Derek Brandow is the Instructor of Confidence in the School of Journalism and Communication. He received an undergraduate degree in Education from the University of Oregon in 2000, and a graduate degree in Education from Pacific University in 2002. Since 2002 Derek has been an elementary school teacher, business school professor, start-up CEO, chicken farmer, and he has traveled all over Oregon for AT&T. It has been in the past 10 years Derek has embraced confidence as a state of being, versus a state of doing, and vulnerability as the pathway to the kind of connections we want the most. The two FIG courses he is teaching this year are guided explorations outside of comfort zones to find a place of belonging we are desperate for.

In his spare time Derek can be found in his garden with his daughters singing to tomatoes and bees, drinking americanos at Vero Espresso House, cooking with his wife, or sitting around a backyard campfire with his pipe, laughing, swapping stories.

Email: dbrandow@uoregon.edu

Hello everyone! My name is Catherine Oswalt and I will be the FIG Assistant for “Media Mirror.” This is going to be my third year as an FA and my second year doing this FIG! Previously I worked with one of our year-long Runways about the effects of social media and technology in modern society.

I am from the neighboring town of Springfield, Oregon, and it was pretty much a given that I would come to study here at the University of Oregon. I have a passion for reading, writing, exploring, and a huge fan of any type of conversation or debate! I am a junior here at UO, and I am majoring in Public Relations and Political Science with a minor in Legal Studies.   

I encourage you all to go outside of your comfort zone this year and to embrace whatever change that may come our way! My sister is also a high school class of 2020 graduate, so I know first-hand how resilient you all are, and I am so excited to help you on your journey here at the U of O! I hope we can start your first term as college freshmen with some amazing memories!  

If you have registered for “Media Mirror” please email me your name and three things you think I ought to know about you. These can be interests, something about your personality, your fears, your excitements, or anything you want to address prior to the fall term. Don’t hesitate to reach out for anything!  

Looking forward to fall and hang in there! 

Email: coswalt@uoregon.edu