PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE
FOR DR. BROOKS HILL, PROFESSOR/CHAIR

My professional career closely parallels the current obligations I now have at Trinity University. Approximately half of my time is currently devoted to departmental administrative responsibilities, and the other half involves my teaching, advising, and research in the areas of personal emphasis, namely, public and intercultural/international communication. Throughout all of my years as a student and faculty member, I have emphasized the study of language, and this linguistic emphasis strongly influences all that I do. The following introduction of my work will first note my relationship to the study of human communication at Trinity and then introduce the courses that I teach and my research agenda. In other parts of this website I provide syllabi for my primary courses, examples of my research, and a comprehensive Professional Overview that not only details my research productivity, but also charts my development as an administrator, teacher, and consultant.

Human communication is a vast and challenging area of study with widely varied subject matter and many career opportunities. Because of this breadth and variety, how one might study communication at a particular university also varies and is often more of an administrative convenience or historical peculiarity than a carefully considered system. Students are well advised to consider the distinctive configuration of communication studies at your university to determine what path best meets your interests. At Trinity we offer communication study in three ways: The Department of Communication emphasizes media studies and several career opportunities in related professions. The Department of Speech and Drama offers two relatively independent major programs. Its Speech Communication program offers a major curriculum in areas of communication study without media emphasis. A third option emphasizes Communication Management; this interdisciplinary minor integrates four programs with overlapping professional goals: Speech Communication, Communication, Management, and Marketing. Students should consult with an advisor to determine exactly how their interests are best served within the distinctive configuration at Trinity. Because of the overlap between and among these programs, students will often take work in all three, and the benefits of different perspectives significantly enrich their education.

During a typical academic year I will primarily teach three courses. In both the fall and spring semesters I teach the course in Persuasion (SPCH 3334). In the fall semester I teach the course in Intercultural Communication (SPCH 3372/ANTH 3332). During the spring semester, I teach the course in International Communication (SPCH 3374/COMM 3322). Occasionally I will offer a section of our basic Public Speaking course (SPCH 1333) and have recently begun to teach a one credit hour course in Effective Listening (SPCH 1104) and to co-teach a course in the Introduction to the Study of Language (SPCH 2310/ENGL 2310). To illustrate the interdependence of the areas of communication study, consider that the Persuasion course is required in the Speech Communication major and in the Communication Management minor, that the Intercultural Communication course is an elective in the majors and minors of both Speech Communication and Anthropology, and that the International Communication course is an elective in the majors and minors of both Speech Communication and Communication. The language course is required in the interdisciplinary minor in Linguistics, as well as an elective in Speech Communication, and represents the most explicit place where I can indulge my love of language and linguistics.

Most, but certainly not all, of my current research and professional commitments involve the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS). Since 1988, I have been actively associated with this group of international scholars from many different disciplines. Having served as its initial President, on the editorial board for its journal, and most recently as its General Editor, much of my professional life has been directed toward this exciting group for the last seventeen years. To illustrate this work I have included elsewhere in this website two articles of my research; one provides directions for the future development of intercultural communication theory and for IAICS, and the other illustrates some of my work with ethnic humor. In the area of international communication I have provided elsewhere a co-authored chapter about international negotiation that appeared in Japanese book that is soon to undergo a second edition. My most recent publication in the area of public communication is a chapter about the Intercultural Context for International and Intercultural Public Relations; copyright restrictions preclude its inclusion in this website, but it is readily available in the textbook identified in my Professional Overview. For over thirty-seven years I have remained steadily productive as a scholar in my areas of interest. More careful scrutiny of my Overview will identify something that you might find interesting about one or more of these areas of my personal interest. Contact me if you would like to consider any of them more carefully.

Perhaps the most exciting events of my academic career have occurred in the last three years: First, I was the recipient of the distinguished Z.T. Scott award, the highest recognition that Trinity bestows on its faculty for their teaching and advising. Second, for my extensive service to IAICS a special issue of our journal, InterculturalCommunication Studies, was designated in my honor, and sixteen former students and colleagues contributed articles to this festschrift in recognition of my work with them over the years. To provide more detail about my work I provide in other parts of this website two articles from this festschrift: the first is the dedication of this issue by two of my closest colleagues in IAICS, Bates Hoffer and Noby Honna; the second is a more extended introduction of me and my work with reference to articles I have published that provide more detail about my personal development as a scholar and member of my scholarly community. If anything provided in this website s timulates your interest, please do not hesitate to contact me.