Winston & Helen Cox Fellowship Award
Dr. Samuel Boerboom
Dr. Samuel Boerboom has consistently proven himself as an outstanding and successful
teacher, mentor and colleague. His course load ranges from 200-level introductory
courses to 500-level seminar electives covering significant breadth in cultural studies
and rhetoric.
Since joining MSU Billings in 2012, he has emerged as one of the most distinguished leaders in the Communication and Theatre Department. An early adapter of the TEIL classroom, he continually seeks new pedagogical strategies to meet students鈥� needs, earning him the endorsement for this year鈥檚 Winston and Helen Cox Fellowship Award.
鈥淒r. Boerboom is known for his positive, engaging nature and is a valued faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences and throughout the university,鈥� CAS Dean Christine Shearer-Cremean said.
Samuel is deeply committed to rigorous, student-centered teaching. He said he strives to position students to 鈥渘ot just be recipients of messages, but to also be co-producers of those messages.鈥�
鈥淚 ask students in a sense to swim upstream,鈥� Samuel said. The reward he said is when students are empowered by taking ownership of their own learning.
鈥淲hen students show mastery of the subject matter, when they are no longer just reciting facts, but analyzing and sharing data that鈥檚 meaningful to them鈥攖hat鈥檚 rewarding.鈥�
He advises more than 30 students and consistently receives among the highest teaching evaluations in the College.
One student noted that Samuel鈥檚 Introduction to Mass Media course was 鈥淥ne the the best, well-organized and influential classes I have taken.鈥�
Another student who had taken Sam鈥檚 online Political Communication course said, 鈥淧rofessor Boerboom went above and beyond anything that could or should be expected from an instructor.鈥�
Just as impressive are those evaluations from his peers: Dr. Boerboom is confident, organized, prepared and patient with student comments; he provides an environment in which students can learn to think critically about media, gender and sexuality issues; he creates a relaxed atmosphere so students can actively participate in sensitive discussions without any inhibitions.
In addition, to a strong service record, Sam鈥檚 record of scholarship is robust: this year, his book 鈥淭he Political Language of Food鈥� was published by Lexington Press. Sam was interviewed about the book for a January Huffington Post article. He has also authored three full-length scholarly entries in academic encyclopedias.