Cultural Studies, Rhetorical Theory and
Criticism,
Social Change, Freedom of Speech
Dr. Bernardo Attias is Professor and Chair of the Department
of Communication Studies at CSUN,
where he has taught since 1994. He received a Ph.D. in
Communication Studies
with a
Rhetorical Studies emphasis from the
University of Iowa, and he has a
B.S. in
Communication Studies from
Northwestern University's
School of Speech.
Before coming to CSUN, Attias was a Visiting Adjunct Assistant
Professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Communication at
Temple University in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
His research focus emphasizes cultural
approaches to communication studies as well as communication-centered
approaches to cultural studies. The emphasis of much of his work is on
the political economy of mass mediated events. He has written on media
coverage of the war in the Gulf, on the politics of psychoanalysis, on
the rhetoric and politics of hip-hop culture, and on the drug war.
His
teaching
experience is vast. At CSUN
he has taught 23 different courses (22 in the
Communication Studies Department
and 1 in the Humanities
Interdisciplinary Program). He sees education as an ongoing
process of intellectual development, and the teacher as a guide to
that process. His teaching philosophy, which stresses interactivity
and critical thinking skills, reflects a strong commitment to the
educational process. He develops unique and challenging course
materials, and has been at the forefront of the move to integrate new
technological resources into the educational process.
Dr. Attias is also an accomplished DJ, poet, and artist, and he brings his creative energy and interests into his scholarship and pedagogy.
Dr. Attias maintains a number of sites
on the web that reflect his teaching and research interests as well as
his political and artistic activity. Such sites include a
rhetorical history of
the drug war, a
database of information about CIA involvement in the drug trade,
an analysis of
"consent" issues in sex crimes law, and sites devoted to French
philosophers
Michel
Foucault and Jean
Baudrillard.
Dr. Attias' complete curriculum vita is
also available.
