Undergraduate Faculty

Teaching Philosophy

"Writing is a vehicle for discovery," says Gloria. "You don't write about what you know, you write in order to find out what you know." Encouraging students to find their voices as writers, she creates an environment in her classes that fosters openness and risk-taking. "Trying to give shape to your thoughts and perceptions on paper can be both scary and exciting. You are reaching inward to understand and form your ideas, while reaching outward to communicate with your readers."

Believing that writers are, most importantly, readers, Gloria teaches students to read and think about literature while helping them explore their options as writers. In her writing seminars, Gloria examines authors ranging from Mark Twain to Zora Neale Hurston to Elie Weisel, grapples with texts that blur the line between fact and fiction and even considers what makes a good mystery novel. "My writing seminars on autobiographical narratives allow students to explore the meeting ground of memory and imagination and to move toward understanding their own writing as a site for learning.

Teaching Philosophy

"My goal is to tell an inventive and original story," says Jay of his filmmaking approach that he passes along to his students. “It’s not just about equipment or being able to imitate Hollywood. Marlboro students practice and excel as narrative, documentary and experimental filmmakers.” In the classroom, he focuses on the same basics to which he attributes his own success: writing and directing. He also emphasizes the importance of collaboration—with lighting specialists, actors, cinematographers and designers. “I’m working to build a cross-collaborative film program that draws on Marlboro’s impressive resources of filmmakers, actors, musicians, writers, photographers and visual artists,” he says.

Teaching Philosophy

William's areas of expertise include 20th-century European philosophy—phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, poststructuralism and postmodernism—Buddhist philosophy and environmental philosophy. He is particularly interested in questions of ethics, aesthetics and meaning. William’s courses often engage disciplines outside of philosophy, including art history and the visual and performing arts, Asian studies, religious studies and environmental studies. "Marlboro's interdisciplinary approach is deeply appealing to me," he said. "I value working with students and colleagues who do not feel bound by narrow disciplinary expectations that limit intellectual exploration."

Teaching Philosophy

Performance theorist Alan Read’s contention, “theater begins from a point of coalescence, not polarity,” best articulates Brenda Foley ’s approach to the practice, study and teaching of theater. She has always been interested in how forms and performances intersect; convergence has become a recurring aspect of her scholarship and pedagogy.

For Brenda, teaching and scholarship are a logical extension of her work in the professional theater. “At Marlboro, I have the chance to share my belief that scholarship is a creative endeavor with smart and diligent students who embrace an interdisciplinary model of liberal arts education with a passion that equals my own," she says. "Together our interests find expression in wide-ranging courses that explore and interrogate the social practice of theater, in all its variations.”

Teaching Philosophy

Richard's teaching has ranged widely in the areas of medieval literature, rhetoric and cultural theory, while also focusing more precisely on representations of the Holocaust and other traumatic events. "In all of my courses, students grapple with difficult questions about representation and knowledge, considering explicitly the ethics of memory and history," says Richard. "More importantly, I ask my students to address the limits of knowledge that representation often demonstrates, considering the ethical challenges of the Holocaust, for example, within disciplinary frames that determine what we can understand and how we then act."

Teaching Philosophy

“I want students to understand dance as an art form—its history, its theory, its methods, it's relationship to other aspects of culture—and to develop critical frameworks for understanding dance in a larger social context,” says Kristin. She also expects students to be able to apply paradigms from their dance studies to their work in other fields and their experiences in other parts of life. "I want students to develop tools for creative and analytical thought, from an embodied perspective, that they can carry out into their other studies.”

"One of the things I enjoy about teaching at Marlboro is that the students are individuals and student success takes many different forms," says Kristin. She is continually surprised by the beauty of particular strengths that students bring, strengths she cannot always see at the outset. "The students I most enjoy bring curiosity, enthusiasm, a willingness to work hard and a balance of open-mindedness and critical thinking skills in their approach to new ideas."

Teaching Philosophy

“To many people Chinese is a hard language to learn. That may be true, but I try to make the language accessible to students with activities in class conducive to developing their communicative skills,” said Grant, who always brings fun and joy to language learning. In linguistics, he emphasizes the theoretical and formal approaches to the nature of language, reflecting his view that fundamentally all languages are the same. He believes that languages differ on the surface due to various interactions of a finite set of surprisingly simple grammatical principles. "Because of the nature of linguistics, students interested in any language can work with me—not only their own native language(s), but any other languages as well. A comparative study across languages is particularly fascinating, as it often helps reveal the nature of language."

Teaching Philosophy

Meg uses two strategies to build intellectual capacities: the Commonplace Book and the debate. The Commonplace Book is an early modern device that works partly as a reading journal and partly as a collection of important quotations. Where the Commonplace Book is private, slow, and introspective, debate is public, fast, and, at times, aggressive. Both of these capacities are necessary for a democracy. The Commonplace Book encourages careful interpretations of competing arguments. Debates encourage commitment to a particular point of view. Both of these activities provide the basis for public deliberation and energetic classroom discussions.

Teaching Philosophy

Jean sees the relationship between professors and students as dynamic and constantly unfolding. “I understand that I am not the only teacher in the classroom, and that if I create a safe space for learning, others will share their knowledge and insights,” she says. In her experience, teaching with enthusiasm and open-mindedness nurtures imagination and expands both students’ and teachers’ sense of what is possible. “I am always excited to be a part of stimulating artistic and intellectual discovery.” She has taught classes in acting, directing commedia, melodrama, clown, improvisation, physical theater, movement, drag performance, theater of the oppressed, and ten-minute play festival, as well as a wide spectrum of theater literature and history courses.

