Teaching | Srivi Ramasubramanian

TEACHING + MENTORING

An award-winning teacher and mentor, Ramasubramanian teaches courses on first-gen freshman experiences, cultural diversity, media and identity, audiences, youth media, media literacy, and research methods.

Her commitment to teaching excellence has been recognized with the 2020 AFS Distinguished Teaching Awards, Center for Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellowship, Service Learning Faculty Fellowship, and Graduate Faculty Mentoring Award in 2017 and 2019.

COURSES TAUGHT

FRESHMEN SEMINARS

Identity and Popular Culture (for first-gen freshmen)
Engaged Democracy (for first-gen freshmen)
Pathways to Health and Happiness

CORE CURRICULUM REQUIRED COURSES

Social Science Research Methods
Theories of Mediated Communication

ELECTIVE + WRITING INTENSIVE UNDERGRAD COURSES

Women, Minorities, and the Media
Gender, Race & Media
Media, Children, & Adolescents
Advanced Research Methods
Media Audiences
Media Campaigns
Rhetoric of TV and Film
Communication & Cultures of India
Mass Communication Research (at Penn State)
Advertising and Public Relations Research Methods (at Penn State)
Content Analysis: Sex and Media (at U of Penn)
Transnational Information Producers (at NUS)

GRAD COURSES

Media Processes & Effects
Media & Identity
Communication & Culture
Global Media & Social Good
Social Science Research Methods

STUDENT SUCCESS INITIATIVES

FIRST-GEN FRESHMAN MENTORING PROGRAM

Co-Designer, Freshman Innovation Groups (FIGs) program

Co-designed and taught (with Leroy Dorsey) the Freshman Innovation Groups (FIGs) in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, a year-long cohort-based learning community for Liberal Arts first-generation freshmen. Students are enrolled in small freshman courses capped at 25 students apart from enrolling in a one-credit bridging course that provides mentoring support through resources on effective writing, honors program, career development, money management, campus safety, Study Abroad opportunities, and so on. In the second semester, students create a social media campaign aimed at first-generation students.

COMMUNICATING DIVERSITY STUDENT CONFERENCE

Founder & Lead Organizer, Communicating Diversity student conference, 2012 & 2013

Established in 2012, this conference that I founded attracts undergrad and grad students from around the nation to showcase their scholarship on diversity and communication. It is now fully student-led, has become a national event, and is an important recruitment and retention tool for our college and department.

HULLABALOO U: FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE

Invited as content expert as part of a team to co-design a module and lesson plan on "Respect and Inclusion" as required curriculum for all incoming freshman in the First Year Experience (Hullabaloo University) at Texas A&M University. This is an innovative program designed to ease students through the transition into college. The campus-wide, multifaceted effort features classes of over 475 sections of 25 or fewer first-year students, paired with a faculty or staff member and a peer mentor in a small, supportive community. The goal is to help forge bonds and shared experiences between faculty, staff, and students, in essence “shrinking” the physical size of our campus and building supportive and lasting relationships.

INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY WORKSHOP SERIES (CENTER FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE)

Convener, Inclusive Pedagogy Workshop Series, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018

Offered first in the College of Liberal Arts, this workshop series was then designed for the entire campus community in my role as Faculty Fellow with the Center for Teaching Excellence. 6-8 workshops offered per year for faculty, grad students, and postdocs on campus on topics such as hot topics in the classroom, pedagogically inclusive curriculum design, enhancing learning experiences for first-generation students, LGBTQ+ student engagement, (dis)ability awareness for instructors, and universal design

COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENTAL WRITING GROUP

Convener & Founder, Communication Writing Group (for faculty & grads), TAMU, 2018-present

Weekly write-on-site sessions open to faculty, grad students, and honors students. We use the Pomodoro method (25 minutes of writing silently followed by 5-minute breaks – two such rounds within the hour). We especially welcome international scholars, first-gen scholars, scholars of color, LGBTQ+ scholars, and others who are committed to making this group an inclusive and supportive writing community. We also have a closed Facebook group where we share resources about writing, calls for papers, conference information, and other announcements.