Brandi Lawless

Brandi Lawless is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Studies Department at the University of San Francisco. Her work focuses on innovative pedagogical methods, particularly the flipped classroom approach, to enhance student engagement in skill-based learning environments. She emphasizes active learning through hands-on projects, such as collaborative qualitative research methods and coding exercises, while strategically reducing pre-recorded mini-lectures to optimize class time. Her research interests span intercultural communication pedagogy, academic labor dynamics, and social justice in education, often addressing topics like immigrant faculty experiences, neoliberalism in academia, and equity in classroom practices. Lawless actively presents her pedagogical strategies at conferences and collaborates with institutions on community-engaged projects.

Lawless’s teaching philosophy prioritizes student agency through flexible learning modalities. She uses adaptive technologies like Adobe Captivate and Camtasia to create interactive multimedia content, balancing formative assessments with in-class application. Her flipped classroom model has led to notable improvements in student confidence and project quality, with students producing extensive research papers (often exceeding 20 pages) due to structured in-class guidance. She continuously refines her approach based on mid- and end-of-semester feedback, ensuring alignment with student needs and pedagogical effectiveness.

Her scholarship interrogates broader systemic issues in higher education, including the emotional labor of academic work, anti-racist curriculum development, and the tension between neoliberal institutional pressures and socially just pedagogy. Lawless’s work bridges theory and practice, advocating for critical reflection in both teaching and scholarly inquiry.

Lawless has collaborated on initiatives such as the Circles® USA program to address poverty through community-based research and education. Her research often employs qualitative methods, including duoethnography and critical thematic analysis, to explore intersections of identity, labor, and social justice in educational contexts.