The Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning enthusiastically announces the newest members of our staff.
Instructional Developer: James Fortney
James has been teaching undergraduate courses on communication, identity, and difference for nearly a decade. Prior to joining the Center, he was faculty in the Department of Communication Studies at Western Washington University. He also taught communication courses as a graduate instructor at University of Colorado Boulder and University of Utah. His research embraces a focus on concrete, mundane communication practices as constitutive of larger social structural systems. Through this perspective, he is committed to helping faculty and graduate students develop courses that challenge students to participate in society in more effective, inclusive, and dignifying ways. He is particularly interested in designing courses that nurture classroom dialogue on matters of equity and social justice.
Instructional Developers in the Center consult with faculty, graduate students, and teaching staff on instructional elements, course design, and learning technologies. They also research new pedagogical approaches to instruction; help facilitate intentional transitions to online teaching; and work with faculty teaching in the Reinert Center’s Learning Studio.
Graduate Assistants: Mitchell Lorenz and Ludwig Weber
Mitch is a graduate student in SLU’s Experimental Psychology Doctoral Program (social concentration). He earned his MS in Experimental Psychology from Western Illinois University in 2011 where he studied dehumanization and interpersonal rejection. Mitch joined SLU in 2012 and currently studies intergroup helping, stereotyping, and prejudice. Additionally, Mitch has been involved in research considering students’ perceptions of psychology as a science. In addition to his research experiences, Mitch has taught sections of General Psychology and Methods and Statistics.
Ludwig is a doctoral student in the Department of English. In 2007, he earned a Master of Arts in English from Murray State University. He has been at SLU since 2011, where his field of inquiry is modern and contemporary American literature, as well as theoretical examinations of spatial and mythological concepts. He has previously served as assistant director of The Walter J. Ong, S.J., Center for Language, Culture, and Media Studies, as well as a writing consultant in SLU’s Writing Services program, in addition to teaching undergraduate courses in literature, composition, and professional writing in the Department of English.
Graduate Assistants in the Center assist in the administration of the Certificate in University Teaching Skills (CUTS) program, conduct research on teaching and learning topics, consult with graduate students about teaching, conduct teaching observations, and assist Center staff with the implementation and assessment of programs.
We look forward to the contributions that James, Mitch, and Ludwig bring to all those the Reinert Center serves.
The Notebook 