ANDREW CHRISTJOY
Instructor at Texas A&M University
Andrew is an instructor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Communication & Journalism and the School of Military Science at the Hollingsworth Center for Ethical Leadership with a research focus on resilience for individuals, organizations, and communities through the production of heroic narratives. Andrew teaches COMM 324 Communication Leadership & Conflict Management, COMM 203 Public Speaking, COMM 205 Communication for Technical Professionals, COMM 215 Interviewing, SOMS 380 Workshop in Leadership Education, SOMS 281 Foundations of Intentional Leadership, and ARSC 101 Hullabaloo U First Year Seminar.
In this classroom sample, students are learning how to work together as emerging leaders to solve a constantly evolving scenario.
The Resilient Church
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity. While it may seem like just any other church in small town rural America, the First Baptist Church of Calvert, Texas is unique in that it is thriving when so many others across this country are struggling. Through field work on location, I examine archival texts, record interviews, and make ethnographic observations as part of a dissertation film project at Texas A&M University.
Andrew successfully presented and defended this project and was awarded his PhD in December 2024. The film is currently making the festival circuit and is being scheduled to screen at various churches and organizations.
Go to the Project Website
Building Risk Communication Infrastructure
Emergency managers and community partners must communicate complex information to public audiences likely to have low knowledge and high anxiety during hazardous materials incidents. Organizations like local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) coordinate, connect, and build network communication infrastructures, supporting risk communication in catastrophes. Although LEPCs do not respond to emergencies and disasters, the networks that LEPCs cultivate can assist emergency officials and community partners in sharing coordinated messages about technical risks that are more likely to encourage trust among an anxious public.
Get the textbook Communication and Catastrophic Events
Calvert Sandlot Baseball
A historical marker at the baseball field signifies Calvert, Texas as the birthplace of Andrew "Rube" Foster, the founder of the Negro Baseball League in 1920. Inspired by his contribution, Andrew and members of the community have begun to bring baseball back to life in order to tell a new story of redemption and resilience against the backdrop of a divided nation.
Visit the project website: Calvert Baseball
The Consubstantial Cadet
At 41 years old, Andrew joined the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University and rose through the ranks from an unknown freshman to become the Deputy Corps Commander, the second-highest student position in the organization. Kenneth Burke might have proclaimed this as a successful consubstantial experiment. While an adult outsider with a prior career and background, Andrew also became an accepted cadet through the use of the hierarchy of symbols which produced a common context for everyone involved. This documentary film is an analysis in hermeneutic phenomenology.
Watch the film: The Consubstantial Cadet
For Love of the Game: The Natural Way to Strike Out Negative Self-Dialogue as an Aging Baseball Pitcher
Presented at the 18th Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Andrew showcases his journey to find resilience in sports by modeling his inner communication after characters in baseball movies. Harnessing the power of Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory, researchers understand that people learn behaviors by watching other people. Andrew capitalizes on this platform in order to raise the standard of mental toughness and a broader reaching resilience based on mythical, larger-than-life identity.
Before the Warning Bells Ring - Hazmat, Train Derailment Emergency Planning for Schools
As a researcher for the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Andrew coordinated meetings with school districts of all sizes across the state of Texas in order to gather their stories of preparedness. This data was used as part of several guidebooks to help schools align with state regulations regarding potential transportation emergencies near school facilities.
Strategies for Deterring Trespassing on Rail Transit and Commuter Rail Rights-of-Way
Part of sustaining a resilient community is addressing individual vulnerabilities. As part of a research team, Andrew helped collect and categorize strategies for preventing customer suicides on passenger rails and around stations in order to produce a guidebook for cities across the nation.