Assistant Professor of Cross-Cultural and Leadership Communication; Media + Communication; School of Business
Office
Vernon Strombeck Centre
Phone
+1 (604) 888-7511 ext. 3143
Email
rutha@twu.ca

School(s)

School of the Arts, Media + Culture

Department(s) or Program(s)

Media + Communication
Gender Studies
Corporate Communication
Arts, Media + Culture

Research & Scholarship

Education

  • DLitt et Phil, University of South Africa
  • MA in Cross-Cultural Communication, Wheaton Graduate School, Illinois
  • Daystar University, Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa
  • BA with Social Sciences major, Vanguard University, California

Awards & Honors

Notable Accomplishments

  • As researcher, the first GLOBE study on leadership in Black Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • 2005 Dean's Innovative Teaching Award. 
  • Program development for online courses, specifically Anthropology. 
  • Development of successful Travel Study programs focusing on the developing world, notably Guatemala/Belize/Honduras and Kenya/Uganda.
  • Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro!

Expertise

Gender studies, Cultural Anthropology, Cross-cultural communication and leadership, Global and transformational leadership, Culture change, Socio-economic development in the Global South (specifically Kenya, Guatemala, Belize), and Curriculum design and contextualization for Asia and Africa

Courses Taught

  • ANTH 101 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
    (Online, Guatemala)
  • BUSI 111 - Introduction to Business (Bridge Program)
  • ECON 230 - Introduction to International Development
  • ECON 330 - Theory and Practice of Development
  • COMM 111 - Introduction to Communication 
    (Vancouver campus, Bridge Program)
  • COMM 231 - Introduction to Public Relations
  • COMM/ANTH/LING 302 - Cross-Cultural Communication 
  • COMM 315 - Central America Field Study
  • COMM 316 - East Africa Field Study
  • COMM 350/ANTH 390 - Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Guatemala & Belize, Kenya & Uganda)
  • COMM 351-359 - Practica (three levels)
  • COMM/ANTH 452 - Leadership in Multi-Cultural Contexts  (campus, Guatemala & Belize, Kenya & Uganda)
  • IDIS 410 -  Globalization and the Changing Workplace
    (Kenya & Uganda)
  • IDIS 450/COMM 451 - Transformational Development & Leadership (Guatemala & Belize, Kenya & Uganda)
  • LING 541 - Acculturation / Culture, Gender, and the ESL Classroom (MA TESOL)
  • LDRS 545 & 565 - Leadership across Cultures (MA Lead)
  • LDRS 617- Employee Engagement (MA Lead for China Cohort)

Directed Studies:

  • Women and Leadership
  • Women in Latin America
  • Exploring Identity Crisis among Third-Culture Kids
  • Nurturing Cultural Identity in Children between Two Cultures
  • Photo-Journalism
  • A Communal Narrative in Photo-Journalistic Form
  • Advanced Publishing
  • Advanced Public Relations