Despite it only being Stephen Andon’s second year as an assistant professor of communication studies in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences’ Division of Humanities, he has made his presence felt on campus.
Born in Danbury, Conn., Andon attended high school near Baltimore, Md. before obtaining a bachelor’s degree in communications from Boston College. He then attended Florida State University, where he received his master’s degree and doctorate.
Andon’s dissertation was about sports and media and the rhetoric of sport culture, and his current research is also in the field of sports media.
Before coming to NSU, Andon taught as part of his graduate work at Florida State University and began his formal teaching career at a community college in Jacksonville. He said that he made the move from community college to a four-year university for a variety of reasons.
“It was a better opportunity to teach a wider variety of courses, as well as to be able to have more time to work on my own research, so the job was a lot better,” Andon said. “Plus, I longed to be in more of a university rather than a community college setting.”
Another major factor in making the move to South Florida was being able to live near his wife’s family, as they are raising a young son, Sebastian, and are expecting another child in February.
While teaching, Andon has a positive attitude.
“There are multiple styles of teaching, but the only one I know how to do is to try and have fun in the classroom,” Andon said. “I try not to get too bogged down in worrying or concerns or being negative in general.”
Besides bringing his positive outlook on life to the classroom, he also brings a lot of laughs. Andon makes sure to do everything he can to keep students engaged.
“The classroom atmosphere is so important, whether people participate, whether people are interested, study, do their work,” he said. “I think about it every day: how I’m going to connect with my audience, my class.”
In addition to studying sports media, Andon is also a big sports fan.
Andon said that he is acquainting himself with South Florida teams and would love to be a fan of local teams. For example, during the NHL’s lockout caused by the expired collective bargaining agreement in September 2012, Andon was anxious for the Florida Panthers to start playing. He had been a fan of the Panthers even while he lived in Maryland and Massachusetts, as he did not support the local teams. Before moving to South Florida, he saw a few Panthers games. Now that he lives near the Panthers home arena, the BB&T Center, he’s gone to more games and even practices.
“I’ve definitely enjoyed being this close to an NHL team, which is something that I didn’t have the opportunity to do in a while,” Andon said. “I’m excited for what’s going on with the Panthers.”
Andon said he hasn’t thought too much about what specific things the future holds for him at NSU.
“I hope to continue to establish myself here at NSU, I think it’s been a good start,” Andon said. “I’ve tried to be involved. I’ve tried to connect with students. And I look forward to that over the next couple of years: being more involved, figuring out where things are going.”
Andon said he wants to see how the communication studies program grows over the next few years. He also wants to publish his work and see how that work can draw more students to the program. He hopes that his research about sports media can be the foundation for a sports media and communications program.
“I’m hoping over the next handful of years, that we’re able to develop something like that here,” Andon said. “I think it would be something that would definitely help the university.”
