The TCU John V. Roach Honors College is proud to welcome its newest faculty members for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Jared LaGroue
Assistant Professor of Professional Practice
Jared LaGroue joins Roach Honors College after serving as a visiting lecturer in TCU’s Bob Schieffer College of Communication, where they taught Communicating Effectively. Originally from Lake Almanor, California, LaGroue earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Pepperdine University before pursuing doctoral studies in critical-cultural media studies at Penn State.His research explores music as media, including how artificial intelligence and streaming are changing what music is and how people listen to it. Before coming to TCU, LaGroue taught media studies and production courses at Juniata College and received NACADA’s 2025 Global Award for Faculty Advising for work centered around “existential advising.” At TCU, LaGroue teaches Reclaiming Conversation, which looks at artificial intimacy and the power of dialogue and presence, as well as the Honors seminar Cultural Memory, which explores how people read, write and remember shared meaning and identity.
Nina Cook
Assistant Professor of Professional Practice
Nina Cook joins TCU from Rice University, where she taught in the Program in Writing and Communication. She grew up in Dallas and earned an associate’s degree from Collin College, a bachelor’s degree in literary studies and a master’s degree in humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas, and a doctorate in English from Rice University. Her teaching and research explore how art, literature and cultural traditions both shape and are shaped by the societies that inherit them. Cook’s interdisciplinary courses are designed around accessible “big questions” that encourage discussion, collaboration, and critical inquiry. At TCU, she teaches Happily Ever Afterlives, which studies fairy tales and what they reveal about transformation, sacrifice and happy endings. She also teaches Inventing Christmas, which explores how holidays and traditions are created and passed down over time.