Significant Career Lesson From An Assistant Professor Of Political Science At Cal Lutheran University
The most significant lesson learned by the Assistant Professor of Political Science is that effective communication is paramount, regardless of the setting; "it doesn't matter what I think I said...If that is not received, then I didn't do as good of a job as I thought," impacting research, writing, and classroom teaching, particularly when addressing sensitive topics like race, religion, and politics. This necessitates constant self-reflection and refinement of communication strategies to ensure intended messages are clearly conveyed.
Communication, Higher Education, Political Science, Research, Teaching
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
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Kiku Huckle
Assistant Professor of Political Science
California Lutheran University
Western Washington University, 2000
MATS - George Fox Evangelical Seminary; MA - Political Science, Villanova; MA and PhD Political Science - University of Washington
Spanish & Other Languages, Political Science, American Studies
Education
Education
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Effective communication is key in academia, ensuring your message is clearly received by professors, reviewers, and students. Even if you believe your work is clear, if it's not interpreted as intended, it needs improvement.
2. Kiku's work on race, religion, and politics highlights the importance of objective and sensitive communication, especially when dealing with potentially contentious topics.
3. The responsibility for clear communication lies with the speaker or writer. If misunderstandings occur, focus on how to improve your communication, not on blaming others for misinterpretations.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you have learned that has proven significant in your career?
The most significant lesson I've learned is that it doesn't matter what I think I said, or how well I believe I articulated an argument. If it's not received, then I didn't do as good a job as I thought.
This applies in research. Everyone has written a paper, a card, or even a letter, and their message is completely misconstrued. Or you write a research paper, and the professor says, "This isn't what, you didn't answer the question," or "This is unclear," and you think, "Well, of course it's totally clear, what's wrong with this professor?"
As a professor and researcher, when I write papers or manuscripts and they go to journals for review, and the reviewers say the question is wrong, or make a comment that seems irrelevant to my point, it tells me I didn't write my position clearly enough. It doesn't matter if I disagree with the reviewer. It tells me I need to work on how I presented something so that the message comes across better.
This also applies in the classroom. If I'm talking about something, particularly race, religion, and politics, these topics can be very contentious. Students get very invested, which is a good thing, but this also means they can be easily upset or offended.
I need to ensure that the ways I discuss these sensitive and important topics are as clear and objective as possible. If a student interprets something differently than I intended, I can't mitigate that 100% of the time. But I always try to be aware that I need to make sure how I say things comes across as closely as possible to how I intended it.
If that doesn't happen, it's not somebody else's fault. It just means I need to work better at communicating the idea clearly.
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