Vickie Christie 

Professor of Communication Studies
B.A. University of Montana
M.A. University of New Mexico
Ph.D. University of Kansas
406.657.1084
Morledge-Kimball Hall 213
vickie.christie@rocky.edu

Biography

Vickie Christie, Professor of Communication Studies, is a native Montanan who was raised between her home in Butte and a family ranch east of Hardin. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Kansas in 1995, her master’s degree from the University of New Mexico and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana. She studied the effects of aggression in media for her doctorate degree.

Vickie’s passion is teaching and traveling to interesting parts of the world. She taught for eight years at the University of Alaska, for three years at the Language Institute of Japan in Odawara, Japan. She was named a fellow and master teacher in Harvard University’s International Program. In the early 2000’s a Fulbright teaching award allowed her to take her family to Belarus for six months to experience life in an eastern block country.

More recently she joined the faculty for the Semester at Sea program, teaching Freedom of Speech and Intercultural Communication in a program that entailed a nine country voyage to ports of Scandinavian and European countries. She has authored a chapter in the book, Ethical Communication in Risk Technologies, on how the medical community involves parents in decisions about their critically ill newborns, and another on Montana Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin in Women Who Speak for Peace. She is the co-author of an English language textbook, Start with Hello. She joined Rocky Mountain College some 16 years ago; at that time the college communication was offered only as a minor. Vickie quickly saw the importance of providing a major in the emerging communication discipline.

Courses Taught

Mass Media, Organizational Communication, Freedom of Speech, Rhetoric of Protest and Dissent, including courses such as Small Group Communication and Public Speaking

What are you currently reading?

Middlemarch (for the third time).

What do you do outside of class?

I satisfy my love of the out of doors by kayaking, backpacking, and hiking. This year I hiked the Grand Canyon; last year I hiked throughout the Swiss Alps. I also love studying Spanish and recently spent a month in Argentina going to school and traveling. 

What makes RMC stand out?

The personal interest that good faculty give their students. The opportunity offered to learn and grow.