Greg Spencer

Since arriving in Santa Barbara in 1987, Greg Spencer has taught Communication Studies at Westmont College. He and his wife of over 30 years, Janet, have raised three daughters: Emily, Hannah, and Laura. When not teaching or having lunch with students, Greg can be found tending his roses or playing tennis. His most recent book is Awakening the Quieter Virtues, published by InterVarsity Press (2010). He has also published A Heart for Truth: Taking Your Faith to College, two novels (The Welkening and Guardian of the Veil), and numerous articles on what it means to live in a media-saturated culture.

 

Professor Spencer Teaches:

• Messages, Meaning, & Culture
• Media Ethics
• Rhetoric
• Senior Seminar

Education:

• Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Oregon
• M.S. in Communication from the University of Oregon
• B.S. in Speech Communication from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo

Research Interests:

• Rhetorical Proprioception: How Words Frame Our Sense of Order
• Media Ethics
• Religious Rhetoric

Selected Publications & Presentations:

• Awakening the Quieter Virtues, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010
• Guardian of the Veil, Monroe, La: Howard Fiction, 2007.
• "The Welkening: How Fantasy Encourages Readers to Accept Otherness,” conference on Christianity and Literature, January 28, 2005.
• The Welkening: A Three Dimensional Tale, Monroe, La: Howard Fiction, 2004.
• "An Incarnational Guide to Communication: S.I.T. Before You Stand,” Radix 29:4, 2002: 7-11.
• "The Thrill of Despair and Other Ways Television Reframes Human Suffering,” Radix 26:4, 1999:
  4-7, 26-29.
• A Heart For Truth: Taking Your Faith to College, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1992.
  Chapter excerpted: "Emotional Fornication," New Attitude, Vol. 2, No. 3: 20-25.
• Boundless Webzine Article, "Being Real is a Real Problem."
• Boundless Webzine Article, "Real Presence and the Image Consciousness Fairy."
• Boundless Webzine Article, "Authentic Phony."