I joined Western Washington University in August 2006 as a faculty member in the Dept. of Communication. I currently teach COMM318 Professional Communication, an upper-division level course mainly for juniors and seniors preparing to graduate. They hone their public speaking skills and write their resumes and cover letters. A highlight is conducting a mock job interview, which is videotaped and then critiqued by the students. Additionally, I have taught COMM244 Advocacy Through Media and COMM397 Communication & Healthcare.
I have also taught a variety of other courses in different departments. In the nearby Journalism department, I offered JOUR190 Intro to Mass Media in Spring 2008. In the PE department, I partnered in 2009 with the Outdoor Center to teach PE105, Challenge Course Facilitation, which at the time was a 2-credit course that helped train students to be facilitators on the Lakewood Low Ropes Course.
Public Speaking
In 2007, while teaching COMM244 Advocacy Through Media, I invited Media Critic Jeff Cohen to speak at WWU to discuss independent media. In this clip of his guest lecture, I introduce Jeff to an audience at Fairhaven Auditorium on May 1, 2007.
Click on the link below or copy and paste it into a browser of your choice:
http://media.wce.wwu.edu/karchmer/cohenstream.mov
Outdoor Leadership
I am a trained Experiential Educator with the E.D.G.E. program, part of the Outdoor Center at WWU. As a Senior Facilitator, I introduce students to hands-on experience of leadership skills, trust building and problem solving. click here for photos of the E.D.G.E. Program at Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Make A Difference Day
At WWU, students in my COMM318 Professional Communication courses and myself have contributed over the years to Whatcom County's "Make a Difference Day," a national day of volunteer service held each year during a weekend in October.