Christina Selby, associate professor in the Department of Communication, Media, and Culture, is keeping her academic, scholarly, and family lives all spinning during the COVID-19 isolation period.
From her home office, Selby teaches two upper-level health communication classes and a communication capstone course. Though she’s experienced in online teaching, she’s expanded her pedagogical repertoire this semester.
“I have learned new tools through this process that have allowed me to interact on a more personal level with all of my students, especially in the virtual format,” said Selby.
Selby’s scholarly field is health communication, and her work is quantitative, survey-based research. Her current project is on children and eating habits – a particularly relevant topic these days of home-based cooking and eating.
“Right now, I am knee-deep in research about factors contributing to healthy/unhealthy eating and picky eating among children,” said Selby. “My colleagues and I are wondering, who has the control over children’s diets? Is it the parents (or caretakers), the kids themselves, the media, or is it some other influence? Who has the most influence – female or male caregivers? How is this influence different for younger and older children? We are currently digging into our data and drawing some interesting conclusions.”
A mother of two, Selby is also becoming experienced in home schooling as well as spending time with family and (one at a time) friends.
“I have currently been brushing up on cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals (or some other topic that I have not thought about in decades) while homeschooling my second grader; social distance walking outside with a friend; cooking dinner every night, which I previously did not have time to do; spending time with my husband and kids (we are usually pulled in some many different directions); and establishing new norms and a new routine.”
To learn more about Selby and her research, visit https://www.coastal.edu/academics/facultyprofiles/humanities/communicationmediaandculture/christinaselby/
