ANDREW CHRISTJOY
Instructor at Texas A&M University
Andrew is an instructor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Communication & Journalism and the School of Military Science at the Hollingsworth Center for Ethical Leadership with a research focus on resilience for individuals, organizations, and communities through the production of heroic narratives.
In this classroom sample, students are learning how to work together as emerging leaders to solve a constantly evolving scenario.
Courses Taught
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ARSC 101 Hullabaloo U First Year Seminar
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COMM 203 Public Speaking
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COMM 205 Communication for Technical Professions
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COMM 215 Interviewing
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COMM 243 Argumentation and Debate
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COMM 324 Communication Leadership & Conflict Management
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SOMS 281 Foundations of Intentional Leadership
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SOMS 380 Workshop in Leadership Education
Classroom Sample: Public Speaking Feedback
Classroom Sample: Socratic Seminar
All students have agreed to be in these recordings and have signed media release forms per Texas A&M University requirements.
The Resilient Church
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity. While it may seem like just any other church in small town rural America, the First Baptist Church of Calvert, Texas is unique in that it is thriving when so many others across this country are struggling. Through field work on location, Andrew examined archival texts, recorded interviews, and made ethnographic observations as part of his multi-modal written and film dissertation project at Texas A&M University to understand why this church is such a unique outlier that has overcome the odds.
Andrew successfully presented and defended this project and was awarded his PhD in December 2024. The written component of his dissertation is being prepared for book publication. The film made the festival circuit during 2025 and won five awards including Best Documentary Feature at the Viva Texas Film Festival. The film is now available to view publicly and accessible through this website. FILM: The Resilient Church
To contact Andrew for a screening or resilience workshop at your church or organization, please access the Contact form on this website
For more, please visit the Resilient Church Project Website
Building Risk Communication Infrastructure
Emergency managers and community partners must communicate complex information to public audiences likely to have low knowledge and high anxiety during hazardous materials incidents. Organizations like local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) coordinate, connect, and build network communication infrastructures, supporting risk communication in catastrophes. Although LEPCs do not respond to emergencies and disasters, the networks that LEPCs cultivate can assist emergency officials and community partners in sharing coordinated messages about technical risks that are more likely to encourage trust among an anxious public.
Get the textbook Communication and Catastrophic Events
The Consubstantial Cadet
At 41 years old, Andrew joined the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University and rose through the ranks from an unknown freshman to become the Deputy Corps Commander, the second-highest student position in the organization. Kenneth Burke might have proclaimed this as a successful consubstantial experiment. While he was an adult outsider with a prior career and background, Andrew also became an accepted cadet through the use of the hierarchy of symbols which produced a common context for everyone involved. This documentary film is an analysis in hermeneutic phenomenology.
Watch the film: The Consubstantial Cadet
Before the Warning Bells Ring - Hazmat, Train Derailment Emergency Planning for Schools
As a researcher for the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Andrew coordinated meetings with school districts of all sizes across the state of Texas in order to gather their stories of preparedness. This data was used as part of several guidebooks to help schools align with state regulations regarding potential transportation emergencies near school facilities.
Strategies for Deterring Trespassing on Rail Transit and Commuter Rail Rights-of-Way
Part of sustaining a resilient community is addressing individual vulnerabilities. As part of a research team, Andrew helped collect and categorize strategies for preventing customer suicides on passenger rails and around stations in order to produce a guidebook for cities across the nation.