About Me

I went to college at Concordia College , Moorhead , Minnesota , where I learned to appreciate the value a liberal arts education and caring professors. I earned both my M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota . During graduate school, I met and married Todd Lepper , a navy helicopter pilot, and we lived in San Diego , California , and Pensacola , Florida , where there are large naval air stations.

In San Diego , I finished writing my dissertation, worked as a software trainer, and taught part time at Grossmont College . In Pensacola , I worked as both an adjunct faculty member and as an assistant professor at the University of West Florida . We moved back to the Midwest in the fall of 2004 because our daughter, Hannah, was going to be starting school soon. In February of 2005, Rachel was born, rounding out our family. We also have two dogs (Charlotte and Marlowe), named for dead English authors, and one fish (Rainbow), named for the main character of a popular children's book.

Teaching Philosophy

Goals

My primary goal as a teacher is to help students become more thoughtful and informed citizens who can use what they learn in college to benefit society and themselves. In order to meet this goal, I have two objectives in every course I teach. My first and more general objective is to help students gain critical thinking skills and become better speakers and writers. To this end, I try to create exams, assignments, and activities that (1) test students' knowledge of the material, (2) ask students to apply the theory or concept to specific situations, and (3) ask students to integrate ideas so that critical thinking skills are developed.

My second objective in every course is to help students see how the course content is relevant to communication in their daily lives in organizations, small groups, and interpersonal relationships. Students should be able to see the tie between theory and daily life. Additionally, I want them to take personal responsibility for their communicative actions and be able to reason out the effects their communication may have on others. Finally, I want students to see that situations can be viewed from a variety of theoretical perspectives.

The Way I Teach

I try to teach classes in ways that reach out to a variety of senses, because I know that students learn in a many ways. Furthermore, I know if people hear information and then are asked to apply it, on their own or in a group, they are likely to learn it more thoroughly. Finally, I try to create a cooperative learning environment in my classroom, where students can feel comfortable asking questions and testing information.

Scholarly Interests

Professionally, my interests are organizational communication, communication ethics, and service learning. I also write about issues related to health communication. I am interested in communication ethics and service learning because I am deeply concerned about how we as a community live and work together in our homes, workplaces, communities, and our nation. Currently, I am chair of the Communication Ethics Division of NCA (National Communication Association).

Publications:

du Pré, A., & Swenson Lepper, T. Meridians and mind-body congruence: Spiritual aspects of healing in a homeopathic care setting (In press). In Margaret Wills (Ed.), Speaking of spirituality: Perspectives on health from the religious to the numinous .  Cresskill: NJ: Hampton Press.

Swenson-Lepper, T. (2005, July). Ethical sensitivity for organizational communication issues: Examining organizational differences. Journal of Business Ethics, 59 (3), 205-231 .

Lind, R.A., Swenson-Lepper, T., Rarick, D.L. (1998). Identifying patterns of ethical sensitivity in TV news viewers: An assessment of some critical viewing skills. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 42 (4), 507-519.

Lind, R.A., Rarick, D.L., & Swenson-Lepper, T. (1997). Cognitive maps assess news viewer ethical sensitivity. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 12 , 133-147.

Swenson-Lepper, T. (1996). Ethical sensitivity, cognitive mapping, and organizational communication: A different approach to studying ethics in organizations. Electronic Journal of Communication, 6 (4).