by Kendal Enz<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
New full-time Center for Leadership Education (CLE) faculty member Charlotte O\u2019Donnell wants students to understand the importance of communicating clearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cClear communication saves lives,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd visual communication is just as important as your written communication!\u201d<\/p>\n
From an early age, O\u2019Donnell knew that she wanted to be a designer, photographer and writer, and now, as a lecturer of marketing and communications courses, she has the opportunity to share her knowledge and passion for these written and visual mediums.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell\u2019s desire to teach began when she was an undergraduate at Washington University, where she had the opportunity to learn from an array of talented professors who encouraged her and her peers to ask big questions and take real risks.<\/p>\n
It was during one of these classes that O\u2019Donnell had her \u201cthis is what I want to do with my life\u201d epiphany.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo this day I still think a lot about those old college classes\u2014I try to recreate those classroom dynamics in my own courses every time I teach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell\u2019s first experience with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) was as a graduate student in the prestigious Writing Seminars program. As a teaching fellow in the Writing Seminars, O\u2019Donnell taught creative writing courses to undergraduate students each of her four semesters. Shortly after receiving her MFA in fiction in 2009, she began teaching part-time for CLE, which is part of the Whiting School of Engineering at JHU.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved the experience of teaching students here so much I jumped on the opportunity to stay,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really wonderful to get to work with so many incredibly intelligent and creative students every semester.\u201d<\/p>\n
While O\u2019Donnell is a gifted fiction writer, she said that she is a pragmatist at heart, and enjoys teaching students skills that can improve their daily lives, such as how to write clear and concise emails.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine what a difference that would make across campus: how many fewer frustrated teachers and students there would be, and how that goodwill might radiate out,\u201d she said. \u201cHow many more ideas might be exchanged. How much more intelligent dialogue we might all participate in together.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of O\u2019Donnell\u2019s favorite aspects of teaching for CLE is helping students who don\u2019t consider themselves strong communicators to find their voices.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that clear communication is what changes the world and that we benefit most when more articulate voices are added to the dialogue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell referenced Edward Tufte\u2019s essay \u201cPowerPoint Does Rocket Science\u2014and Better Techniques for Technical Reports\u201d on the Space Shuttle Colombia, which burned up upon reentry into the earth\u2019s atmosphere because of damaged tiles on its wing, as evidence of why clear communication is so important, and how it does indeed save lives. In his essay, Tufte wrote that the PowerPoint slides used by NASA to report the damage to the shuttle were so visually confusing that the administrators did not understand the message the engineers were trying to convey: that the damage to the shuttle was in fact severe. Consequently, repairs were not made, and seven astronauts died and a $1.7 billion dollar space shuttle was destroyed.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell believes that students should take CLE courses because they teach practical skills and offer real-world experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cCLE courses help ground students\u2019 education. So much of what students learn at Hopkins can be so theoretical, and though big ideas are important, it\u2019s knowledge of real-world practices and skills that help give those ideas traction,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While maintaining good grades is important, O\u2019Donnell advises students not to get overly focused on their GPA.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time to take risks and try new things! Expand your perspective and challenge yourself. In the end, this risk\u2014even if it ends in failure\u2014is going to make you a lot smarter and happier,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
When she is not teaching, O\u2019Donnell works as a freelance designer, photographer and writer. She believes that continuing to work outside of academics keeps her courses fresh and relevant, and she often references her real-world work experiences in the classroom.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell has published a multitude of creative and journalistic writing, but said she considers her biggest accomplishment being appointed a lecturer at CLE.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an unbelievably big deal to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In her free time, O\u2019Donnell teaches yoga on the Homewood campus at the Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation Center. She has been a practitioner of yoga for 14 years, and she can sometimes be found doing yoga in her office. From April to November, she spends much of her free time tending to her garden of irises, daisies, tickseed, coneflowers and Russian sage.<\/p>\n
A Baltimore resident, O\u2019Donnell said she enjoys the city for its grittiness and vibrant art culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, what makes it best is that it\u2019s the kind of place where you can have an accidental adventure,\u201d she said. \u201cWandering around looking to meet my friends at certain restaurants or bars, it\u2019s not infrequently that I\u2019ve stumbled on obscure musical performances or art stuff\u2014underground book and coffee shops, too!\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell originally hails from Rhode Island, or the \u201cland of clam cakes and coffee milkshakes.\u201d She does not recommend consuming these two items at the same time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-5718","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n