Seminar in Academic Inquiry & Writing
The primary goal that guides my teaching is a desire for students to appreciate and understand diverse perspectives so they become better informed and more empathetic individuals. In the First-Year Writing classroom, I achieve this goal by designing creative projects that require students to not simply read about other viewpoints, but to place themselves in another person’s shoes as they work to develop their unique writing voice. The First-Year Writing curriculum at the University of New Haven emphasizes research and the development of original ideas. For me, these processes are not an end in themselves, but rather tools by which students expand their worldview in a lasting way.
I focus my First-Year Writing classes on the theme of ethical dilemmas, which students explore through research on their chosen professions. I currently teach the lab section of First-Year Writing, where I work with students four days a week and provide more individualized guidance for their writing projects. Below, you can find a link to a sample lecture outline as well as a link to one of my most popular assignments, which I adapted from an assignment created by my former mentor, Michael Abelson, who teaches in the Focused Inquiry Program at Virginia Commonwealth University.