New schools: Meet the Chair of the School of Communication & Creative & Performing Arts
by Ruby Poffinbarger - Staff Writer
Chris Goble, one of the professors of Communication Studies, is the Chair of the School of Communication, Creative and Performing Arts. He began his career in education at institutions in 1996. Goble joined the Monmouth College facility in the fall of 2004, teaching classes on communication and advising the production of the college’s newspaper and radio station.
“I have committed a long time and care deeply about the college, not just what was the department, and now the program,” said Goble. “My time here and perspective had something to give…in a lot of ways, what I do on the media side provided a natural bridge.”
Goble has spent time as a department chair and worked with a variety of students over time in his 20 years of higher education. Working with a variety of students has prepared him with many different perspectives on what works in this leadership role. “It was as much to that everyone else felt that they could trust me with doing this too that made me go ahead and say, yeah, I’ll do this,” Goble said.
Since the announcement, Goble expressed excitement about this opportunity and hopes that people are beginning to see that everyone is similar to each other. He hopes to close the gap and create more interaction between disciplines within and between schools. “Our bridge is that we not only perform or create content but we teach students to think about the content we consume.”
Goble delivers during the Great Lecture Series for Homecoming 2024. Photo by Monmouth College
When asked about future changes, he once again highlighted connection and provided opportunities to students across disciplines across Monmouth, not just communication and fine arts. “If there is a hope... It’s that people will see that there is value in this thing that seems to be just entertainment…one of the things I hope changes is that students see that there is importance to see outside of their bubble and live outside of their bubble.”
His best piece of advice for students who want to get outside their bubble is, “you’re going to suck before you’re good at anything you do, and you gotta be open to sucking and not being good at it because if you’re closed off to anything you’re not going to be good at, you’re going to miss a whole lot of things that you would probably be good at.”