TEACHING STATEMENT
As an educator, I believe the classroom is a space for social and political transformation. Every aspect of my teaching and mentoring practice is informed by the conviction that the classroom is one of the most important places I can make an impact as a critical-cultural and media studies scholar. This conviction is connected to my research agenda, which takes seriously forms of culture and cultural production that are often dismissed as benign, inconsequential, or merely commercial to understand how they are central to broader struggles over power. In my role as a teacher, my goal is to facilitate critical thinking about often taken-for-granted media and technologies to prepare students to be more informed and engaged citizens, community members, and consumers and producers. To that end, I seek to foster horizontal learning environments where my students are co-creators of knowledge and feel empowered to take ownership of their learning process; to provide them with tools and theories that give them new ways to describe, analyze, and critique their everyday realities and encounters with media and technology and deconstruct power in its many forms; and to encourage them to apply these perspectives to their own lives even after their time in my classroom ends. My pedagogical approach necessarily includes not only teaching students about how power operates in the world around them, but also finding ways to mitigate its uneven impacts in my own classroom environment. This pedagogical approach requires finding ways to support students who are structurally disadvantaged within the university, particularly first-generation students and students from marginalized backgrounds, by implementing pedagogical strategies that reduce barriers to access and participation, often to the benefit of all students.
PEDAGOGY AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
I consider teaching a process and a practice that requires continuous learning, reflection, and development. I have sought out opportunities to further craft my pedagogical approach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison through teaching seminars, learning communities for educators, and, most importantly, opportunities to work directly with students in teaching, advising, and service roles.
2022-2023
DISCUSSION PROJECT + DISCUSSION PROJECT STUDY
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Professional learning course focused on creating welcoming, engaging, and academically rigorous classroom environments. Participated in year-long Discussion Project Measures Study, as well as a 3-day intensive course developed by the School of Education focused on developing skills in leading high-quality small- and large-group discussions in undergraduate and graduate classrooms. Topics included creating an equitable and inclusive classroom climate conducive to high quality discussion, crafting questions that foster engagement, and different ways to structure and facilitate discussion. Drew on the most recent research on classroom discussions in higher education. Study included classroom observations throughout the year as well as surveys about instruction (completed by students and the instructor).
Summer 2022
SOAR GRADUATE ADVISOR
WISCONSIN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Professional role focused on advising incoming first-year, transfer, and international students on course selection and enrollment, as well as providing support to new students navigating the university system and connecting students with campus resources. Worked individually and with a team of undergraduate peer and professional advisors in group and individual advising sessions.
2021-2022
GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZATION
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION ARTS,
MEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES REPRESENTATIVE
Year-long service position focused on representing the interests and needs of graduate students by attending faculty meetings, acting as an intermediary between faculty and graduate students, and assisting in welcoming and acclimating new graduate students to the Communication Arts Department.
Fall 2021
BEYOND RHETORIC: CREATING AN ETHICAL AND EQUITABLE PRACTICE
DELTA PROGRAM IN RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
Semester-long course focused on developing and putting into action teaching practices that promote justice through abolitionist, anti-racist, radical, critical, and feminist pedagogies. This course utilized case studies and experiential learning to move beyond the rhetoric of diversity, equity, and inclusion with the goal of putting justice into practice in everyday teaching contexts.
Spring 2021
EXPLORING PRACTICES IN THE CLASSROOM: REMOTE TEACHING AND LEARNING
DELTA PROGRAM IN RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND LEARNING
Semester-long course focused on evidence-based best teaching practices in remote learning environments, including building an inclusive learning community, facilitating group dynamics and effective discussions, providing feedback aligned with learning objectives, active learning strategies, implementing universal design principles, and supporting students in distress and addressing academic concerns.