Communication Studies / CSUS