Writing A Teaching Philosophy

4 Faculty Receive Tenure

Dana Royer , associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, came to Wesleyan in 2005. His research focuses on the earth’s climatic and ecological history, by analyzing the size and shape of fossil leaves and their stomatal distributions to reconstruct ancient levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, in order to discern the relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide and global temperatures over geologic time. He was awarded the Donath Medal (Young Scientist Award) by the Geological Society of America in 2010, and the Ebelman award from the International Association of Geochemistry in 2007. He has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Australian Research Council, and the American Chemical Society. He is the lead or co-author of 32 peer-reviewed publications, he has published 32 conference abstracts as well as invited commentaries in three journals, and he has delivered ten invited conference talks. His B.A. is from the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. is from Yale University.

Faculty promoted to full professor:

Wai Kiu (Billy) Chan , professor of mathematics, has taught at Wesleyan since 1999. He specializes in number theory, in particular of quadratic forms, and related areas such as lattices in Euclidean spaces, modular forms, and linear algebraic groups. He earned a B.Sc. and M.Phil. from the University of Hong Kong, and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.

Demetrius Eudell , professor of history, has taught at Wesleyan since 2003. A specialist in intellectual history and African American and Caribbean history, his research focuses on how discourses of race have been foundational to modernity. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, conducted post-baccalaureate study at the University of Dakar, Senegal, and earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Into the Deep Water: A Teaching Philosophy

I haven't done anything here for awhile because... well... I've been lazy about writing for pleasure. Or for any other purpose. My latest project (outside the normal school stuff) has been testing the waters in the community college job market, weighing some options. Inevitably, they ask for something called a Teaching Philosophy. Ugh. Such a statement, and cover letters, are about all the writing of consequence I've done of late. So, why not? Something to jump-start the writing habit? Teaching should be a passion. It should be something one does because one cannot imagine anything more satisfying than the exchange of ideas in robust discussion. This, at least, is what has drawn me again and again to the teaching of history. Teaching was my first choice as a profession in high school more than twenty years ago, and though life diverted me temporarily, the desire to teach was always there. Indeed, as I look back over a varied career path, it was the jobs where teaching was an element of my job that were the most satisfying. It was the urge to teach history to college students that drew me out of the corporate world and back into the academic world, a decision that has left me materially poorer, but richer in knowledge; it is a decision I have never regretted. I approach the classroom as, I hope, my students approach it- as a learner. I cannot, alas, know everything there is to know about history and it is a constant surprise and pleasure to discover how much my students know that I might not expect. They sometimes teach me how to look at things in a way I had not before, and this is a joy to experience. The teaching experience is a learning experience not only through what happens in class, but what happens out of class. Preparation always brings up some new fact that seems to be a piece of a larger puzzle, one I cannot wait to put together with my students. Both of these require a sort of humility in the face of one's own ignorance, a humility that I sometimes struggle with but that, on my best days, I achieve to my own betterment and that of my students. My own experience both as a student and a teacher has shown me that a successful class is an engaged one. To that end, I try every day to bring a high level of energy to my work. It does no good to be enthusiastic about history without projecting that enthusiasm and students- I remember this from when I was a student- are very good about picking up on false enthusiasm.

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