Traci Fordham-Hernandez
Assistant Professor of Speech and Theatre

“This is a great gig,” says Traci Fordham-Hernandez of teaching at St. Lawrence. “Sharing my experiences and enabling students to share theirs in communication is the thing I enjoy most about my job.”

With interest in the natural interdisciplinary overlap of communication studies, she earned a Ph.D in intercultural communication from Syracuse University. At St. Lawrence, she assumed four different positions in five years. “I taught courses in sociology, speech and theatre, gender studies, and the First-Year Program, which further illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of communication studies,” she points out.

In 2001, she took her current position in speech and theatre, where she continues to explore language and cultivate in students a commitment to allowing their experiences in communication to transform them. She also launched the Oral Communication Institute as part of the Center for Teaching and Learning in an effort to raise awareness among faculty about the power of language and its effect on the classroom environment.

Her current research revolves around cultural adaptation in American foreign exchange students. With a concern for the overlap of language, culture and identity, she has worked with the Rotary Youth Exchange to examine what happens when one is immersed in a culturally different place. She also researches international education to further understand how to prepare people for intercultural encounters