Major: English Secondary Education
Faculty Shout-out by Professor Danielle Filipiak:
“Ava’s artistic sensibility, vulnerability, and curiosity as a student really inspired me as a teacher; she embraced the multiliteracy assignments in our 408 class as opportunities for growth, and produced beautiful, compelling work that connected deeply with her peers. Her attunement to the emotional residue of teaching and learning, and expressing that across multiple experimental forms, was brilliant and moving.”
Faculty Shout-out by Professor Zarena Aslami:
”I have been fortunate to have Ava as a student in multiple courses. In each one, she displayed a keen and wonderfully creative sensibility. In other words, her approach to our texts was not only intellectually driven, but also alive to the beauty of the sentence. Her papers showed that she could zoom out to consider large structural forces and then zoom in to focus on the details of a writer’s craft. I think Ava will shine in the classroom or anywhere she decides to go with her skills!”
How would you describe your time as an English or Film Studies major at MSU?
Engaging and thought-provoking. During my time at MSU, I have been so fortunate to have knowledgeable, kind, and supportive professors and classmates to foster my growth as both a student and citizen.
Which classes, instructors, or experiences particularly stand out for you and why? How did they prepare you for the next phase of your life?
Classes with Zarena Aslami, Cara Cilano, and Stephen Arch stand out to me in particular.
Dr. Aslami was one of my first MSU English professors, and after my first class I chose to then take two more classes with her. She is incredibly intelligent and kind, with a discussion focused course design. It is evident she really considers and cares for not only the work that she does but for the people that she teaches. Her approach to literature is cross-text analysis, which expanded my thinking as a reader and writer exponentially, preparing me for my future courses and career.
Dr. Cilano was truly a riveting and exciting professor to take a class with, and I would have taken more courses with her if I could have! She is an exuberant question-poser and values discussion and inquiry. Her approach to literature was multi-modal, as we considered not only modern novels, but also movies, blog posts, and research articles. Many of the texts from that course’s work continue to be some of my favorite readings today. Discussion time with her and my classmates was something I looked forward to every week, and then of course missed when the semester came to a close.
Poetry was unfortunately not a focus of my 6-12 ELA experience, and as a future educator I knew that was not the educational legacy I wanted to pass on. But, due to my lack of personal experience, I felt ill-equip to address and then teach poetry to classes full of students. Classes with Dr. Arch certainly addressed this issue. His passion and love for the genre is infectious, and his perspective on poetic analysis opened my hesitant eyes to an entire world of literature. I am happy to say I continue to read poetry ( just about 😉 ) daily, and I have even subscribed to a few magazines!
What advice would you give future English or Film Studies majors, based on your experiences in the department?
I would advise future majors to absolutely make the most of the time they have. The experience of getting to sit in a room with like-minded individuals and analyze media is unfortunately few and far in between outside of the college classroom. Invest your time and energy and you will be rewarded.
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.)
This fall I began the process of lesson/unit planning. It was exciting to be able to adapt all I have learned post-secondary into a secondary context, using concepts such as multi-modal expression, cross-textual analysis, and inquiry-based learning.
What are your hopes and aspirations, post-graduation?
After graduation, I hope to land an ELA teaching position in Lower Michigan. I am excited to continue collaborating with the youth of Michigan, as they are such beautiful individuals and changemakers. I am excited to continue bringing a passion for media and literature into my current and future classrooms!