Award-Winning Faculty: Kelly Leahy

Kelly Leahy’s favorite part about teaching at the Newhouse School is helping her students connect their interests and passions to the career they are cultivating.  

She wants to help them find what she calls their “uniqueness.”  

“Entertainment media is an enormous field, and there are a wide variety of jobs out there,” Leahy said. “Each student is unique and has their own gifts and contributions to make.” 

Leahy, an assistant professor of television, radio and film, was honored by Syracuse University this past spring for her dedication to students with a 2024 Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Teaching Recognition Award for Early Performance.  

“I was moved to be chosen for recognition, and very proud to be selected for such a prestigious honor at the university level,” said Leahy, who teaches media literacy, research literacy, and audience, business and content research. 

Her teaching philosophy celebrates and recognizes the uniqueness of each student, de-emphasizing letter grades in favor of robust feedback for each student; critique for assignments; and the creation of an environment where students feel comfortable asking questions about course content.  

“I emphasize connectedness, cultivate dialogue and encourage students to challenge one another,” she said. 

Whether learning in Leahy’s Development and Production of Children’s Media or Research for Entertainment Media course, her students “come ready to grow and develop, eager to move into their professional careers,” she said.  

“The most important skill I can teach and model is critical thinking because it gives one the ability to analyze and solve unforeseen challenges,” Leahy added. She began teaching at Newhouse in the summer of 2019 as an adjunct professor and moved to full time in fall 2020. 

When looking back on her experience so far, Leahy said that her favorite memory isn’t one moment but the continuous process of helping students find what makes them special in the field of entertainment media.  

“You don’t have to fit in a mold, and so you need to identify what you enjoy doing, what you are good at, and then figure out where there is work to do these things,” she said.  

This is the third in a series of four stories about Newhouse faculty honored by Syracuse University in 2024 for teaching and research excellence.