Linda Holtzman

Position
Professor; Program Facilitator, Media Research

Department
Communications and Journalism

Home Campus
St. Louis (Webster Groves)

Courses Taught
Undergraduate: Introduction to Mass Communications, Media Ethics, Media and Cultural Diversity, Introduction to Media Research, Research Methodologies, Media Images and the Middle East, Women and Prime Time Television

Graduate: Media and Culture, Media Research, Advanced Writing and Critical Thinking, Media Communications, Seminar in Media Communications, Thesis Project in Media Communications

Education
MA, Webster University; BA, Washington University

Teaching Philosophy
Coming of age as an activist in the sixties was my primer for teaching. After graduating, I taught in the central city of St. Louis and worked with the local and national social justice organizations. These experiences were the foundation of a strong belief that higher access to information, knowledge and resources provides an array of options in life and that these increased options are the seeds of equity, hope and freedom for a diverse population. I believe this is the purpose of education. After 35 years of teaching and learning at many different levels, I am still a strong believer that education, at its best, leads to a wider range of opportunities to transgress the narrow boundaries that can limit us.

About
Linda Holtzman teaches graduate and undergraduate media theory and research courses, as well as courses that address the relationship between media and cultural diversity. She is the author of the book, "Media Messages" which examines how popular media, personal experience and education shape how we see race, gender, class and sexual orientation.

Holtzman is dedicated to addressing issues of diversity and equity through her teaching and her community work. She is a facilitator of the annual Dismantling Racism Institute for Educators, which works with school district superintendents and other school administrators. She has served as a consultant to many school districts in Illinois and Missouri who are interested in educational equity.

Holtzman has been a regular commentator on KSDK-TV during a segment called "Media Messages," in which she reviews film and TV programs and examines messages of diversity in the media.