March’s Faculty Spotlight shines brightly on Gary Richards (English & Linguistics). Learn how Dr. Richards took a chance on playful learning this semester…and why he does NOT have a good podcast recommendation for Elizabeth!
You’ve incorporated “play days” into your syllabus this semester. What was your goal in doing this and what did it look like in your classes?
I developed designated Play Days in my syllabi this semester after attending the presentation and workshop given by Sarah Rose Cavanagh in January. She advocated that adding playful elements to one’s class can provide ways for students to bond, add variety to the class’s sessions, and help students negotiate anxiety, all of which seemed valuable to me.
We’ve had two Play Days so far, both on February 14. In my ENGL 385: Contemporary American Fiction, students used construction paper, copier paper, stickers, scissors, markers, and rubber cement to create physical valentines that literary figures we’d encountered so far this semester might send to one another. Some were serious, some were witty, and one was wonderfully angry. Many students did implicitly feminist critiques, especially of Jack Kerouac’s _On the Road_.
In my WGST 102: Perspectives in Sexuality, students made lists of terms associated with gender and sexuality that they thought were important or amusing. Students then, as in elementary school, wrote their vocabulary words in sentences, selecting one to write on the whiteboard. That then gave us twenty sentences *that students cared about* to assess for grammar and punctuation (WGST 102 is a Writing Intensive course) and potentially learn new vocabulary.
How did your students respond to these days in class? Did you notice a difference in the class?
For the most part, students got into the playfulness. As they were making their valentines, there were lots of different types of conversations going on: memories of elementary school, concerns about artistic abilities, jokes about the characters, and so on. As students were composing their sentences, they often chose to be amusing or to introduce more esoteric terms to potentially stump their classmates, and we ultimately did a meta-critique of what patterns emerged in their vocabulary. In both scenarios, every student was actively engaged, which, I fear, isn’t always the case in standard classroom discussions.
Do you think you’ll do this in the future? Would you adjust anything?
I have two more Play Days scheduled this semester. They are listed on the syllabi so students know that they have a break/different sort of exercise that day and can use it as a time to metaphorically exhale. I’ll definitely see what sort of feedback I get on student evaluations at the end of the semester, but, for now, I’m planning to incorporate similar days in future classes. I’m especially eager to try this in my fall FSEM devoted to sexuality in southern literature.
You’ve recently served as a Faculty Fellow for Academic Services. What was something you’ve taken away from that experience either in general or into your classrooms now?
I’m now halfway through my third year as a Faculty Fellow in Academic Services. Our absolutely central focus there is on academic advising, whether that is developing study skills and time management, adjusting to a new campus, or negotiating the bureaucracy of the General Education program, majors, and minors. This work has made me far more attuned in my own classes to being available to help students–and especially transfer students–negotiate these issues. Students so appreciate reliable, accurate advising about taking classes and completing the General Education in a timely manner.
Is there anything that stands out to you that has prepared you or continues to prepare you most for effective teaching?
It has taken me a long time to internalize this, but simply bringing energy and humor to a classroom can be one of the most effective ways to keep students engaged. My jokes don’t always land, but when I do get the chuckle or smile, it’s an immediate way to know that I’m reaching students.
Who was your favorite teacher?
Isn’t that a bit like asking about one’s favorite child? I was so fortunate to have amazing teachers who took an active interest in me as a person. In elementary school, Gail Tanton, my third grade teacher, had me and three other students in her wedding ceremony (I lit candles). In high school, Elaine Hoff and Renee Bennett coached Academic Decathlon and made us nerdy kids feel just as important as the athletes in sports-centric Texas. In college, Laura Mooneyham. Paula Cooey, and Lisa Reitzes modeled effective teaching for me as well as taught me about English, religion, and architecture respectively. Finally, I had a trio of amazing Americanists: Michael Kreyling, Nancy Walker, and Cecelia Tichi.
But, if I think more broadly about teaching, my mother has been–and, at 80, continues to be–the person who has taught me the lion’s share of life skills: how make potato salad and banana nut bread, how to sew on buttons and iron clothes, how to fold towels and fitted sheets, and so on. And those skills are way more practical than explicating William Faulkner.
8 a.m. class or 4:00 p.m. class?
I teach at 8 a.m. virtually every semester. It’s not ideal, but I like being done with my teaching early in the day so that I can do advising in Academic Services later in the day.
What is your favorite UMW class to teach? Why?
Two favorites at the moment are: the interdisciplinary WGST 102 and my first-year seminar devoted to Stephen Sondheim. Both classes allow me to reach students other than English majors. The former constantly reinforces to me that students are eager to systematically think and discuss sexuality in a sex-positive environment, and the latter allows me to bond with students over the most important figure in musical theater in the twentieth century.
What is your dream class to teach?
I greatly enjoyed a class in humor that I taught several years ago. We spent four weeks reading humor theory, then the majority of the semester reading humorous works of US literature, and the last two weeks with students doing projects on contemporary humor. It was a minefield, given how explosive and offensive humor can be, but it was so much fun.
If you could take any class in the UMW catalog, what would it be?
Any art history class. That was my minor as an undergraduate. I also remember seeing a flyer in Combs for a nineteenth-century French culture class that sounded *amazing*.
What is one piece of advice you would give a brand-new faculty member?
Bring energy and organization to the classroom.
What podcast, book, or show would you currently recommend?
I don’t listen to podcasts or subscribe to any streaming service. Maya Mathur (English and Linguistics professor) tells me the twenty-first century is a wonderful place, if I ever decide to visit.
Well done, enjoyed this spotlight tremendously! Miss you Dr. Richards, the E&L Family, and the C&DS Family too.