Teaching

Pedagogy that respects the learner.

I teach writing and the humanities as acts of thinking. My classrooms prioritize process over product, dialogue over delivery, and judgment over mere fluency — preparing students to write, reason, and participate in a rapidly changing intellectual world.

Teaching philosophy

Learning is embodied and conversational.

I believe students learn to write by writing, revising, and talking through ideas with others — not by absorbing rules in the abstract. My courses are built around drafting, feedback, and reflection, so that the work of the class is the work of thinking made visible.

“Fluency is not the goal. Judgment is. I want students to leave knowing not only how to produce language, but when, why, and whether to.”

That commitment shapes everything from how I sequence assignments to how I respond to drafts. I design for transfer — skills students can carry into other courses, workplaces, and civic life — and I treat every classroom as a community where voice, difference, and disagreement are resources rather than risks.

Principles I teach by

  • Process over product. Grades reward growth, revision, and reflection — not just the polished final artifact.
  • Writing as thinking. Assignments make reasoning visible and develop it deliberately.
  • Inclusive by design. Multiple entry points, transparent expectations, and respect for the range of experiences students bring.
  • Technology with judgment. Students learn to use new tools — including AI — critically and ethically, not reflexively.
  • Dialogue and civility. Hard conversations are a feature of humanities education, and I teach students to have them well.

In the classroom

Sample assignments & approaches

Curated examples of the kind of work students do — designed to develop thinking, not just produce deliverables.

Composition

The Revision Portfolio

Students assemble a sequence of drafts with reflective commentary, making the evolution of their thinking — not a single grade — the object of assessment.

Literature

Close Reading + Public Argument

A two-part assignment that moves from careful textual analysis to a public-facing argument for a real audience beyond the seminar.

AI-Aware

The Process Trace

Students document how they used (or chose not to use) AI tools, then reflect on what the tool did to their thinking — turning AI into an object of study.

Multimodal

Translate the Argument

Students re-render a written argument as audio, visual, or interactive media — learning how form shapes meaning across modes.

Dialogue

The Civil Disagreement

A structured exercise in arguing a position you don't hold, fairly and rigorously, then reflecting on what changed.

Research

The Annotated Inquiry

A scaffolded research project emphasizing source evaluation and synthesis over accumulation — especially vital in an age of generated text.

Documents

Syllabi & statements

My teaching philosophy statement, sample syllabi (first-year writing and literature seminars), and online & hybrid pedagogy statement are available on request. See my résumé for a full overview.