I am a Classicist currently completing my sixth year at Duke University's Classical Studies Ph.D. program. My work focuses on the literatures and cultures of late antiquity, often in their relationships to earlier periods of antiquity. Authors I have presented and written on include Julian, Claudian, Eudocia, and Paulinus of Nola. My dissertation examines the reception of Julian's reign in Latin Christian literature between the 4th and 10th centuries CE.
In my time at Duke, I taught introductory Greek (Greek 101/102) as instructor of record after apprenticing for a year under a Duke faculty member, and TA'ed courses on Greek Law and different cultural conceptions of The Good Life. Thanks to these courses, I have experienced a wide variety of teaching environments and roles, ranging from leading discussion groups in classes of over 100 to teaching dedicated classes of fewer than 10. No matter the subject or size of the class, however, I prioritized adapting the material to fit different student experiences, especially through interactive and cooperative student activities, such as games and collaborative exercises. This, in a nutshell, is my approach to teaching, as it has evolved as I have continued to gain more experience: collaboration between students and teacher is crucial for student learning.
As a Greek apprentice, I helped the IOR develop many of the materials we used in class settings, including quizzes, exams, and learning activities. I gained invaluable insights from the experienced IOR through observing her in the classroom and through debriefing meetings before every class. As an IOR myself, I created new versions of all of these materials based on the experience I received as apprentice, drawing both on experiences with how students experienced the materials and on the insights of the IOR that trained me. My guiding principle was putting the students' needs first and always trying to meet them where they were, rather than where they "ought" to be. I ascertained where my students were through check-in polls throughout the semester; these polls comprised questions such as "What are your personal goals for this class?" and "Do you feel like you are meeting these goals? If not, what would help you meet them?" Students commented on how much of a difference these forms of evaluation made in their learning and happiness with the course. I also made myself available to students in office hours multiple days a week.
My commitment to student learning extended to my choice of evaluation. As instructor of record, I utilized a bundle-grading system, based on the scholarship of Linda B. Nilson. In this system, the requirements for every grade were clearly listed in "bundles" (e.g., "An A grade requires the following to be completed: 13/15 of weekly assignment X, 2/3 of monthly assignment Y, participation in every class with two unexcused absences, etc."). Using this system removes any mystery from their grades for the students, and grants them more agency in deciding what amount of their labor makes the most sense for them to spend on this class without fear of unexpected penalties. In other words, students are given more agency in how they learn. My guiding principle behind selecting this form of evaluation is to make evaluation part and parcel with the learning experience while removing the serious anxieties students often feel toward their grades. Bearing in mind this fear of failure, but cognizant at the same time that failure is an important part of any learning process, I made use of a further evaluation policy, under which all assignments were graded simply "satisfactory (S)" or "needs revision (NR)" and all NR assignments were able to be resubmitted within a certain period. Using this policy helped transform moments of failure into ones of learning.
Based on these experiences, my approach to teaching tries to create a learning environment where students feel comfortable to learn from mistakes and prioritize exploring the course content over simply getting a grade. Within structured limits, I try to provide them more agency in how they learn, granting them an opportunity to practice adult decision-making skills outside of the classroom and critical, risky thinking within it. If they gain nothing else from my courses, my hope is for students to gain experience thinking like the adults they are becoming.
As mentioned above, while I have classroom experience in a variety of sizes and types of content, my experience as an IOR is in an introductory foreign language class, which has important differences from other types of course. My plans for future courses include designing content-based courses, ideally in a seminar format but adaptable to other formats. My strongest content area is the literature of the fourth and fifth centuries CE, but thanks to my training as a graduate student at Duke and wide-ranging interests, I have familiarity with and interest in teaching a variety of earlier Latin and Greek literatures, including Latin and Greek epic, historiography, lyric, and drama. In addition to the syllabi for Greek 101/102, I have designed syllabi for future courses including an undergraduate Latin course on Claudian's De Raptu Proserpinae, a graduate Greek course on Julian's Caesars and seventh oration, and a history course on religion in late antiquity that can be scaled for either undergraduates or graduate students. I have invested and continue to invest time in learning more about how to teach, including by participating in Duke's Certificate in College Teaching, a program that provides students with advanced pedagogical training. I view all of this training this as an invaluable beginning to a longer journey.