Beyond my formal experience in the course of my graduate program, teaching and mentoring have long been an integral dimension of my academic and professional interests. My investment in higher education began to coalesce through my experiences as an undergraduate at Swarthmore College. Among many valuable opportunities, I was nominated to serve as a Writing Associate (peer tutor) at the Writing Center (1998-1999), where I guided students in developing and revising papers as part of courses and on a drop-in basis. I also worked for two summers as a counselor and instructor at Concordia Language Villages' "Les Voyageurs" program in French and history (1997-1998).
In addition to individualized teaching, I have cultivated experience speaking to groups as an educator, in college and since. After being impressed with my performance as a tour guide, the Swarthmore College Admissions Office regularly invited me to represent the institution at college fairs and on panels with large audiences, often as the voice of Swarthmore's queer community. I have also served as a peer facilitator for the Swarthmore Heath Center's seminar Topics in Human Sexuality (2001) and as a guest presenter for Brown University's semester-long Female Sexuality Workshop (2004-2007).
As a graduate student, I have continued to develop my capabilities as an engaging speaker through a variety of invited course presentations. I was a guest lecturer for Wendy Chun in the class "Imagined Networks" at Brown University (October 2007) and for Bob Rehak in the class "Fan Cultures" at Swarthmore College (March 2008). At Swarthmore, I also gave an open campus talk entitled "SkewTube: Fan Videos, Brokeback Trailers, and the Future of User-Penetrated Content." At Brown, I have organized several educational events at which I also presented, including "Media Fetish: The Vidshow!" (April 2008), which was part of a film and media series for Pride Month, and "(Re)Producing Cult TV: Battlestar Galactica" (March 2007), a panel discussion sponsored by the Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Research in Culture and Media Studies.
These avocational ventures demonstrate my dedication to fostering critical inquiry through teaching. With each event, I strive to improve my techniques for communicating effectively to groups of all sizes, which include multimedia illustrations, clear signposting, and audience participation. I share videos of all my lectures online, and this visual record is useful for me in shaping and tracking my progress.
My techniques for creating an effective learning environment were considerably enhanced by my participation in the Certificate programs at Brown's Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning:
Certificate I • Teaching Seminar, 2007
Designed for graduate students, this program consists of five lecture-workshop pairs over the course of the academic year, covering these topics: developing a reflective teaching practice; establishing clear course goals in a syllabus; teaching to different learning styles; gauging student learning through feedback and assessment; and learning to communicate effectively in the classroom and beyond. To meet the requirements for the Certificate, I also completed a Micro-Teaching session where my methods were assessed by a small group of faculty and peers and an Individual Teaching Consultation where my classroom work was videotaped and evaluated by trained volunteers.
Certificate II • Classroom Tools Seminar, 2009
This year-long series of workshops covers a variety of pedagogical tools and strategies that instructors may wish to utilize to reach the broadest possible learning population. The topics of its six sessions included: effective discussions; writing assignments and feedback; assessment for learning; teaching with technology; teaching with artifacts and objects; and integrating the arts into the curriculum.
Certificate III • Professional Development Seminar, 2009
A seven-part workshop series that trains participants to document the scholarship of their teaching in preparation for the academic job market. This seminar culminated in a professional presentation of my teaching philosophy.
In 2008-2009 I served as Modern Culture and Media's Departmental Graduate Student Liaison to the Sheridan Center, in which capacity I strove to connect the two associations' respective resources in pedagogy and technology.
