SUNY Cortland has a well prepared, academically and professionally, instructional faculty body. Around 618 faculty staff (319 full-time, 299 part-time) work at SUNY Cortland and each and every one of them have unique credentials as well as many years of experience in the field.
Professor Kathleen Lawrence is one of the many professors at SUNY Cortland that contributes to our learning and academic path. She is currently the Professor of Communication & Media Studies, and Chair of Faculty Senate. While talking to Professor Lawrence about her career and experience, the subject of why and how she had chosen such career come up, to which she responded that she took a “somewhat winding path to decide I wanted to be a professor.” She continues, “For some time I was in Medical Explorers during high school, hoping to follow my parents into a career in medicine as a physician, but I also loved being in plays from the earliest age.” Professor Lawrence goes on to speak about her education, “So when I went off to Boston College I was looking for something like that. Then in college I found acting again and loved my classes in Speech Communication and the Theater Department. This was the most comfortable I had ever felt. I was encouraged to talk and share on so many levels and in several venues as a female student in those classes. The common ground throughout my college experience and continuing through graduate school was the significance of effective communication. Everywhere I was invited to interact, share ideas, and ask questions. I had found my place. As they say, I had found my people.” Professor Lawrence then added that such passion led her to go to Indiana University for her Masters, and Ph.D. in Speech Communication with Minor fields of study in Education and American History.
Still curious about her career in Cortland, I asked her when she first started working at the university, to which she jokingly responded, “Last century!” She then explained that she started working for SUNY Cortland in August 1992 – “I had just moved with my 2-year-old son and 2-month-old daughter to town from NYC. I was hired as the Director of Public Speaking for the Communication Studies Department. Over my 32 years at SUNY Cortland, I have been able to teach dozens of different classes including many (double digits) that I was able to create myself. Several of those classes have gone on to become standards in our curriculum.”
This Fall, I’ve been having the pleasure of taking a class (Intro to Pop Culture) with Professor Lawrence – whom I deeply admire and enjoy having as a professor. She’s always very kind to us students and always works to make the classes and subjects fun for all. When I asked her which class over the years, she enjoyed teaching the most, coincidentally, she said it was Pop Culture – “I love teaching the courses we offer in our Popular Culture Concentration. The students seem especially enthusiastic when they come into classes that will explore so much of what they see from their vantage point.” Professor Lawrence continues, “We look at aspects of social media, movies, Hollywood, sports, televised programming, streaming, music industry, fast food, trends, fashion, and dozens of other elements of what is relevant in popular culture at the time. They seem so ready and bright when it comes to identifying key figures and influences in some of these categories and keen to always learn more!” As her student who’s been taking the class, I can agree that it is a fun class that allows us to express ourselves and our preferences in our culture.
Lastly, I asked her what parts of her job and career were the ones that she disliked the most. I was caught by surprise when she said, “the paperwork”. Professor Lawrence explains, “I would have to say there are very few down sides to my job. I am very, very lucky to live this life. But if pressured, I guess I would say the biggest downside would be the forms and the paperwork. I’m not a big fan of filling out electronic forms. A lot of my friends and colleagues would probably say all the committee work is the downside of working at a university, but I actually like that part, too. Because I get to meet people, talk, and share ideas, and see change happen on the institutional level. But the paperwork, I could live without.”
It’s always inspiring to learn how the professionals we admire achieved the title and positions they have now. The teaching field, more specifically, has always been something that has inspired as one needs to be well educated, well prepared, and properly know how to pass information to become a good professor. Professor Kathleen Lawrence has all these qualities and has taught me a great deal both in class and out of class this semester.