Graduate Teaching Fellowship

Katie D.

July 1, 2010 - 7:13 PM

More great news, friends and readers. I have been accepted as a graduate teaching fellow (GTF) at the University of Oregon beginning this fall! This means I'll be working with faculty to teach classes, work on research, and host conferences. Part of this GTF will be to continue work on development and outreach for the Inside-Out Program, which is expanding dramatically here at the UO. I'll even get to co-facilitate Inside-Out classes with two new faculty members, helping them with logistics and navigating the Department of Corrections procedures for their new classes.

The best thing, though, is that being a GTF covers my tuition, plus a stipend. It means that my Master's Program in Conflict Resolution is a realistic option for me now, that I'll be able to attend without going into debt or taking out student loans. I'll be able to follow my passion into graduate school here, in this community that I love, rather than returning to Colorado where I am still a resident for tuition purposes.

I am so incredibly excited.

This means I'll be busy. I'll be working part-time while also being a full-time student. Some of my GTF commitments will overlap with my Conflict Resolution studies, and some will be completely separate. I'll be working with several professors who have also taught in the CRES program, including Cheyney Ryan and Shaul Cohen.

Professor Cohen teaches a Conflict in Northern Ireland class that is usually a combined course at the undergraduate and graduate level for Honors College and CRES students. This year, however, he is being trained as an Inside-Out instructor, and will be taking this fascinating study of conflict resolution, ideological studies, and peacemaking into the Oregon State Penitentiary. I get to help with his class, as well as a sociology class with Professor Ellen Scott, one of my favorite in that department. We'll be teaching Institutional Inequalities and Individual lives, examining how systems of privilege and disempowerment impact people in education, healthcare, and economic structures.

Professor Cheyney Ryan teaches in philosophy and Conflict Resolution. My first class as a graduate student will be with him: a class that melds the two in studying techniques and philosophies of peacemaking and conflict resolution. I'm also working with him on event organization and publicity: Sister Helen Prejean, who visited campus last January, is returning for a week in October. One of my first jobs as a GTF will be putting together this conference.

I'm also extremely lucky to be teaching my first class in collaboration with this professor who I admire so much. In the fall, I'll be co-teaching an Honors College/ CRES class about incarceration and restorative justice. This will not be an Inside-Out class, but will instead combine undergraduates and grad students in one class.

Readers, I feel overwhelmed with this new opportunity. I have got to be the luckiest girl in the world. I've worked so hard for four years, following my passions for justice and peacemaking, as well as volunteer work in a variety of fields. Now, all of a sudden, this work has coalesced into a job for next year that will not only give me incredible purpose and direction in my studies, but will also pay for at least a year of graduate study.

I can't wait to write more updates. In the couple of weeks I've know about the position, it seems like every day it opens up a whole new exciting set of possibilities. I am humbled and thrilled to have been chosen. I can't wait to see what happens next!