As an instructor, I believe it is my role to illuminate and widen the existing bridge that connects students with language, by exposing students to the linguistic perspective on the origin, the cognitive organization, and the interdisciplinary studies of language, and encouraging them to reexamine and gain wonderment for this integral human faculty they encounter every day. Accordingly, my goal is to equip students with the tools needed to understand the fundamentals of linguistic analysis, but equally importantly to foster the connections that encourage students to embrace linguistic diversity and develop critical thinking and writing skills that extend beyond the class.
Classes taught at the University of Illinois
Teaching Assistant:
- Elementary Spanish I
- Elementary Spanish II
- Intensive Elementary Spanish
- Intermediate Spanish
- Introduction to Spanish Grammar
- Spanish in the Professions
- Advanced Spanish Grammar
- Spanish Composition
Instructor of Record:
- Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
- The Sounds of Spanish
- The Structure of Spanish
Teaching Awards and Honors
University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching for Graduate Teaching Assistants (2023) Here’s an article about the award
University of Illinois Department of Spanish and Portuguese Graduate Teaching Award (2022)
UIUC List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020*, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019*, Fall 2018*, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016) *Instructor ratings top 10% of all Teaching Assistants
Certificates
Mentoring Certificate, UIUC Graduate College
Graduate Teacher Certificate, UIUC Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
Katie VanDyne 