Rick Isaacson
Rick Isaacson (born March 9, 1946) - Associate Professor (Department Of Communication Studies San Francisco State University), American children's writer.
Biography
Dr. Isaacson was raised in San Francisco and currently resides in Mill Valley, California. His parents shared a Midwestern upbringing, his mother of Italian descent. His father’s parents emigrated from Sweden.
Scientific activity
Rick Isaacson received his doctorate in Communication from the University of Denver. His 38-year career in higher education includes teaching posts at the University of Denver, Governors State University, and San Francisco State University. He presently directs the Internship and Service-learning program and teaches courses in media communication for the Department of Communication Studies at San Francisco State University. The most gratifying outcome of his service as Internship Director has been the significant number of former student interns who have obtained professional positions resulting from their internships who now serve as supervising mentors for current interns. The internship program regularly draws guest presenters from his alumnae network for workshops and Career Day events that cultivate student/employer networking. His media communication courses have included pioneering work in the development of guerrilla media campaign design. Such campaigns involve the use of low-cost media to promote community action and social change, offering an antidote to any notion that the influence of media remains inaccessible to the general public. Dr. Isaacson also received university-wide recognition from the President of San Francisco State for his outstanding contributions for his published works and community involvement, and for incorporating community service as a vital component of classroom learning.
Dr. Isaacson has conducted numerous communication skills workshops for community service professionals, ranging from pediatric physicians to children’s librarians. In the private sector he has conducted communication workshops for numerous San Francisco Bay Area organizations, including Cisco Systems and A.T. & T. Dr. Isaacson has also taught courses in management communication in the MBA program at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Isaacson’s innovative interdisciplinary research and teaching methodology have forged new ground in melding fine art imagery and visual literacy with presentational speaking and storytelling, fostering a greater appreciation for aesthetics and transporting language. He maintains that current education lacks a fundamental skill, the ability to understand the multi-layered potential inherent in the still image. This cornerstone visual literacy competence serves as a quiet and reflective antidote to the effects of the rapid-fire pace of contemporary media.
Scientific papers
Dr. Isaacson has authored three books, Practical Approaches to Impromptu Speaking: Business and Social Application, Service-Learning in Communication Studies, and The Art of Service-Learning Presentations. He has published numerous articles in prestigious journals, including Framing Artful Speech: Focusing Persuasive Discourse with Fine Arts Imagery, published by “The International Journal of Visual Literacy,”The Bush vs. Gore Rhetoric after the 2000 Electoral Impasse: A Chi’i-Shih Analysis, in “Studies in Media and Information Literacy Education”(the article compares Eastern and Western communication frameworks), and The Art of Service-Learning Discourse, in“Successful Strategies from Award-winning Educators,” Indiana University Press.
The First children's book
Having trimmed his teaching schedule to half-time, Dr. Isaacson has changed the focus of his writing, having recently published his first children’s book, The Magic Museum with Lexingford Press. His motivation for writing the story was inspired by his volunteer work as a museum docent for visiting elementary school classes. He found that most young visitors displayed a limited attention span for still imagery, and hesearchedfor a device to hold their attention and foster their appreciation for the multi-layered elements of fine art. To achieve this objective, he devised a storytelling method to cultivate greater aesthetic awareness and attention to detail, allowing fine art imagery to drive the content of an engaging storyline.
Further creativity
His forthcoming book, The First Magic, tells the story of two 12-year apprentice shamans, who leave their pristine Artic village to face the most daunting challenge of their lives. In astounding encounters with animals and creature spirits that dominate the greener lands south of their home, they enter a land ruled by animals, majestic, wise, and strange. To survive, the aspiring shamans must perform a feat of magic by capturing a magic bird, the most regal creature that flies. But they are warned at the outset of their quest that they will see the magic bird only once, for just a fleeting moment, and that this magnificent bird never touches the earth. The pair must solve a puzzle and perform the very first magic of their lives.
In designing the story, Dr. Isaacson was inspired by the mythical and often whimsical images produced by Canadian Inuit artists.