Soo Jeong Jo, 2025 Lillian Bridwell-Bowles Innovative C-I Teacher Award recipient
June 02, 2025
For Dr. Soo Jeong Jo, teaching architecture is about more than design鈥攊t's about helping students think clearly, analyze deeply, and communicate effectively. Since 2019, she has consistently woven Communication-Intensive (C-I) strategies into her courses, bringing communication to the center of the learning process in LSU鈥檚 School of Architecture.
鈥淢y innovative C-I teaching practices influenced my students鈥� learning and development to be moreinteractive, diverse, and engaging,鈥� Soo explains. Her classes are full of active learning: students play gesture games to improve oral communication, sketch quickly to build visual storytelling skills, and use tools like the 鈥淩ose, Thorn, and Bud鈥� discussion exercise to explore and critique design ideas with clarity and structure.
These creative strategies help students connect with complex, data-heavy content that might otherwise feel abstract. Whether guiding group discussions or securing new digital tools andengagement resources through over $22,000 in grant funding, Soo works to make sure students have the tools they need to succeed鈥攂oth in the classroom and beyond.
She is also a dedicated learner herself. Soo has participated in LSU鈥檚 Faculty Summer Institute and the C-I Teaching Lab, crediting these experiences with helping her grow as an educator. As she puts it, C-I practices open the door to 鈥渟ystematic thinking, critical analysis, and effective communication.鈥�
The results speak for themselves. Soo has taught 14 C-I course sections over six years, and herstudents鈥� work has been recognized nationally at events like the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and the ACSA | AISC International Steel Design Competition, where herstudents took second place in 2021.
College of Art & Design Interim Dean Rod Parker calls her 鈥渁 scholar and practitioner in Architecture who is totally engaged in her profession and totally dedicated to excellence in research and creativeactivity and, above all, in her dedication to the spirit and practice exemplified by Lillian Bridwell-Bowles.鈥�
Students agree. School of Architecture Director Marwan Ghandour, shares that 鈥淧rofessor Jo is highly sought by motivated students to study with her or work under her supervision鈥� because she is diligent in teaching them the research, professional, and communication tools to produce innovative and well-represented projects.鈥�
About the Lillian Bridwell-Bowles Innovative C-I Teacher Award
The Lillian Bridwell-Bowles Innovative C-I Teacher Award recognizes, inspires, and continues to support innovation in C-I course/assignment design, teaching, assessment/feedback practices, classroom management, and teaching productivity/efficiency/effectiveness. Any LSU faculty member鈥攖enured, tenure-track, or non-tenure track, full or part-time鈥攚ho has taught a certified C-I course within the past three semesters and has not previously received this award is eligible. Recipients receive a $500 award. This award is named in honor of Lillian Bridwell-Bowles, an internationally recognized scholar of communication-intensive pedagogy andthe founder of LSU鈥檚 Communication across the Curriculum program.