2015 Outstanding University Graduate Student Teaching Award Winner- Doctoral I

Megan Gregory, M.A.

M.A. in English, Illinois State University (2011)
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of English

The core idea of my teaching philosophy

I am committed to fostering entanglements for students, moments where they are encouraged to recognize and reflect on the ways in which their relationships with ‘others’ (people, texts, and spaces) shape what and how they know.

My motivation to become a college professor

I decided to become a college educator because I wanted teach with the freedom to create and design in a way that is unfathomable today at the K-12 level, and because I wanted to continue to write and do research in my field.

The three most valuable or important things that I bring to my teaching practice

1) A good class works the same way as a good conversation
2) Students learn best when you are willing to learn with them (and from them!)
3) A willingness to change things up goes a long way

The most challenging aspect of teaching for me

Helping students find ways past indifference and difficulty related to bias about subject matter.

Photo of Megan Gregory, M.A. — “I can’t think of anything else in my life that leaves me feeling as energized and motivated as a genuinely organic, fruitful conversation where students have contributed in important and surprising ways, especially when they’ve opened up a text in a unique way or made a particularly insightful connection.”