• Clark Family Website: Family pictures, kids' pages, and more
• Dr. Heather Clark's Professional Site
• The Onion: my favorite satirical "news" source
• Why I Hate Word: Parental/Immaturity Warning, some profanity
• Ray's Weather Forecast: the best weather site in the high country

About Me
A long time ago, in a state far, far away...actually, it was California. That's where I was born. The picture of me on the homepage of this site was taken at the tide pools of Doheny Beach, where I hung out growing up. My family moved to Minnesota when I was in 6th grade, which was a bit of a shock, culture- and weather-wise. For the next decade and a half, I hung out in the midwest, going to the University of North Dakota for my undergraduate and master's, and the University of Iowa for my Ph.D. I met Heather (my wife) at UND, and we went through graduate school together (but in different programs). Along the way, we had two daughters: Kehvon and Ashlyn. We moved to Boone, NC, where Heather and I both got teaching positions at Appalachian State University. And that's where we are today. The picture on the homepage (and at the top of this page) is of Ashlyn, Heather, and Kehvon (in that order). It was taken on our trip "out west" in the summer of 2002, at sunset at the Grand Canyon.

My professional "interests" are rather varied. I study communication from a rhetorical perspective, which means I focus on how language is used to shape the world. I'm a nerd from way back, so I also spend a lot of time looking at the Internet and how communication technology is affecting us. Teaching is my favorite part of my "job." I work hard to make my classes worthwhile, and lately I've been using service learning a great deal in my classes.

My family matters to me more than I can say here. Students in my interpersonal communication class hear a lot about them, since I use examples from my life daily. You can learn more about my wife and daughters on some of the sites linked at the top of this page. When I'm not working, I go on hikes with the ladies in my life (including my dog), coach and play soccer, remodel the house, landscape the yard (well, most of the time I just kill plants), mess around on the computer, and lately I've taken up crocheting (a good way to reduce stress, once you learn how to do it :-) ).

My office door is always open, so stop by sometime to talk!

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Last Updated: August 20, 2009