Some of the most productive teaching experiences I have had have been ones that have pushed me beyond and outside strict disciplinary confines.

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My Russian Culture course for UWM synthesized history, art, geography, the basics of literary analysis, and taught students how to read and interpret each of these within a broader cultural context. As a large lecture course with up to 60 students, I ensured active learning in the classroom through:

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• discussion groups

• daily in-class writing assignments

• group projects and presentations

 

When I redesigned the couse for asynchronous online teaching in 2007, I paired modules with alternating quizzes and short-answer discussion prompts to ensure continued involvement with the material.

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My Translation as Theory and Practice course for Lewis & Clark engaged junior and senior students majoring in foreign languages in a course that asked them to assimilate and work through complex translation theory materials while developing their own praxis of translation (from their second language into English) in various genres. I used:

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• group work 

• drafts and peer review

• individual projects and presentations

• final portfolio assignment

 

to structure students’ experiences. It is rewarding to know that a number of the students from the course benefited from it, in ways big and small (one is graduating from her PhD that focuses on language this spring!)