FLC Instructors :: FirstYear Experience | The University of New Mexico

Aaron Anderson

Department: English

“Folklore is the perfect second skin. From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world.” ~Jane Yolen~

This August, I'll have been teaching English for four years. It was during my Master's program that I discovered my passion for folklore study -- and how it is a critical tool in promoting cross-cultural understanding. Once I saw Dr. Bishop's course description for African Folktales & Proverbs (AFST 297/COMP 222), it immediately clicked with me. It was not only the subject matter that spoke out loud, but the connections he made between folk traditions and international relations. There is a lot more current relevance to the folkloristic approach than many people realize, and that is what I plan to communicate to the students in this FLC pairing, while they also become more practiced writers and storytellers.

Jennifer Bartlit

Department: Communication & Journalism

In 1787, sage Benjamin Franklin said you have “a republic . . . if you can keep it.” Naturally principled citizenship, as declared in 1776, is necessary to keep the republic. Freshmen are its newest citizen stewards whose understanding of their American law informs their pursuits. Light bulbs flashing above young heads like fireflies are the greatest joy.

Native of the northern NM mesa where discoveries are made; traveled from Hiroshima to Nuremberg to Parthenon to our Independence Hall; studied in religions, mythologies, and liberal arts (Carleton College); and practiced in law, Jennifer Bartlit finds our American ethos exceptional. She attends our natural principled law which forms the container to enable resolution of challenging dilemmas of, by, and for the people. Over a dozen years, she has taught in law, ethics, argumentation, and deliberation.

Dr. Charles E. Becknell, Jr.

Program: Africana Studies

“I am interested in introducing this topic to first year students because it is an opportunity to set them on the path of speaking and writing advocacy for under-represented populations, while promoting maximum inclusion and appreciation of differences in race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, disability, age, religion, and sexual orientation on campus and in their future professions.”

I am a Lecturer III and the Associate Director of Africana Studies at UNM. In this capacity I assist the Director in carrying out the mission of the Program and I teach Introduction to Africana Studies, African American Religion and Liberation, and a course on the Black Male Experience in America. I have approximately ten years of University teaching experience and, cutting across the boundaries of race and gender, my research centers on Black resistance in religion, criminal justice and education.

Dr. Stephen Bishop

Department: Foreign Languages & LIterature and Africana Studies

“Africa is an oft-neglected but fascinating subject area that surprises, challenges, and educates American students about culture, ideas, and history that is both familiar and foreign.”

“My teaching and research specialization is African literature and culture as well as legal studies. I have been spending the 2014-15 academic year in Cameroon on a Fulbright grant. I have lived in Cameroon before and have also traveled to Mauritius, South Africa, and Zambia. I wear size 10.5 shoes.”

Robert Christensen

Department: English

"I'm interested in teaching this Freshman Learning Community because I had such an amazing experience last fall. I am convinced that when students can learn to write alongside learning content, as they do in this FLC, both their writing and their knowledge of content is improved.”

I'm a master's student in the History Department, where I study environmental and urban history in Latin America. I've taught English fort two years at UNM, including a Freshman Learning Community last fall. In my spare time I enjoy playing music and getting out to the mountains with my fiancé and German Shepherd.

Carlos Contreras

Department: Chicano/a Studies

“Without art in our lives, we forget why we are alive - with poetry, music, and conversation, we remember, why!”

Carlos Contreras is an artist, poet, and organizer who has found a passion for instruction at the collegiate level. With a background in high school education, as an English teacher, Contreras is able to foster and nurture relationships with students, as they enter this stage in their education and life.

David Correia

Department: American Studies

"We live in a state where the nuclear age was born and where the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal is managed, but also a state where nature is imagined to be pure and pristine. I'm interested in exploring that paradox in this class.”

I'm an Associate Professor of American Studies at UNM and the author of the book, "Properties of Violence: Law and Land Grant Struggle in Northern New Mexico." I teach and write about New Mexico, law & violence, and environmental politics.

Nick Flor

Department: Anderson School of Management

“To communicate effectively in today's digital world, students need the ability to create, spread, and analyze both memes and viral messages.”

I'm the Director of the Reality Augmented Virtual Environment (RAVE) Lab, where we create 3D educational video games as part of a National Science Foundation sustainable energy grant. I'm also a past-director of UNM's Interdisciplinary Film & Digital Media program, and an associate professor of information systems at the Anderson School of Management. I love teaching students creative & persuasive digital media skills. Lastly, I love playing video games--Bloodborne is my current favorite.

