Brad Blackstone

I'm a long-time university educator and communication specialist. With 40 years experience teaching professional and interpersonal communication, academic and technical writing, and English for academic purposes, I've mentored countless tertiary students, young educators and corporate employees, helping them refine their messaging --- in preparing documents, pitching projects or simply reflecting on growth.

Through the years, I have contributed to innovative curriculum development in dynamic university and corporate training programs in the USA, Portugal, Malaysia, Japan and now in Singapore. My work has included being a core member of a number of several university start-ups, Akita International University (AIU) Japan and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) among them. I have held teaching appointments at those universities as well as at Ohio State University, Minnesota State University in Akita, Japan, and National University of Singapore. I have also done training for General Motors Portugal, Akita (Japan) Prefectural Government, and Thailand's Rajabhat university system as well as for Maybank and Linksys.

My research interests are in areas as diverse as developing workplace communication competencies, intercultural bridge-building, and the use of social media for pedagogical purposes. I have worked under granted programs and/or coordinated projects for the Midwestern Universities Consortium for International Affairs, the Japanese Ministry of Education, National University of Singapore, Temasek Foundation, Mapletree Investments and other funding bodies and institutions. With a pair of UNESCO-ACCU grants, I co-led university groups from Japan on research missions in Mongolia and Myanmar. I have also led and participated in grant-supported teacher development for institutions across Asia. Currently, I'm the lead for professional communication-focused workshop programs at the Centre for Communication Skills at SIT.

In my downtime, I'm a music aficionado. I performed blues harp in bands for many years, produced a bi-weekly music programme for Radio Moka, and continue to curate the broad horizons of world music at https://www.mixcloud.com/DaddyPeetExpresso/

Research Interests

• Academic Writing in English
• Integrated Language Skills
• Professional Communication
• Task-based Learning
• Computer Assisted Language Learning
• E-Portfolios/Peer Feedback
• Pedagogical Blogging

Companies

• Senior Lecturer Singapore Institute of Technology (2015)
• Senior Lecturer, Chief Editor National University of Singapore (2007 — 2015)
• Associate Professor Akita International University (2004 — 2007)
• International University Development Team Consultant Akita-ken (Prefectural) Government (2003 — 2004)
• Assistant Professor Minnesota State University, Akita, JAPAN (MNSCU) (1990 — 2003)
• Instructor State University of New York College at Buffalo - Malaysia Program (1989 — 1990)
• Instructor Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activites - Indiana University (1985 — 1988)
• Instructor The Ohio State University (1983 — 1985)
• Business Communication Trainer General Motors Portugal, Lda. (1980 — 1982)

Education

• MA The Ohio State University (1983 — 1984)
• Bachelor of Arts - BA The Ohio State University (1974 — 1978)