TEACHING

Teaching Statement

Developing and teaching a successful course requires managing a diverse group of students in a dynamic, and sometimes unpredictable, environment. There are many ways to do this, from innovative uses of media to in-class activities that ask students to use their bodies to connect to the conceptual material of the course. I enjoy myself most as an educator when my own role is diminished and the students themselves become the central actors in a dialogue that reaches beyond the classroom. To this end, in my classes I strive to accomplish the following goals:

• Break down barriers between students and course material

• Establish clear expectations of both students and myself

• Implement project-based learning across the curriculum

• Encourage creative engagement with course material in non-traditional and unexpected forms

• Create a safe and respectful learning environment

• Develop and hone strong communication skills

• Encourage horizontal thinking beyond the reach of the course material

• Have fun with ideas and the people who share them

Sample Course Syllabi

• Alone in the Crowd: Alienation in Modern Short Fiction
• Enfants de La Patrie: Francophone Literature and the Colonial Legacy in France
• Floor 7½ and Other Stops on the Way to Identity
• Learning to See: Technologies of Vision from the Early Modern to the Present
• Mapping the Americas