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Associate Professor of Communication Donald Fishman has been honored by the Boston College chapter of Phi Beta Kappa with its 2012 Teaching Award.
A faculty member at Boston College since 1973, Fishman teaches courses in crisis communication and media law, with a focus on intellectual property.
Each year, PBK members nominate an outstanding teacher who has positively influenced their experience at BC; winners are selected for the award based on the cumulative nominations from students over multiple years.
Students who nominated Fishman for the award called him “an excellent teacher” who is “passionate about his work.”
Another student wrote: “He is extremely knowledgeable and always readily available for help and support.”
“I’m very honored,” said Fishman, who received the award on May 20 at the academic honor society's annual induction ceremony. “Phi Beta Kappa has always stood as a beacon of integrity to me, so this is special.”
Fishman said the biggest change in teaching has been the arrival of new media and technology. “The velocity of change is amazing. Students born after 1990 expect a certain level of interactivity and are comfortable handling multiple images. The challenge is to take the virtues of the old lecture system that moves students to think critically and whet it with the use of new technology.
“This is the communication century,” he added. The Communication Department is no longer a place only for “the students who were the high school debater or worked on the school paper. Innovations have brought communication to the masses.”
Boston College’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter also inducted its new members for 2012. The list of inductees is at http://bit.ly/KCLaFV.