Sharon received her BA from William and Mary, her MA from North Carolina and her PhD from Ohio State. She teaches in the Department of Communication Studies at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Her scholarly interests originated in relational communication and include cultural expressions of time. In recent years her interests have taken a sharp turn toward justice, particularly toward racial and criminal justice and intercultural competence as a gateway toward social justice activism. She has enjoyed teaching and learning in numerous off-campus programs including in Mexico, Peru, China, Japan, Spain, Morocco and the wilderness of Holden Village in winter.