Lewis Freeman

Ph.D., Columbia University

Room 450, FMH
718- 817-4853
lefreeman@fordham.edu
 
 
Courses Taught:
Introduction to Communication and Media Studies
Introduction to Media Industries
Children and Media
Television and Society
Understanding Television
Theories of Media, Culture, and Society
Mass Communication: Theory and Research
Effective Speaking
Internship Seminar

Research Interests:
Communication theory & practice, media literacy, media & society, popular culture, rhetoric & persuasion, language & social interaction, organizational communication, and vocal performance

Lewis Freeman joined Fordham's faculty in 2000 after 18 years at Columbia University, where he was Director of the Speech Program, and Suffolk Community College. His academic interests include communication theory, popular culture, children & media, and persuasion. His article on sitcoms is cited in the Encyclopedia of Television. He served on the National Communication Association's Task Force on Discipline Advancement and currently serves on the boards of the Eastern Communication Association, the New York State Communication Association, Communication Research Reports, and Qualitative Research Reports in Communication. He has analyzed communication issues for New York Times, CNN, WABC, MS-NBC, TV-Asahi (Japan), and numerous radio stations. Prof. Freeman is a communication consultant to universities, labor unions, businesses, lawyers, and individuals and is the recipient of 2 "Telly" awards for for vocal direction and script revision of corporate video productions.

My current research project on "Communicating 'Urban' in an Environmental Magnet Elementary School" received the 2008 ECA Urban Communication Foundation Prize for Translational Communication Research, an annually endowed prize given to foster and promote significant interdisciplinary communication research contributions that extend the boundaries of "applied research" by investigating real-life communication phenomena affecting urban communities.

My overall scholarly agenda can be best described as centering on issues of social justice and fostering individual opportunity at both macro and micro levels. My work melds theory and practice with emphasis on social change, community engagement, and facilitating individual advancement. I have pursued these interests through research about social class on television and the process of employment interviewing. My scholarly activities include research on children's museum exhibits as agents of socialization; studying how technology influences concepts of community, identity, and sociability (through case studies of "third places"); and examining how educational materials communicate ideas of "urban" and "city" to students in elementary school.   At a more general level, I am developing a theoretical focus on contemporary society as being characterized by an illusion of individual control and security as instrumental in social control. My theoretical perspective follows from the work of Georg Simmel and others whose elucidation of underlying social forms led to remarkable insights into individual social interaction and identity formation.

Why I teach at Fordham: A faculty member's perspective on scholarship and teaching at Fordham:
I've been asked, more times than I can count, why I teach at Fordham having taught, studied, and served in a variety of capacities and settings, which included being the Director of the Speech Program at Columbia University and consulting for businesses, foundations, labor unions, universities, and individuals.

I am passionate about Fordham and its students. Fordham offers scholars the opportunity to pursue teaching and research at a university that values and supports both very highly. I strive to foster students' scholarly and professional development through activities like supervising internships and mentoring students in the presentation of their scholarship at academic conferences. Fordham's curriculum enables students to empower themselves through their study of communication and their gaining knowledge that is relevant in their lives and is applicable at school, work, and home. My course are designed to aid students in their development of critical thinking processes, sophisticated research practices, and effective written and oral communication. My scholarship informs my teaching through classroom activities that enable students to become media literate, facilitate students finding their intellectual "voices," and engage them in the development of frameworks of understanding communication. I strive to teach in ways that offer transformational experiences for students both academically and personally. I challenge students to think critically, conduct substantial research for their courses, and write extensively on topics of concern to them. I provide them with all the tools to accomplish course goals.

Selected Publications:
"Empowering Teaching" (with G. Dorick) The Speech Communication Annual, 14 (2000), 163-179.
"Developing a Good Presentation Style for Debate." Soros Regional Debate Program Handbook. New York: Soros Foundation, 1996.
"Columbia University Speech Program will continue." Spectra. September, 1995.
"Social Mobility in Television Comedies." Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 9 (1992), 400-406.
"Social Class and Television." In H. Newcomb, ed. The Encyclopedia of Television. (Vol. 3, pp. 1524-1527). New York: Routledge. Link: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/socialclass/socialclass.htm]