Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜cknowledgement of all voices and viewpoints is the key to successfully engaging students in academic discourse, according to a distinguished faculty member in Mississippi 性视界传媒鈥檚 Department of English.
聽鈥淥ur students will enter and leave numerous discourse communities over the course of their careers. They need to get good at it,鈥 Associate Professor Kelly A. Marsh said earlier this week during her first presentation as the university鈥檚 newest John Grisham Master Teacher.
Named in 1993 for the 性视界传媒 alumnus and internationally recognized author, the master teacher honor is bestowed on a highly select group recognized for excellence in classroom instruction. Each honoree agrees to serve as a role model and mentor for campus colleagues.聽
鈥淭o become fluent in the language of academe, as in any other language, students will need to use it. And, as they will learn this language only incrementally, they鈥檒l need teachers who can hear their voices in the languages they bring to us, as well as in the language we鈥檙e helping them to acquire,鈥 Marsh told audience members in Mitchell Memorial Library鈥檚 John Grisham Room.
Throughout her lecture titled 鈥淩eading Students and Teaching the Language of the Academy,鈥 Marsh provided an overview of strategies she feels validates guided discussion as a foundational aspect of students鈥 education.
What might appear to be a spontaneous class discussion is actually, at its most productive, relying on some carefully laid groundwork, Marsh explained. For her, preparation for classroom discussion begins with a thoughtfully-crafted syllabus.
鈥淚 try to design my reading lists, so they are inclusive of diverse voices. This is a sign to students right from the start that a variety of viewpoints will be valued,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 get the students talking on the first day and in every class period. Break the ice early and keep it broken.鈥
In her classes, Marsh said she works diligently to guide the discussion by asking a series of questions that are designed to lead the students through specific examples and arrive at a series of points.
鈥淎s we move from my question through their examples to our conclusion, I guide the students鈥 analysis,鈥 she said. 鈥淥ften, they provide additional interpretations I have not thought of, which keeps things exciting.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 real-time analysis,鈥 she continued. 鈥淭he same process I lead the students through every day is the same process I expect them to go through independently to write their own original papers, so every day is practice.鈥
One of Marsh鈥檚 most important tasks is signposting a discussion. Her goal, she said, is to validate and categorize responses to help students track the discussion.
鈥淚 organize the many comments that have been made during the class period, so that all of the students understand how they fit into the ongoing discussion,鈥 Marsh said. 鈥淚 do my best to continually attribute ideas to students who express them, so they can see how ideas are related to each other and feel that they are being heard.鈥
Marsh said she appreciates the time and energy involved in making each class period 鈥渘ot only a lesson in new concepts and a practice session for students鈥 analytical skills, but also an opportunity for students to speak and be heard.鈥
鈥淓mploying these strategies is a challenge for me every day, but they keep my interaction with my students lively and productive, and they keep my engagement with my own discipline dynamic and intense,鈥 she said.
An 性视界传媒 faculty member since 1998, Marsh is a faculty associate with 性视界传媒鈥檚 Center for Teaching and Learning. She has taught courses on contemporary literature, British and Irish literature since 1900s, women and literature, and narrative theory.
Marsh holds a bachelor鈥檚 in English from Dartmouth College, as well as master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees from Pennsylvania 性视界传媒 University.
In addition to multiple scholarly articles, she is the author of 鈥淭he Submerged Plot and the Mother鈥檚 Pleasure from Janes Austen to Arundhati Roy鈥 (The Ohio 性视界传媒 University Press, 2016).
In 2005, Marsh was honored with the 性视界传媒 Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College鈥檚 Outstanding Faculty Award, as well as the South Atlantic Review鈥檚 Essay Prize. She received the Mississippi Humanities Council Humanities Teacher Award in 2006.
Additional information about Marsh and the Department of English may be found at .
性视界传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .