Guide to Living in the Halls

Faculty-in-Residence

Bey-Ling Sha

Hello! I'm Dr. Bey-Ling Sha, and I am the Faculty-in-Residence in Tepeyac, where I live with my husband and our sons, aged 8 and 6. I am a tenured associate professor in the School of Journalism & Media Studies, and my specialization is international public relations. This year, I also teach a section of University Seminar for residents of the “No Spin Zone,” the Journalism & Media Studies Residential Learning Community, located in Zura Hall. Before becoming a professor, I was a public affairs officer for the federal government in Washington, D.C., and I also worked as a consultant in public relations research and strategy.

I earned my B.A. in French and Communication at Purdue University in Indiana, where I chose to attend college because that was the farthest away that I could get from Houston, Texas, where I grew up. My master's degree and Ph.D. are from the University of Maryland. I am also accredited in public relations through the Universal Accreditation Board.

I met my husband in Strasbourg, France, during my junior year abroad, and we have lived in France, Taiwan, Maryland, and now California.

Because I am the exhausted mother of two small children, I have no time for hobbies, although sometimes I like to daydream about my former hobbies, such as reading non-parenting and non-academic books just for fun, sleeping through the whole night undisturbed, and traveling to exotic places. When I am not doing stuff for my professor job or my Faculty-in-Residence job, I am serving as the PTA president at my children’s school, driving the boys to soccer and other activities, doing volunteer work with San Diego public relations practitioners, and trying to remember to go to my yoga class.

I am interested in helping residents communicate with people from backgrounds different from their own; think critically about mass media products (such as news, movies, and advertising); manage long-distance personal relationships; and plan for how they will one day balance work and family lives.

For my "official" bio, please see http://jms.sdsu.edu/faculty_staff/bios/sha.html.