Lives are defined by one’s interests. Everyone moves forward in their lives following what catches their eye and brightens their heart. Whether this be a pursuit of personal importance, lifting others upward, or chasing a dream, people follow what their hearts tell them to follow. While this is known by many names and by many people, this common spirit is something all people can relate to. This is passion.
At Ohio Northern University (ONU), all types of people embody their passions in their studies, extracurriculars, and other numerous ways. A student majoring in journalism, a professor continuing their research, and staff members attending church services are ways the ONU community follows their passions. But since 2014, ONU has been able to host a certain professor who embodies their passions to the fullest. Academic, professional, personal, and beyond, this man is a nomad of passion.
His name is Shane Tilton, PhD.
Tilton is an Associate Professor of Multimedia Studies and the current Irene Casteel Endowed Chair of Education, Professional, and Social Sciences at ONU. For nearly ten years, Tilton has taught various forms of multimedia communication mediums to students to help them understand the world they experience. Being a teacher of the multimedia arts has been Tilton’s main form of sharing his passions and guiding those around him since his first academic position as an Adjunct Instructor of Electronic Media at his alma mater, Ohio University Zanesville. Later, Tilton went back and achieved his Masters in Telecommunications and Ph.D in Modern Media & Information Studies at Ohio University, Main Campus. Since then, he has held many positions in relation to multimedia education across multiple universities. From communications and composition to his latest “Memes and Society” course, multimedia writing is a passion of Tilton’s.
Gabriel Mott is a current sophomore at ONU and a student under Tilton’s current advised organization, Northern Review, ONU’s primary online newspaper. As a news editor for Northern Review, Mott frequently works closely with Tilton in an academic setting based around multimedia writing. On opening weekend of Mott’s first year on campus, Tilton immediately made a strong impression with his confident and enthusiastic expression of the various opportunities in media ONU had for Mott to explore.
Being a self-described “guide on the side,” Tilton aimed to elevate Mott and other students like him to achieve their goals and find their passion within academia. Like several others, Mott chose to follow Tilton’s passion for journalism and joined Northern Review. Since joining, Mott is able to look further into the community of ONU and extract the stories that make this college home to so many. With the addition of Tilton’s teachings, the work of the Northern Review staff only becomes stronger. Despite the initial intimidation factor some students might feel from him due to his knowledge and eagerness, Mott and others came to understand his intensity is only reflective of his passion for digital journalism. Mott explains that Tilton teaches in a way that lets students grow, but also allows them to fail when necessary for personal development. Mott continues to explain that Tilton pushes students to produce strong work consistently but keeps the atmosphere light and fun surrounding it. His selfless passion for journalism elevates Northern Review to the outlet it is today by showing his students that their passions can only fuel their work. Mott describes it as saying, “I think true passion for a field or organization involves pursuing what is best for the organization without allowing one’s ego, bias, or self-interests interfere in this pursuit.”
Beyond teaching students in higher education, Tilton also is an accomplished author of various multimedia works. While his primary method of authoring comes in the form of chapters for books surrounding pop culture, such as “The Psychology of Zelda: Linking Our World to the Legend of Zelda Series” and “Eating Fandom,” he is also the author of two of his own books. His first one is a textbook called “The Journalism Breakdown” that he uses to teach about writing in the modern age for an ever-changing world. His latest work is “Meme Life” which goes into detail on how memes influence real-life culture outside of their social networks of origin.
Anthony Bean, PhD., Tilton’s editor, has worked on multiple written projects of Tilton’s and seen firsthand how one’s passions can bleed into their work for the better. According to Bean, Tilton’s passion shows in his work through his deep knowledge and articulation that resonates with many different audiences. Since many people can understand Tilton’s subject matter, they feel connected to it on a deeper level as a result; passion shows through a higher vernacular in his writing, but that often is not an issue, as it shows how much he lives for what he writes. That is Tilton’s passion in writing form. Without that life in his writing, the works would be dull and soulless. Bean describes passion as saying, “it means that someone is able to talk about a topic or be enveloped in the topic because of the material itself. They have a personal connection to it that has been incredible for them.”
Where passions can influence a wide range of people, sometimes passions can be even more meaningful when one gets to share them with someone close. For over 25 years, this person in Tilton’s life has been his wife, Brandy Tilton. Brandy has known Tilton since their college days in the ‘90s and have been married for over 21 years. In an delightfully ironic twist, Brandy accidentally caught Tilton first asking her out on a date with an over-the-shoulder camcorder, one of the most common multimedia devices of that era. Ever since then, their lives have been an adventure of life’s passions with one another.
According to Brandy, Tilton embodies his passions best when he can talk about them. He is always seeing how he can incorporate new ideas from games and conferences into his teachings. Brandy says he plays countless games (all of which he is passionate about) and at the core of his personality, he is a gamer. His passions are both intertwined with his personal and professional worlds – and she gets to share them all with him. They are both teachers, one of the many threads of passion that connects them. In Brandy’s eyes, she says, “Being passionate to me, it’s something that excites you. It’s an activity or hobby you enjoy doing and look forward to whenever you do it. It’s something that you enjoy so much that you want others to enjoy it as much as you do.”
But what are passions without a person to share them with the world? While observers can relay their understanding of passions coming from someone, the passionate one themselves is often the best source of knowledge on any subject.
Tilton describes himself as “an academic hobo” who draws from all corners of disciplines to teach those about the world around them. Through teaching at multiple colleges and universities, he found a home at ONU because of its liberal arts structure, allowing for collaborative work with both his students and his department. Tilton ultimately wants to share himself with the world. In doing so, he gets to show others what his passions mean to him and other communities. The world is full of mechanisms for delivering ideas to “tribes” of people through communication. Tilton has devoted his personal, professional, and academic lives to exploring these communities and sharing his findings with the world. He is both a nerd and a geek. A person who wants to know everything there is to know about his communities and share them passionately with those around him who he has yet to teach. Tilton’s passion is teaching, to share oneself with others simply for the joy of doing so.
“I think being passionate means not being afraid to be rejected. Being passionate means that you are willing to share your knowledge, your time, your expertise, without fear of rejection nor the want of reward… and I think that that is hard.”
-Shane Tilton, PhD.
From humble beginnings as a Radio Shack employee to the award-winning author and professor he is today, Tilton’s life has been an ongoing journey of discovering what it means to be passionate about the communities we live in. We play board games because we want face-to-face communities; we seek the latest campus news, because we want to understand our college communities; we take classes to understand communities we haven’t understood before, and so much more. His passions are who he is. He’s a cat father, board gamer, journalism professor, and author of all things students and professionals don’t know yet.
Shane Tilton, PhD is the teacher of passions.
(photo/Brandy Tilton)