Teaching Philosophy

Already in the early 21st century, the speed of information gathering and global dissemination of popular culture (principally that of the United States’) threatens to reduce many young people to the role of visual and aural consumers, regardless of cultural, social and educational background. To counter this assault on critical thinking, more academic institutions are requiring undergraduate students to complete a series of writing-intensive courses above the freshman level, including a writing-intensive class in their major or program area. As a professional arts journalist and arts-writing instructor, I undertake the challenging process of teaching what I practice with enthusiasm, a passion for the arts, a curiosity about artistic practice, a rigorous dedication to critical thinking, and a belief that writing (particularly a mentored writing practice) takes students beneath the entertaining surface of things into their own hearts and minds to help them discover their unique answers to the age-old question, “What do you think?”

My interactive, rigorous approach guides students through the difficult process of articulating and substantiating, in writing, one’s perspective and aesthetic judgments on a performance, or an architect-designed building. In my writing classes, students begin by engaging in the excavation of possibilities for critical thinking in the world immediately around them. In my design-writing classes, students critique the design of the water bottles in their backpacks; in my dance-writing workshops, they evaluate the ways in which their habitual movements are choreographic phrases in their daily dance of life. My students also take to the streets to rethink buildings in their social and environmental contexts; and they enter a variety of performance venues (from traditional indoor concert stages to experimental outdoor locations) to experience live art that challenges them to conjoin their sensory, kinetic and intellectual responses in well-considered aesthetic judgments. In other words, in my arts-writing classes students are actively involved in re-seeing the world around them, as they freshly assess everyday objects, buildings and movements—as well as the iconic architecture and broad spectrum of live performance that contributes to the arts and cultural life of our community.

While in the classroom, my students are engaged in a variety of active-learning practices that intertwine critical thinking with the craft of writing, to encourage their continual development as writers. These techniques include interactive lectures that convey and apply core writing concepts; case studies, role playing, peer reviews, and short informal papers and quick writing exercises that increase and elasticize knowledge retention; classroom assessments to determine who and what requires more attention; and one-on-one interactions with myself to address individual concerns and learning needs.

Because student learning varies widely depending on cultural, social and educational backgrounds, and can be circumscribed due to physical challenges, I incorporate a variety of learning approaches to each lesson so that every student experiences inclusion and opportunity. Reading and writing exercises, of course, are a given; but mapping the structure of a piece of writing or drawing the process of translating thoughts into words might appeal to students who are more conceptually oriented. Students also share understandings and varying points of view during small-group discussions of material. During a writing workshop that included a student with a visual impairment, I modified my quick-response writing exercises so everyone analyzed an object from a tactile perspective, with eyes closed. Conversely, during visual-response exercises, the other students took turns translating the on-screen actions to her as a way of learning how to verbally interpret, with immediacy, what they saw and experienced. This student, in turn, in her written critiques, offered her singular perspectives on music and scores, vocal performances and aural effects that other students often missed.

Enthusiasm, understanding and inspiration are integral elements of my teaching philosophy. My passion for the arts and their critical role in the ongoing development of our culture, as well as my commitment to writing (the rigorous process of translating one’s observations and opinions into a well-crafted piece of writing) as a way of nurturing critical thinking about and appreciation for the arts, drives my desire to teach arts criticism and journalism. I sincerely believe that one learns by doing, and re-doing; that mistakes are steppingstones to deeper comprehension; that developing the ability to discover one’s point of view and then substantiate it empowers the individual; and that thinking critically (with depth and rigor) is a way of better understanding oneself in the world.

On a daily basis, I practice what I teach. Perhaps that’s my greatest gift to students: Mentoring them through the difficulties and elations of crafting a piece of writing that becomes a reflection of themselves, and thus a way of engaging with our 21st-century global society with depth, integrity and spirit. In turn, my greatest hope is that my students complete each writing-intensive class with the confidence to continue offering their thoughtfully considered, rigorously articulated perspectives on architecture, design and performance to their friends, family, colleagues and communities, wherever their professional lives lead them.