Five decades on, a champion at BC
For her Lifestyle Journalism course, Isabel Potter ‘24 wrote a profile of Donald Fishman, 他是一位在电子游戏软件任教50年的传播学教师. Her piece has been adapted and edited.
Warm, caring, generous, significant, hardworking, humorous, genuine, smart, mensch, Obi-Wan Kenobi of BC Communication, heart and soul of the department, forward-thinking, steadfast, friendly, good person.
Associate Professor Donald Fishman, 即将结束他在传媒系的第51年教职生涯, has earned every such accolade, according to his colleagues and students.
“Don is a champion on this campus,” says Christine Caswell ’89, 她以前是菲什曼学院的学生，现在是系主任助理，也是传播实习项目的负责人. “He is one of the hardest workers that BC has known.”
In any given semester, by Fishman’s estimate, he teaches between 80 and 100 students; over the course of his career, he has shaped the minds and hearts of approximately 10,000 alumni across 50 graduating classes, 教授的科目从大众传播到公众演讲再到危机传播, and everything in between.
菲什曼在包括演讲和戏剧在内的三方交流部门的发展中一直是一个重要的人物, with an enrollment of about 80 students, 变成了一个独立的项目，一直是该大学十大最受欢迎的专业之一.
“He was an important member very early on, 他几乎扮演过这个部门的每一个角色,” says long-time colleague Professor Lisa Cuklanz. “唐是部门发展方向的核心成员.”
He’s also contributed to the field of communication itself, having published articles on such subjects as libel law, parliamentary procedure, and crisis communication theory, 担任东方传播协会副会长，并主持其利益集团地位工作组, and working on the Commission on Parliamentary Procedures. 他的专业荣誉包括海曼言论自由杰出奖学金, 议会程序杰出奖学金菲弗奖, 并在全国通信协会大会上因言论自由委员会的最佳论文获得奥尼尔奖.
尽管取得了这么大的成功，菲什曼并没有满足于已有的成就. 他每天都为学生、同事和BC社区带来同样的活力、激情和关怀. As the world of communication has evolved, Fishman’s commitment has been unwavering, even under difficult personal circumstances. When his wife Joyce Lindmark, 在不列颠哥伦比亚省辩论节目工作并在系里教书的人, became seriously ill in 2021, he helped teach her classes. After Lindmark died in the fall of 2022, 菲什曼拒绝了他的同事们代表他介入的提议，继续教学.
“In college, there are many large classes, 而且很难感觉到老师了解你这个人, or that you know them as a person. But he made an effort to get to know everyone. He knew all of our names and made sure to call on us. It was one of my favorites.”
On a typical Monday afternoon during the academic year, 人们可以看到Fishman带着黑色公文包和马尼拉文件夹走进Lyons 202，准备他的《电子游戏软件》(Survey of Mass Communication)版块, packed full of exam preparatory material.
“I like being in the classroom, I’m energized by it,” says Fishman, 谁自2010年以来一直担任该部门的助理主席，并担任两届主席. “I like the interaction. I always learn something from the students; the world changes very quickly.”
After hearing her peers proclaim it as a “must-take class,大三学生凯特·普尔吉尼(Kate Pulgini)选修了《电子游戏软件》(Survey of Mass Communication)，尽管一开始她觉得这门课令人生畏, 发现菲什曼的“陌生电话”——向他之前没有接触过的学生征求意见——创造了一种积极的体验. “In college, there are many large classes, 而且很难感觉到老师了解你这个人, or that you know them as a person. But he made an effort to get to know everyone. He knew all of our names and made sure to call on us. It was one of my favorites.”
“I’ve got to know everybody’s name,” says Fishman. In earlier sections of his classes, he taught groups of 150 students; although he is still able to learn each student’s name, he finds the sense of closeness is lacking nowadays. “You don’t have that same feeling.”
普尔吉尼的这种情感是家族遗传的:她22岁的哥哥杰克(Jack)和90岁的母亲迪尔德雷(Dierdre)在菲什曼的公共演讲课程中也经历了同样的激情和鼓励. 由于COVID-19大流行，杰克不得不通过Zoom上课，他回忆起Fishman如何让每个人在尝试和孤立的时候感到舒适和兴奋. “他总是能说些好话，而且真的很关注每个人的工作.”
菲什曼对交流的热情感染力源于他自己的大学经历, particularly his involvement in debate. 他是明尼苏达大学辩论队的活跃成员，也是西北大学电子游戏正规平台生期间的助理辩论教练, 带领球队获得了全国冠军(也是通过辩论，菲什曼认识了林德马克, then a fellow debate circuit judge). 英国广播公司令人印象深刻的辩论遗产帮助他走向了高地.
“I felt right at home,” Fishman says.
“His class was challenging,” recalls Robert Rosenthal ’74. “He was a younger guy, and he had a good sense of humor. 他对理论的理解非常先进. 很聪明的人，好老师，在陌生电话中很有互动性.”
“We want our students to be competent, we want them to be good thinkers, and we want them to be good people along the way.”
Once at BC, Fishman worked tirelessly on the Communication curriculum, 帮助制定实习计划，鼓励学生在该领域从事职业以获得学分, 并致力于为系里最优秀的学生创建一个荣誉项目.
Amidst these and other changes, Fishman says, 关于传播课程方向的问题出现了:它是否应该继续与戏剧课程组合在一起? 一些交流课程应该由其他学校或部门教授吗? 或者它应该完全重新配置为一个独立的程序在艺术和科学学院? Fishman was a strong advocate for the latter option, 他还加强了该部门的公共关系和广告部门, 努力增加人际交往等课程. 他也是支持现有项目以满足不断变化的领域需求和建立BC省Lambda Pi Eta分会的关键资产, the Communication National Honors Society.
将高级作文视为学生的必要技能, Fishman率先为所有专业建立了两门课程的写作强化要求. 他还在里昂大厅的媒体实验室的创建中发挥了重要作用, 为学生提供在日益数字化的时代工作所需的工具, and he has continued to advocate for innovation.
“The Internet has changed the nature of society,” he says. “The digitization of America is real. 人们将不得不做出调整，你会看到形势在变化.”
For Fishman, it is the day-to-day victories that testify to success, but not just his—the department and the students it serves.
“We want our students to be competent, we want them to be good thinkers, and we want them to be good people along the way.”