First Year Experience Program, not your basic college class

10/10/23 • 22 min

On this episode of Speaking Of...Jen Wright, director of the first-year experience, Jennifer Bradley, director for the center for excellence in peer education and Gabriella Gibson, peer facilitator join us to talk about the First-Year Experience program.
"We challenge students in a supportive environment," explains Jen Wright. "Our goal is to help them really challenge themselves, challenge their beliefs, challenge their knowledge, challenge their capacity for things. We want them to really fall down and struggle with things, but know that it's okay to do so, that we're there to support them, we're there to make sure that they get the help that they need. We encourage students to believe that they're capable of great things, that they're going to find their way to where they want to be on their life path."
Featured on this Episode:
Jen Cole Wright is a professor of psychology and director of the First Year Experience at the College of Charleston. As director of this vibrant program, she recruits talented faculty to teach first year seminars and learning communities. Wright teaches introductory courses in psychology and lifespan development, but her passion lies in courses on the psychology of human conflict and social change – teaching courses like Psychology of War and Conflict; Psychology of Oppression, Resistance and Regeneration; and Psychology of Social Change. She has been teaching in the First Year Experience program since 2009, teaching both seminars and learning communities with other faculty across campus. She has been a faculty fellow in both the Honors College and the Center for Sustainable Development.
Jennifer Bradley Smuniewski is the director of the Center for Excellence in Peer Education (CEPE) at the College of Charleston, supervising the FYE peer facilitators and assisting other offices on campus with creating and maintaining their peer education programs. She served as the associate director for CEPE for many years and also worked in the main office of the Office for the Academic Experience, now the Office for Student Success, providing direct support to the associate vice president for the academic experience.
She has a bachelor of arts in organizational communication from Clemson University and a master of education in counseling and student affairs from The Citadel Graduate College.
Gabriella Gibson is a senior at the College of Charleston and will graduate with a bachelor of science in sociology with a minor in psychology. San Diego–born and East Coast–raised, she has a passion for helping others and hopes to open a private practice in acceptance and commitment therapy. She enjoys traveling around the world, discovering new music and the arts. Resources in this Episode:
First-Year Experience
Be a Peer Facilitator
Spring 2024 Classes
Faculty Invited to Get Creative With First Year Experience Courses
First Year Experience Classes Offer Transformational Opportunities

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Inside The College of Charleston- John White, Dean of Libraries

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John White, the dean of the libraries, talks about the recent renovations at Addlestone Library, programs and services available to the College of Charleston community, and the future of libraries.

The host is Mike Robertson, senior director of media relations in the Office of University Marketing and Communications.

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Celebrating 15 Years of the Bully Pulpit

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On October 3rd, 2007, the College of Charleston started a brand new political communication lecture series called the Bully Pulpit Series. The goal was to have national politicians who were running for president come to the College and speak to students about politics and how they planned to communicate to the public if they were elected President of the United States. Over the last 15 years, 32 politicians have participated in the series. The events have ranged from very small, intimate gatherings to huge events attracting thousands of people. Some of the more memorable candidates include then Senator John McCain, former president Barack Obama, president Joe Biden and Stephen Colbert, who was the host of the Comedy Central program, The Colbert Report at the time, and his "ROCK ME LIKE A HERMAN CAIN" Primary Rally in Cistern Yard.
Featured on this Episode:
H. Gibbs Knotts was appointed the dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in October 2020. The School of Humanities and Social Sciences is comprised of the following academic departments: communication, English, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, religious studies and sociology and anthropology.

Before assuming the role of dean, Knotts served as the department chair of the College's Department of Political Science from 2012 to 2019. In the area of political science, he teaches undergraduate courses in American politics and graduate courses in the public administration program.

Knotts has published works on political participation, Southern politics, public administration and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Articles have appeared in a variety of outlets including the Journal of Politics, Public Administration Review, Political Research Quarterly, The American Review of Public Administration, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, PS: Political Science and Politics, Social Science Quarterly, Southern Cultures, Southeastern Geographer and Social Forces. He also co-edited The New Politics of North Carolina (University of North Carolina Press, 2008). He has two co-authored books: The Resilience of Southern Identity: Why the South Still Matters in the Minds of Its People (University of North Carolina Press, 2017) and First in the South: Why South Carolina’s Presidential Primary Matters (University of South Carolina Press, 2019). He received the College of Charleston’s Distinguished Research Award in 2017.

Amanda Ruth-McSwain is an associate professor of communication at the College of Charleston. Her teaching and research interests are in strategic communication placed in agricultural contexts. More specifically, her specializations are in leadership communication and organizational public relations. Since her 2005 start at the College of Charleston, Dr. Ruth-McSwain has taught over 12 different courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including Leadership Communication, Strategic Communication Campaigns, Public Relations Cases, Business Communication and Ethics in Leadership Communication.
Ruth Mc-Swain has served in a variety of leadership roles at the College. From 2011-2021, she served as the Director of the Bully Pulpit Series. She also served as the Interim Associate Dean for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences from 2019-2021, and as Director of the Master of Arts in Communication program from 2013-2019.Resources from this Episode:
The Bully Pulpit SeriesStephen Colbert at the College “Rock Me Like A Herman Cain: South Cain-Olina Primary Rally”