Faculty Shout-out by Steve Rachman
Olivia is a fantastic participant in the classroom, always prepared and engaged with the various issues that arose in discussion. She is an intelligent student able to handle cultural theory with ease and to convey her points with concision and clarity. In our popular culture, she wrote powerful critiques of all sorts of pop-cultural phenomena. She created a final project on the celebrity tequila industry with cogent critique of the way that mass cultural appropriates folk cultures for its own ends. Her work is first-rate, and I am sure she will go on to do even stronger work. Congratulations!
How would you describe your time as an English or Film Studies major at MSU?
My time as an English major at MSU has been full of incredibly diverse and educational experiences. From the readings in class to the papers and projects, I have learned an immense amount about both the world of English and also about myself as a learner and as a person.
Which classes, instructors, or experiences particularly stand out for you and why? How did they prepare you for the next phase of your life?
My time in Professor Scott Michaelsen’s class as well as my time in Dr. Anne Porter’s class were incredibly influential in shaping my undergraduate experience. Professor Michaelsen’s ENG 280 course my freshman year introduced me to the world of critical and literary theory and taught me critical reading and writing skills that I used throughout my undergraduate career. Professor Michaelsen’s enthusiasm for literary theory combined with this passion for teaching made me look forward to his class every week. Dr. Anne Porter’s ENG 413 class served as my capstone class for my English major. This class served as a writing workshop, teaching me and my fellow Secondary English Education interns creative and purposeful writing strategies that we could implement in our student teaching classrooms. I was continuously impressed with Dr. Porter’s depth of knowledge on the topic of writing and by her joyful attitude towards teaching and learning.
In addition to Professor Michaelsen and Dr. Porter, Dr. Stephen Rachman was incredibly influential in my creative conceptualization of English as a major. Dr. Rachman’s ENG 340 Popular Culture Studies class allowed me to stretch my creative wings within the English major, an opportunity that I was rarely granted in other English classes. His ability to create community within the classroom and make learning a collaborative experience was truly inspiring to watch, and I hope to implement these strategies in my future classroom.
What advice would you give future English or Film Studies majors, based on your experiences in the department?
The Department of English offers a wide and diverse variety of class options with opportunities for students to explore and gain knowledge in their personal interests. The Department of English also has incredible faculty and staff who are deeply knowledgeable in their topic areas and genuinely want their students to succeed. My advice for incoming English majors would be to take as many different classes as possible to experience the wide variety of options offered and learn from as many different professors as possible.
What coursework-related projects were/are you working on this year, and what interests or excites you about them? (capstone courses, honors thesis, independent studies, etc.)
I created a “Unit Plan Portfolio Project” in my TE 411 course with Dr. Mary Juzwik that I was able to implement in my student teaching internship. Our task was to create a comprehensive unit based on a novel we would be teaching in our student teaching internship. I was initially nervous to teach the unit because it was the first time I was truly teaching on my own without assistance from my mentor; however, once I got started teaching the unit and recognized how developed it was due to Dr. Juzwik’s class, I felt truly confident in my teaching abilities. The thorough development of this unit that I created in TE 411 was a true stepping stone in building my teaching confidence during my student teaching internship my senior year.
What are your hopes and aspirations, post-graduation?
My greatest hope is to land a teaching job post-graduation in northern Michigan. I hope to continue inspiring the next generation of students with the tools and knowledge I have learned from my time at MSU and within the English major!