{"id":28435,"date":"2017-10-31T16:18:34","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T22:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=28435"},"modified":"2020-06-29T09:39:06","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T15:39:06","slug":"faculty-profile-christopher-bell-finds-joy-helping-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=28435","title":{"rendered":"Faculty profile: Christopher Bell finds joy helping students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> This is the fourth in a series of faculty profiles<\/a> highlighting the diverse and innovative faculty at UCCS.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Christopher<\/a>
\nChristopher Bell grew up with friends living on the same block, attending the same schools and going to the same events, but they all turned out to be vastly different as adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifferent careers, different lives. But also completely different ways of seeing the world, which makes me wonder how they could see it the way they do when we all basically came from the same places and spaces,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

His curiosity turned into a career. As an associate professor of media studies at UCCS in the Department of Communication, he studies how popular culture influences the adults we become.<\/p>\n

He specializes in how race, class and gender are reflected in children\u2019s media.<\/h2>\n

Toys, books, TV shows, movies and music have embedded messages, teaching kids about themselves, the world and their role in it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Bell, who joined UCCS in 2010, wanders toy aisles researching how gender is reflected on shelves. He\u2019s upset by what he often hears like kids being told a boy can\u2019t get a doll because it\u2019s for girls or that girls shouldn’t play with trucks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how many times I overhear parents saying something that they think is probably useful to their kids that is absolutely awful,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat makes them happy is what they should play with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell, 43, is a diversity and inclusiveness consultant with Pixar Animation Studios and with several universities. He\u2019s written five academic books on popular culture, four of which pull from \u201cHarry Potter.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s sometimes surprised this is his life. In high school, he thought he\u2019d design wedding dresses. He spent the early years of college adrift, dropping out of four schools, switching majors seven times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf today I knew me when I was going through all of that, I would be like, \u2018I don\u2019t know if that kid is going to make it.\u2019 It was a rough road for me,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

A history professor changed everything.<\/h2>\n

His junior year at the University of Northern Colorado, Joan Clinefelter became his mentor, often checking in with him. It was the first time he felt someone at the school truly cared about him.<\/p>\n

Clinefelter sensed Bell needed to connect with someone, so she reached out. He flourished.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the Chris Bells that make teaching such a pleasure and so rewarding,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the credit for Chris\u2019 success? That goes entirely to Chris.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell received a bachelor of arts in social sciences in 1998 from UNC; a master of arts in television, film and new media studies in 2000 from San Diego State University; and a doctorate of philosophy in mass communication in 2009 from CU-Boulder.<\/p>\n

Bell, who is also director of graduate studies, still keeps in touch with Clinefelter 20 years later. He tries to repay what she did for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I tell a student I’m going to mentor them, I mean it like forever. There are students who graduated three or four years ago who I still talk to on a weekly or daily basis,\u201d he said. \u201cUntil they\u2019re where they told me they want to be, I\u2019m not done.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Dr. Bell has literally changed my life”<\/p>\n

Bell guided M.J Arjomandi through graduate school to becoming a UCCS communication instructor last year. Arjomandi was hooked when Bell give a guest lecture on how \u201cThe X-Men\u201d serve as social commentary for the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mind was blown,\u201d he said. \u201cI recall leaving that class and immediately calling a friend to tell him all about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Bell challenged him more than ever academically. When Arjomandi became a graduate teaching assistant, Bell helped him learn his way around the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Bell has literally changed my life,\u201d he said, \u201cand if I can ever do for another student what he has done for me, I would consider my career to be a very successful one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell hopes his work helps fade out the idea of \u201ctoys for girls\u201d and \u201ctoys for boys.\u201d Labeling them teaches children forced gender roles, shaping how they see themselves and others. It can create a culture that leads to bullying\u2014or worse.<\/p>\n

Bell tells the story of a Florida boy who attempted suicide at age 11 after schoolmates repeatedly ridiculed him for liking \u201cMy Little Pony.\u201d He suffered extensive brain damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a tragedy we should all feel as a tragedy, and we should all feel responsible for that happening. That\u2019s a societal failure,\u201d Bell said. \u201cIt reaffirms the work I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

His research shifted more to gender when he became a father.<\/h2>\n

He wanted insight into the world his daughter would be navigating.<\/p>\n

Now 11, she\u2019s always encouraged to express herself through play. A fan of \u201cStar Wars\u201d and comic books such as \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy,\u201d she enjoys playing both female and male characters. But Bell could hardly find any female superhero stuff for her a few years ago.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Bell highlighted gender inequality on toy shelves in the TED Talk \u201cBring on the female superheroes!\u201d<\/a> When it reached 5,000 views, he thought it was \u201cthe coolest thing ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, it has more than 1 million hits, and female superhero merchandise abounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to think I made that happen in some small way,\u201d said Bell, whose office is filled with 200 toys, many of which are female superheroes.<\/p>\n