Teaching Curve 33 Phi Su, Liz Gallerani, and Christine Menard on Faculty/Staff Collaboration for Innovative Engagement

This episode is with three scholar/teachers from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in the US. Phi Su is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Williams. Liz Gallerani is Curator of Mellon Academic Programs at the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), and Christine Ménard is Head of Research Services and Library Outreach for Williams College Libraries. The three have collaborated on the design, execution, and revision of two courses that earned Phi recognition as the recipient of ISA’s 2024 Deborah Gerner Award for Innovative Teaching.

Our conversation explores 

• Course structures that get students to engage in ways that push them beyond memorization to imagination and creativity. 
• The rich opportunities for pedagogical insight and collaboration that exist throughout institutions of higher learning, especially with staff members who often sit at the intersections of resources that can inspire creativity. 
• And how pedagogical experimentation and pedagogical evolution feed each other in response to the natural feedback that students provide to our efforts.

The interview was edited for length.

Teaching Curve contacts:

Twitter: @TeachingCurve

Email: TeachingCurve@isanet.org

For 23 more stories about innovative and effective teachers of international studies, check out Pedagogical Journeys through World Politics, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020: https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783030203047