Trish is an experienced and enthusiastic lecturer who enjoys this vocational aspect of academic life. She likes to find ways to integrate theory and practice into teaching work. A key highlight of this approach is the distinctive Environmental Storytelling module, which introduces students to key concepts of the nature/ society relationship, while equipping students with practical ways to communicate these concepts using specialist environmental recording techniques in photography, sound, moving image and novel media forms such as augmented and virtual reality. She teaches on the MSc in Climate Change, the MSc in Emerging Media, MSc in Science and Health Communication, the MA in Political communication, and the BSc in Multimedia degree programmes in DCU.
Teaching
Ethos
Trish’s teaching ethos is centred on finding innovative ways to educate students on environmental issues. She has a track record in integrating critical thinking skills into traditional ‘production’ modules, considering it important to not only to give students a grounding in technical skills, but to develop conceptual and critical skills in environmental communication. She has developed modules that transform theory-based learning into learning environments where production skills are utilised in critical ways, and multimedia artefacts are presented alongside traditional written work.
Current Modules
Environmental Storytelling
This is a unique undergraduate module, taught to second year Multimedia students. It, by necessity of environmental crisis, introduces the students to key concepts about the nature/society relationship. It showcases visual, sonic, moving image and novel forms of expression in the environmental art and culture space. It builds practice-based capacity by providing workshops and labs where they learn the specifics of recording environments through photography using telephoto and macro lenses, sound using parabolic mics, hydrophones and contact mics, moving image skills using trail cameras and underwater-capable video cameras, and novel media such as AR and VR.
Political Economy of the Environment
This module, taught across the Masters degrees in Climate Change, Science and Health Communication and Political Communication, provides a grounding for students in key aspects of understanding environmental crisis. While climate change is one aspect of this, the module takes a systemic and holistic approach to crisis, acknowledging planetary boundaries. Students are introduced to ways of understanding crisis through the political economy of economic growth, political ecology and urban political ecology, metabolic rift theory, spatialities and temporalities of crisis, and speculative futures.
Visual Design and Graphic Design
These modules are taught across the undergraduate module in Multimedia and the Masters in Emerging media. They build capacity for students through developing technical competency in aspects of graphic and visual design, along with understanding of principles of design. Key designers are introduced to build students visual inspiration and language.
Prior Modules
Trish has taught a wide range of theory and practice-based modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her portfolio includes: