my philosophy

overview

As both a student and a teacher in medieval and Digital Humanities, my teaching philosophy centres on a student-focused approach that fosters intellectual curiosity, the exchange of ideas, and engagement with diverse perspectives. This learning strategy is based on three key aspects: the role of the teacher, the importance of dialogue, and technological implementations. Classrooms are often structured where the professor plays the role of expert, providing “correct answers” to various questions; however, I understand it as a space where knowledge is acquired but also contested.

student role

While I possess a specialized knowledge of the subject, I recognize that each student brings unique knowledge and perspectives. My goal as an educator is to move beyond passive learning and encourage students to become active learners. This allows us to function as a community of learners engaging with materials and ideas together. I create opportunities for students to share their expertise informally in classroom discussions and more formally in assignments.

dialogue and dissent

I encourage students to connect their inquiries to their own experiences and worldviews, leading to rich and often surprising classroom discussions. By the end of the semester, students will be more comfortable with textual analysis and confident in their ability to engage with and critique complex ideas. To support this, I present overarching course objectives while allowing students to build their knowledge incrementally. I believe in flexible, negotiable syllabi, where students contribute to shaping the course direction. This approach fosters dissent, making learning a meaningful experience. I strongly advocate a pedagogy of dissent, where students acquire knowledge while developing critical tools to challenge both established scholarly notions and the educator’s assumptions.

peer mentorship

Dialogue thrives in environments that promote peer mentorship. Cross-pollination of ideas occurs through varied participation methods, including individual interventions, group discussions, blog posts, and virtual annotation of readings. Evaluating participation through multiple formats ensures inclusivity and deeper engagement.

technology integration

I incorporate a variety of methods, such as close reading, traditional lectures, seminar group discussions, and digital tools. Digital technologies are key to ensuring that peer mentorship and active learning function effectively. Technology promotes student autonomy, enabling them to take ownership of their learning process. In a truly student-centred classroom, digital tools balance the instructor’s guidance with the student’s role in shaping their learning, creating a dynamic and stimulating environment.

digital tools

social annotation

Hypothes.is allows students to annotate texts in real time, fostering interactive dialogue beyond the classroom. This tool is particularly useful for students hesitant to participate in class discussions, providing a space to articulate thoughts in writing and engage with peers about the readings.

blog posting

Via Moodle, weekly blog posts serve as a space for students to track their reflections, synthesize thoughts on course materials, and test ideas for final papers. They also enable interaction with classmates and function as an early diagnostic tool to identify areas where students may need additional support.

courses taught

This is a list of courses that I had been teaching since grad school.

Pegaso University, Italy

L-FIL-LET/15 Germanic Philology

• period: April to August 2024
• role: Instructor
• course description: The 54-hour course aimed to familiarize students enrolled in the philosophy programme with the dynamics of the evolution of modern Germanic languages, with a particular focus on English and German. Analyse changes in the morphology, syntax, and lexicon of English and German up to the threshold of modernity. Develop advanced skills in analysing the relationship between language and thought in English from a philological perspective. Apply similar methodologies to examine the relationship between language and thought in German.

  University of Lethbridge, Canada

  ENGL-3401 Medieval Literature

• period: September to December 2025
• role: Teaching Assistant
• course description This course explores the rich literary heritage of the British Isles, examining works originally composed in Old Irish, Old English, Old Spanish, Latin, and Old French. With a primary focus on Middle English texts, the course investigates their interplay with broader cultural, historical, and literary contexts.

  ENGL-3601 Chaucer

• period: September to December 2023
• role: Teaching Assistant
• course description: This course offered an in-depth study of Geoffrey Chaucer’s works within the historical backdrop of the late Middle Ages. The curriculum focussed on the era’s cultural facets, such as social hierarchies, the plague, religious turmoil, and political events, to enrich the comprehension of Chaucer’s references and the broader medieval worldview in his literary works. responsibilities:
  • Assisting the instructor in marking research papers and providing feedback to students on their assignments.
  • Organising and co-conducting the oral examination along with the instructor as well as participating in the final assessment.
  • Designing the syllabus, the assignments, and implementing lesson plans to ensure students’ mastery of the course material.
  • Demonstrating a strong grasp of content and ability to explain complex concepts to students.
  • Attending weekly lectures and providing guidance and advice to students on their work.
  • Teaching a module on the poem “Troilus and Criseyde” with a special focus on the discourse on love.