Brenna Gomez

Department: English

“I'm looking forward to teaching Accelerated Composition to incoming students because we'll write about fun and engaging topics including, a personal memoir, a profile on an art piece, and a review of their favorite TV show/movie.”

Brenna Gomez is a Master of Fine Arts student in Creative Writing: Fiction. Before teaching at UNM she lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado where she ran a leadership program for teen girls and then worked at a charter school. Brenna will be the Editor-in-Chief of Blue Mesa Review, the literary magazine run by MFA students at UNM, during the 2015-2016 school year.

Amy Gore

Department: English

“In my opinion, English 120: Analysis and Argument is the most important class that a freshman will take in his or her college career because the ability to analyze someone else’s perspective and to argue your own will help you succeed in any field.”

Before moving to Albuquerque, I lived in Montana for five years, earning a Master’s degree in Native American Studies and another Master’s degree in English Literature. I have two dogs, a basset hound and a yellow lab, and I like hiking, gardening, and camping.

Julianne Harvey

Department: Art Education

“Ceramics is a timeless, community-based material, and an exciting introduction to studio art in the UNM College of Fine Arts.”

Sometimes a class can present a life changing experience, and that is what my high school ceramics program did for me. I was raised in the Detroit area and moved to New Mexico as a freshman to study art at UNM. I have a Master of Fine Arts and Sculpture with an emphasis in Ceramics. I have taught ceramics and art to a range of students from elementary through the university level.

Matthew Irwin

Department: English

"While the militarization of New Mexico's ecology is an urgent and important topic, I'm more widely interested in how a militarized ecology helps us understand the ways in which the state justifies or obfuscates colonial/imperial projects.“

Matthew is a Core Writing instructor, a PhD student in American studies and a freelance writer/journalist. A finalist for the 2015 Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant, he has written for The Austin Chronicle, High Country News and the Texas Observer, among many other publications. His research interests are centered around issues of visual representation and land use in the renewed settler colonial context of Detroit.

Ana June

Department: English

“A good friend of mine once invoked Mark Twain, while standing over the headgate from the acequia that runs through her Nambe property: "Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fightin'!" This sentiment is profound and true, especially when you're talking about the desert Southwest.”

After working for ten years as a freelance graphic designer and photographer, I'm finally putting my first love at the forefront of my life and working on my Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I write both fiction and nonfiction that is grounded in the Southwest and issues pertaining to living in the desert. A native of Arizona, I was raised in Santa Fe and now make my home in Albuquerque with my husband and four children.

Sheri Karmiol, PhD

Department: English

“Studying why children’s books are censored teaches us about the values and fears of the world in which we live.”

I have been teaching at UNM for 25 years. In many of the classes that I teach for the Honors College, I focus on discrimination and intolerance. I am especially interested in exploring why some groups of people are marginalized and excluded from the opportunities available to others and what students might do to change practices of discrimination that have been long established. In my spare time, my husband and I rescue and foster Airedale terriers.

Gavin Leach

Department: Communication & Journalism

“I would love to share my passion for communication with you as you learn how to start a business with guidance from Shark Tank.”

I have been teaching various course in the Communication and Journalism Department for four years now and I absolutely love teaching. In particular I love teaching within the FLC department. This amazing opportunity allows students to listen to guest speakers, participate in field trips and present to actual venture capitalists. What other class can see all these things? Answer - None!

Diana Northup

Department: Biology

“I find it fascinating that something so small you can’t see them with the unaided eye, can either kill us or make it possible for us to live on this Earth; sharing this passion with freshmen in FLC609 is one of my favorite activities!”

I’m passionate about microbes: how they shape the world in which we live, how they affect the rock formations and mineral deposits in caves, and what kinds of never-before-seen biodiversity I can discover in extreme environments. Microbes are also an art form for me, as their shapes can vary from those that look like fishnet stockings to those that mimic a string of pearls (www.caveslime.org). Learn more about my background and mentoring philosophy by viewing my TEDxABQ talk.

Dr. R. Scott Olds

Department: Family and Community Medicine

I am excited about working with students as we explore a variety of population health issues experienced by all of us locally and globally.”

