Teaching Academy 2024 Presenters

Image

Ọmọ́gbọ́láhàn Bello (he/him) is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science. 

Image

Audra Dankwardt (she/her) is joining UMass Boston this fall as a PhD student in School Psychology. At UMass Amherst, she served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for "Abnormal Psychology" and "Introductory Psychology." She was also a Teaching Associate for "Junior Year Writing in Psychology" where she was the sole instructor for the course. Audra received her M.Ed and Ed.S. at UMass Amherst in School Counseling, completing counseling internships at both Northampton High School and Pelham Elementary School.

Image

Gennifer Dorgan is a 5th-year PhD student in Comparative Literature. Before teaching courses like "International Short Story" and "Brave New World" at UMass, she taught adult basic education and "English for Speakers of Other Languages."

Image

Larry Flynn (he/him) is a Teaching Associate and Graduate Assistant Director for Teacher Training in the Writing Program. At UMass, he has also taught creative writing in the English Department, University+, and at the Juniper Institute for Young Writers. Prior to UMass, he received teaching fellowships from Columbia University’s Klingenstein Institute and Culver Academies, where he taught high school humanities. He has also taught writing in summer programming at Northfield Mount Hermon School and Phillips Academy Andover. He received a MS in Journalism from Northwestern University and he has published poetry, prose, and journalism for several magazines. He is currently writing a collection of short stories and studying prose in the MFA for Poets & Writers. 

Image

Adam Grimmitt (he/him) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Kinesiology. 

Image

Anna McCarter (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience Program. She has taught First Year Seminars, "Junior Year Writing in Psychology," "Methods of Inquiry in Psychology," and "Introductory Psychology." Her research explores visual long-term memory and ways to improve it. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, board games, and traveling.

Image

Nicole O’Connell (she/her) is a PhD student in English (Composition and Rhetoric). She currently teaches in the Writing Program and First Year Seminar Program and has taught in the Professional Writing and Technical Communication Program. Nicole also serves as a Graduate Assistant Director of Digital Publication and Technology for the Writing Program.

Image

Allison Poh (she/her) is a PhD student in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at UMass Amherst. She currently serves as a Teaching Associate at UMass Amherst and has previously worked as a Part-Time Lecturer at UMass Dartmouth and a Teaching Assistant at both institutions. Her teaching background encompasses a wide range of academic levels, from first-year to graduate. She is also a member of the Advanced Learning Technologies Lab, where she focuses on enhancing K-12 teachers' ability to support student learning in digital environments.
 

Image

Claudia Smith (they/she) is a third year student in the School Counseling M.Ed./Ed.S. program here at UMass! They are currently the Graduate Assistant for the School Counseling Program, and has served as the course instructor for "Junior Writing in Psychology" and a First Year Seminar at UMass Amherst. They also have experience as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for several courses in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, including "Social and Abnormal Psychology." They are passionate about access to higher education, equity in teaching and learning, and evidence-based practices for school counseling/teaching. In their free time, Claudia loves to read, drink an obscene amount of coffee, and watch teen dramas. 

Image

Jayna Tavarez (she/her) is a second year PhD student in the Department of Communication at UMass Amherst. She is also working toward completing the Education Specialist (EdS) degree in Social Justice Education and a Graduate Certificate in Feminist Studies. She currently serves as a Teaching Associate for the Communication department, as well as the Course Coordinator for Residential Life’s pre-employment leadership development class for prospective Resident Assistants and Peer Mentors. 

Image

Othniel Williams (he/him) is a vibrant educator who has taught multilingual students at the secondary and the tertiary levels both in the U.S. and in Jamaica. He earned a BA in journalism and an MA in English Language from the University of the West Indies before he pursued a second MA at St. Cloud State University in MN, majoring in teaching English as a second language (TESL). Othniel enjoys writing and talking about culturally relevant and linguistically diverse pedagogies and assessments.