Indiana Wesleyan University’s Division of Communication and Theatre welcomes a wonderful, new professor. Dr. Linda Manganello brings a lot of experience to IWU. She loves teaching her students with real-life discussions.
She teaches courses that include Intercultural Communication, Principles of Communication, Interpersonal Communication and Gender Communication.
In the classroom, Manganello continues to build on her repertoire of stories and discussion topics that she has gathered since starting her classroom career back in 2000. She began her communication career teaching middle and high school speech, literature and theatre.
In the fall of 2001, she left the public school system to further her education at Central Michigan University to earn a master’s degree. She completed her master’s degree in the summer of 2004 and then began working at Taylor University. In 2013, she completed her doctorate in psychology and continued teaching communication courses full time.
Manganello believes communication is relevant to daily lives and daily communication skills. IWU sophomore Kristen Combs said, “Dr. Manganello always tells stories that have happened to her, and this creates images in our minds. It also makes the information easier to understand.” Manganello considers herself privileged, teaching courses in such a vital time of students’ lives.
Manganello comes to IWU with worldwide experience. She has traveled for vacations and missions trips in the United States, through Europe and through Africa.
She and her husband, Tony, have two daughters, Lucy and Sophie. Manganello said, “My husband and I are committed to showing our kids the world, and it’s so fun to experience it with them.”
Even with raising a family and traveling the world, Manganello brings energy to every class to keep the students involved. Combs said, “The energy she brings is something I strive to have someday in my life and I love to experience that every day I have class.”
One way Manganello enjoys to keep her students engaged is having active participation – and occasionally bringing them their favorite McConn drink. She intentionally tries to connect with each individual in her classroom, and this connection makes it easier for students to want to share during the class discussions.
Manganello enjoys listening to how students understand the information that she teaches during class and how they think it’s relevant to their life. She also enjoys hearing how students can apply the class material in their professional, social and spiritual lives.
She hopes that students will come to class daily and be engaged in the material. Manganello wants her students to leave the room with a new idea or perspective about different topics so they can implement them.
Combs said, “Linda is an educator who teaches to the whole person, helping students discover not only the academic material also more of themselves. She’s passionate about people, and that’s what makes her great at what she does.”