Teaching Philosophy

"My approach to teaching is to encourage students to see themselves as makers," says Cathy. "The prime skill that we all need in that search is hard work—coming to the challenge of art making each day whether or not one feels inspired, with the goal of acting and thinking at once. Making is thinking." Critical to Cathy's teaching is establishing strong foundations for art students. "Although we are in a climate of continual change, a climate in which traditional values in art are in constant question, students need to be given solid skills in perception, close observation and careful analytic thinking."

Teaching Philosophy

All of Kate's courses engage critically with the concept of "America" and with the diversity of the American experience, especially in terms of race, ethnicity, class and gender. "My students grapple with the profound tension in U.S. national identity between an ideal of inclusion based on a shared commitment to the principles of freedom, equality and democracy, and ongoing patterns of exclusion that have limited those 'universal' entitlements to particular groups of people," she says. Kate enjoys helping students identify and use the primary historical source materials that will bring their subject alive and make them appreciate what it means to practice history. "I want my students to understand the inherently creative nature of historical study," she says. "History is not simply a matter of learning what happened in the past; it is a process of selecting, ordering and interpreting past events and experiences. I want students to see that they have a stake in that process. The stories we tell about the past shape the way we perceive the present and envision the future."

Teaching Philosophy

Matan believes that "ideally, musical learning should be grounded in practice. Whether singing species counterpoint, harmonizing melodies at the piano, or conducting one's own compositions, the strongest possible understanding of music comes from doing." He also believes that there should be no fundamental separation between the skills, craft and theory of musical study. Rather, they form an aggregate, each aspect enforcing the other. Thus, he wishes to integrate composition, improvisation and performance, taking care to introduce the practice of music like singing and conducting into classes, and provide some history and theory into practice- or skill-oriented classes. Matan approaches music teaching as an exercise in dialogue in which both teacher and student explore more and better ways in which to make and hear music. He thrives on such dialogue with his students and promotes active engagement in classroom activities and discussion. Matan's expectations of students, while high, are centered on the measure of their improvement.

Teaching Philosophy

"I started my career focusing on research," says Sara. "For years, I explored astrophysical research, and in particular focused on galaxy evolution. Research is rewarding - physics and in particular astrophysics are the engine of my desire for knowledge. But recently, undergraduate students became involved in my research. Working and interacting with them reminded me of my childhood dream to teach. It made me realize how the reward that comes from mere research work cannot compare with the strong feelings that come from sharing my knowledge with other human beings. No beautiful galaxy or intriguing question can give me the same energy as that of a curious student eager to learn." Sara has taught courses for science and non-science students, and while developing a new foundation course in astronomy, developed the structure, experiments and activities that constituted that class. She says that "this creative process made me understand that the interaction with the students is not the only aspect that I really enjoy about teaching. The process of inventing curriculum which precedes the class is food for my mind."

Teaching Philosophy

Tim says that the most delicate and important thing about teaching art is striking the right balance for students between information, inspiration, and permission. "Students of art need enough technique and process to act on their ideas. They also need to be inspired by the example of other artists—both historical and contemporary. They equally need permission to follow their own impulses and designs in order to test their work against the range of work they come to know. In the end that balance is a matter of paying attention to individuals and helping them find their own way." Tim maintains that even though sculpture is a technical medium, so much can be learned from humble materials and simple techniques, using cardboard, clay, plaster and wood. "The development of a vocabulary of form is far more important, in the beginning, than a range of complex techniques," he says. Tim welcomes students with Plans of Concentration in sculpture, installation art, video, printmaking, kinetic art, art from recycled materials, architecture, landscape design, sculpture-based photography, drawing and environmental studies. "I encourage inventiveness, the connection of subject matter to form and the developed sense of craft for all students who enter on Plan with me."

Teaching Philosophy

Todd likes "giving students as many ways to explore as they can,” with texts, current research articles, labs and fieldwork. "I want to show students that people are using these techniques in their cutting-edge research." In addition to encouraging understanding of the social relevance of chemistry and biochemistry, Todd helps his students see the relevance of sharing findings: "The goal of performing research is to relate it to other people. Being able to effectively communicate what you’ve found is integral to doing science." Todd enjoys students who are excited by the idea of a self-designed study involving lab work or field work, eager to work in an interdisciplinary fashion and willing to keep an open mind about where their studies may take them.

Teaching Philosophy

Across her writing practice, Bronwen is amazed by how much thinking and discovery take place through writing and rewriting. As a result, she loves helping students develop a personal writing process. Whether teaching a writing seminar on food and culture, a poetry workshop, or a literature course, she encourages students to experience writing and revision as a productive tension between intuitive play and rigorous analysis. Her courses emphasize reader feedback and collaboration within an atmosphere of shared endeavor and mutual support. As a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Bronwen is passionate about inclusive pedagogy, "I want to help students write with confidence from their own unique perspectives about issues they care about." To this end, she designs courses that offer diverse students the opportunity to see themselves in what they read. "When students find a model that fires them up, it opens up possibilities for their own creative work," she explains. "I’ve seen students take great leaps in their writing after discussing representations of LGBTQ identity in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home or immigrant experiences in Akhil Sharma’s Family Life.”