GTF

Katie D.

October 3, 2010 - 6:21 PM

With the first week of fall term over, I am settling in to the new routines, classes, and work schedule. My classes are looking fabulous so far: I am taking a variety of CRES courses, from the practical (Negotiation, Research Methods, Adjudication and the Courts), to the academic and inspirational (Psychology of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Perspectives on Conflict Resolution). I'll have lots to say about my fall term courses and the work we will be doing this term.

But the most exciting thing about this first week has been my work as a Graduate Teaching Fellow (GTF). My GTF is both a research/event assistant position and a classroom assistant. This means that I am working with several UO departments and committees focused on peace, reconciliation, and international issues. My main work this term is to serve as a point person for Sister Helen Prejean's visit the week of October 17th. In addition to this, I am continuing my work with the Inside-Out Program, partnering with the Honors College, the Center for Intercultural Dialogue, and am working on outreach efforts through other departments. I love doing this work, and feel very privileged to be continuing these projects as a GTF.

The best part of being a GTF, though, is being in the classroom. I have always loved teaching, since I started trying to teach my little sister to read around the time I started kindergarten. Now I'm assisting in a college classroom, and I love everything about it so far.

I am working with Professor Cheyney Ryan, who teaches in philosophy and also in the Conflict Resolution Masters program. Our class is a combination of CRES students and Honors College students. The course title is "Justice, Reconciliation, and Community: New Paradigms for the 21st Century" We are exploring various ideas about forgiveness, reconciliation, and ways of dealing with crime and deviance in modern society. Our primary focus is on Restorative Justice: an alternative way of viewing crime that places the victim and offender as the primary parties and encourages dialogue between the two, to enable reconciliation and healing. Restorative justice is increasingly popular at the juvenile justice level, and as an alternative to small claims court.

This class is really exciting on a number of levels for me. First, it is covering some of my favorite topics for study and for work. I have a deep and abiding interest in social justice, especially as applied to issues of crime and reconciliation. But, even better, the class is full of students who are truly engaged and excited about the subject. The Honors College students in the class are mostly juniors and seniors, and have already had interesting experiences with other classes and study abroad that apply to the course topic. The CRES students are in their second year of study, and have therefore already taken courses in restorative justice, and some have also completed the first part of their internships. Between the two groups of students, we have varying levels of experience and interests, and an overall sense of commitment and willingness to dialogue. I think it will be a fabulous term of study.

The first class went really well. We only meet once a week, on Mondays. Tonight I'm reviewing the book that was assigned for this week: Changing Lenses by Howard Zehr. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class, and to hear what the group thinks of the history and principles of restorative justice. Our next assignment is Dead Man Walking, by Sister Helen Prejean, in preparation for her attending our class.

I can't wait to see what happens next, and promise to keep you posted!