Currently, I am a faculty member in family and community medicine at the University of New Mexico. My background is in public health with an emphasis in the behavioral sciences. I am interested in studying childhood obesity prevention and adolescent substance abuse prevention. I am also directing the development of a new bachelors degree in population health at UNM.

Lindsay Scott

Department: Communication & Journalism

This fall, I will be teaching one of my favorite courses, public speaking. This course is unique because you not only observe changes in yourself as a speaker, but you will also see it in your classmates. I am excited to work with first-year students because the start of college represents new beginnings, new possibilities, and new challenges. I look forward to working with all of my students to make the transition into academics as smooth as possible. In addition to teaching public speaking, some of the courses I have taught include conflict management & mediation, interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, and dialogue and deliberation. My research interests include prison pedagogy, intercultural conflict, and social justice (related to access to education and gender equality). When I am not consumed with academics, I enjoy hiking, biking, and traveling (this summer I will visit Los Angeles (my hometown), Maui, Dubai, and Uganda. And coffee is my best friend!

Sarah D. Smith, Esq.

Department: Anderson School of Management

"Ethical challenges in the business-society relationship will likely be faced by all students at various points in their future careers – this early opportunity to examine and anticipate them will be highly valuable for any student, regardless of academic major!”

Sarah Smith holds the Jack and Donna Rust Professorship of Business Ethics at the UNM Anderson School of Management, teaching courses in business ethics and corporate social responsibility. She devotes hundreds of volunteer hours annually to Anderson School service work and other outreach efforts within the business community. In 2014, she received the Anderson School of Management’s Faculty Community Leadership Award. Formerly Ethics and Compliance Director at PNM Resources, Ms. Smith’s corporate positions also included in-house counsel for PNM and prior to that, Gas Company of New Mexico. Originally from Alamogordo, New Mexico, Sarah received her BA in political science from Austin College in Sherman Texas and her law degree from the UNM School of Law.

Zoe Speidel

Department: English

“I'm interested in teaching the Biology of Toxins FLC because I think it's important for students to have reading and writing assignments that can relate to things that are important in their lives, some of which we will discuss in this FLC such as the workings of the drug industry and issues surrounding drug addiction.”

I'm a Master's student in the English department, focusing on Rhetoric and Writing, which basically prepares me to teach first-year college composition. So, in other words, teaching courses like English 110 is my dream job! I'm originally from northern California but I love New Mexico. In my free time I like to bake pies, grow flowers and herbs, throw the frisbee for my dog, Scout, and try to ride my bike up big hills.

David Weiss, Ph.D.

Department: Communication & Journalism

“More than ever before, the media of mass and interpersonal communication structure the ways we live our lives, so I am thrilled to make the study of our media technologies and our overwhelmingly "mediatized" personal, social, and professional lives an area of focus to UNM's first-year students.”

David Weiss is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication & Journalism, where he teaches classes in media studies, political communication, and strategic communication. Dr. Weiss returned to academia after a two-decade career in the advertising and public relations industries. He has published books and articles about religious communication in presidential politics, identity issues in reality television, and the influences of media and their executives on the institutions they cover.

Sarah Williams

Department: Dance

“In “Dancing Through Time: From the Cave to Krump,” first-year students are literally required to jump into the course material, gaining essential learning skills that will benefit them throughout the rest of their academic career while studying Western concert dance, a fun and inspiring topic.”

Sarah firmly believes that anyone can and should have the opportunity to dance. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance/Choreography and French (Magna Cum Laude) from Hope College as well as a Master of Arts in Theatre and Dance with a concentration in Dance History and Criticism, earned with distinction from the University of New Mexico. Certified in American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum from Pre-Primary through Level 3 and trained in Vaganova, Cecchetti, and the French methods, Sarah is the Director of KP3 and Core Teacher of Ballet at Keshet Dance Company and a grant writer at the National Institute of Flamenco as well as a Lecturer at UNM.

Charles Wormhoudt

Department: English

“I am interested in showing students how to critically analyze and reflect upon news media given how much it saturates our environment and how easy it is to take its presence for granted.”

My background spans journalism, literature, publishing, and creative writing. Writing is obviously the common thread: I am interested in its ability to not only produce ideas but to also examine our relationships to them. I am currently working towards my MFA in poetry at the University of New Mexico while teaching in the Core Writing program.