    ENGL-1900 Introduction to Language and Literature

• period: September to December 2023
• role: Teaching Assistant
• course description: This course introduces the students to the study of English language and literature, involving an exploration of various genres of literature from various periods and non-literary texts and requiring a series of critical assignments designed to encourage analytical reading, thinking, and writing.
• responsibilities:
  • Assisting the instructor in marking research papers and providing feedback to students on their assignments.
  • Designing the syllabus and implementing lesson plans to ensure students’ mastery of the course material.
  • Demonstrating a strong grasp of content and ability to explain complex concepts to students.
  • Attending weekly lectures and providing guidance and advice to students on their work.
  • Responsible for the Poetry Module.

    ENGL/HIST-3850 Paleography

• period: January to April 2023 role: Teaching Assistant course description: This course introduces the scripts and the text typologies of the British Isles from 800 to 1500, from Caroline minuscule through early print. The goal is to learn to read the texts; an integral part of this is the recognition of the main types of scripts according to various categories. Students will learn letter forms and common abbreviations as well as the technical language used by paleographers to describe the different scripts. Decorative features will be introduced as well as other peculiarities of hand-made codices. Students will work from digital images as they learn to read and transcribe texts using TEI XML encoding on the Textual Community platform.
• responsibilities:
  • Assisting the instructor in marking research papers and providing feedback to students on their assignments.
  • Designing the syllabus and implementing lesson plans to ensure students’ mastery of the course material.
  • Demonstrating a strong grasp of content and ability to explain complex concepts to students.
  • Attending weekly lectures and providing guidance and advice to students on their work.
  • Delivering a guest lecture.

    ENGL-2500 Survey of American Literature

• period: September to December 2022
• role: Teaching Assistant
• course description: This course introduces major concepts and themes related to the development of an American literary canon through the exploration of the literary history of colonial America and the United States from the seventeenth century through the nineteenth. We will read high and low literary genres – from sermons, poems, captivity narratives, and diaries of the colonies to the lectures and essays of the Transcendentalists, to the tales, novels, and poems of a broad nineteenth-century literary canon.
• responsibilities:
  • Attending weekly lectures and providing guidance and advice to students on their research and writing work during my office hours.
  • Monitoring students during midterm exams.
  • Facilitating student discussions in class.
  • Delivering a guest lecture.

guest and public lectures

• Guest Lecture, “Sociolinguistics and Dialectology,” Sociolinguistics, University of Lethbridge Feb. 25, 2025.
• Guest Lecture, “Medieval Romances: The Lay of Sir Orfeo”, Medieval Literature, University of Lethbridge, Sep. 25 2024.
• Guest Lecture, “Beowulf”, Germanic Philology, Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Naples, Dec. 2, 2024.
• Guest Lecture, “Introduction to Translation Theories,” Independent Study: Translating B. Lillo’s Sub Sole, University of Lethbridge, Aug. 19, 2024.
• Public Lecture, “AI and Graduate Labour,” Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations, Mount Royal University, Calgary May 30, 2024.
• Workshop “Thinking Computationally for the Humanities”, University of Lethbridge, Apr. 23, 2024.
• Workshop, “GIS and Digital Mapping for the Humanities”, University of Lethbridge, Apr. 23, 2024.
• Workshop, “Text Analysis and Visualisation for the Humanities”, University of Lethbridge, Apr. 23, 2024.
• Guest Lecture, “Prosody: A Toolkit for Poetical Analysis”, University of Lethbridge, Sep. 26 2023.
• Guest Lecture, “Prosody: A Toolkit for Poetical Analysis”, University of Lethbridge, Sep. 25 2023.
• Guest Lecture, “Gothic Textualis in the MSS of Brut, Pearl, and Ancrene Riwle” University of Lethbridge, Feb. 8, 2023.
• Guest Lecture, “Margery Kempe and the Middle English Mystic Prose,” University of Lethbridge, Nov. 16, 2022
• Guest Lecture, “Edgar Allan Poe the Self-Tormenter: ‘Americanizing’ the Gothic Fiction,” University of Lethbridge, Oct. 17, 2022.
• Guest Lecture, “Brief History of Alliterative Poetry: ‘Revival’ or ‘Survival’?” University of Padua, Dec. 3, 2021.
• Public Lecture, “La Grecità Messinese tra Arte e Fede” [The Messinese Graecity between Art and Faith], Jolly Hotel, Messina, Rotary Club, Jan. 12, 2018.