Professor Vivian Giang teaches Women & Media, New Media, and Intro to Journalism at SUNY at Old Westbury. In addition to this, she has a colorful resume of writing for a variety of amazing publications. Spoiler Alert: she has a huge feature coming out soon in Marie Claire and it has to do with sex toys designed by women! We’re looking forward to that as well as getting to know her a little better.
It seems as though professors have a love for Old Westbury because of the energy and diversity they experience here. What drives you to teach here rather than any other, maybe more prestigious university, as an adjunct professor?
I didn’t know much about Old Westbury before I started teaching here about a year and a half ago. I didn’t know what to think. All of my classes have been so completely different and I really enjoy the students I work with because of the diversity and they all come from different backgrounds and all took different paths to get here and that’s very interesting to hear. It’s not just “I graduated high school and came here.” Also the students here very much want to know what’s coming next after college life, which really takes initiative.
Besides teaching, what do you do in your daily life and what publications do you write for?
I mostly write for Fast Company, Fortune, Quartz which is the business arm of The Atlantic, and Marie Claire. The articles are usually about how business is changing, how we’re changing in the way we work and the way we view success, the ways we hire, the way we think about business collaborations… and it ends up that a lot of this has to do with gender conversations and how women are changing the workplace.
What are some of the most interesting topics you’ve worked on lately?
I really like working on stories about new business ideas and industries that women are taking the lead in. The reason why, is because there’s not much of a space for women in industries that have already been established although women are changing that space as well and growing very much in the spaces. It’s going to take some time, though, before there is equilibrium. With industries like marijuana, for example, there are a lot of women in the cannabis industry. There are a lot of women in sex tech right now, too. And the whole idea behind that is your sexual relationship has everything to do with your interactions with people and your everyday life so if there’s in equality in the bedroom, then there’s less likelihood for equality in your life. It’s also about helping women to talk about sex without shame and, as in the presidential race, sexually harassed women experience a lot of shame and guilt and victim-blaming. The only way we can get passed that is being able to talk about something as simple as sex.
What does your personal experience bring to the classroom dynamic?
I think because I’m a working journalist and I started out in digital, it has taught me so much in the sense of how media and technology has changed. That experience and also my experience as a woman and a minority and the fact that I write about current business trends- I bring this all to the classroom automatically. I can help direct students for their future because that’s where I see the industry is going.
What advice do you have for your media students?
I tell all of my students this… I’ve always reiterated how important it is to network, make connections, and keep in touch even if it’s just a “hello” every three to six months. My entire career path has been because of a network situation or someone I knew who knew someone else. It was never just applying somewhere, that never happened