One of my most formative teaching experiences took place when I was not a teacher at all. I was the formidable pirate king Sextus Pompey, conspiring with Cleopatra to prevent Octavian from taking over Rome. I was in Athens (Georgia), training to teach the “Ides of March” Reacting to the Past game. I may not have succeeded in my bid to avenge my father, but the that game taught me lessons I have built on throughout my teaching career.

Over the course of my teaching career at Duke, I have had the opportunity to teach multiple language classes (Latin 101 and Latin 102), a small seminar (Greek Civilization), and a writing-intensive course for 15 students (Ancient Race, Modern Racism). I have also served as a teaching assistant for a large lecture course (Democracy: Ancient and Modern) as well as a 30-student seminar (Greek and Roman Law). While the specific tactics vary, each have shared a common strategy: I strive to create pedagogic experiences that promote active student engagement.

What the students do, both in and out of class, is more important for their learning outcomes than anything I can do. A recent moment in my Latin 102 class serves as a vivid reminder of this truth. I sometimes divide the class into teams which relay race writing conjugations and declensions. While only one person stands at the board, team members are strongly encouraged to call out and help. In tight races it can get pretty raucous, and I am not saying a word! In a relay this semester a student who had been having some difficulty gently corrected one of the strongest students. I could see her confidence growing by the moment. In an environment where students feel supported and safe to make mistakes, low-stakes competition can motivate students. It is my job to create that environment and get the whole class to buy in.

Students bring to class different goals, background, experiences, and skills. A critical task for me as a teacher is to identify how they can individually harness their unique experiences and skillsets with a view to reaching their own goals. To this end the first homework I assign in every course is that each student meet with me briefly during office hours. Some of the questions I ask depend on the course, but there are a few constants: what they want me to know about them; why they decided to take the course; what their favorite course has been and what they particularly enjoyed about the way it was taught. I do not expect their answers to give me everything I need to know. There are things that from my limited perspective I cannot fully understand. But these meetings begin the semester-long process of helping me adapt each course to its students. Rarely do students thank me for homework assignments, but students have often said that they appreciate these meetings.

In my experience, despite the pressures they face, students do amazing work when they see what they are doing as worthwhile. If they can have fun doing it, that is even better. A key part my job is to show them why the work is worthwhile and fun. The best example is a major assignment in my writing-intensive course “Ancient Race, Modern Racism.” The open prompt gave one student the opportunity to write a paper about colorism in Disney’s Hercules. He even called his parents to tell them about the paper because he could not believe that he was allowed to write about something so “not academic.” His well-researched proposal reflected his enthusiasm.

I structure my classes to facilitate such moments of excitement — moments that translate into lasting lessons. A key takeaway for students in my courses is an idea I have myself taken from Professor Joshua Sosin: ideas are built, not found. This leads me to structure assignments in writing classes and seminars that model that process of construction. Students submit questions about each reading, and discussions in class are then structured around those questions; early written assignments explicitly build on those discussions, and later assignments and revisions hone those early items. Not only does this process provide a model students can apply later, it also gives them a clear sense of the relationship between the various tasks they are doing and why they matter.

Skills are built, just like ideas. Experience plays an irreplaceable role in the formation of skill, but so too must thoughtful reflection on those experiences and openness to new approaches. Duke has offered me a wealth of pedagogical training to prompt that reflection and expose me to those new approaches. I have been purposeful about seeking out that training: enrolling in the Certificate of College Teaching Program and the Teaching Writing in the Disciplines Program. I have also sought ought pedagogical mentorship from teachers whom I admire, and attended (and even facilitated) departmental-level workshops on matters more specific to my discipline. I will continue to seek out opportunities for training, and I look forward to continuing to nurture those relationships. I don’t aspire to be a perfect teacher because I don’t aspire to ever thinking that I am done improving.

My work as a scholar has also influenced my work as a teacher. As a classicist engaged in today’s world, I aim to help students see the ancient Mediterranean world and its lasting resonance in our lives through the vast array of perspectives that my discipline offers. As a philologist, I specialize in teaching careful attention to the written word, whether that be as readers, writers, or language students. As my own scholarly practice continues to evolve, especially into the digital space, so too will my pedagogy.

My students do not work for the sake of working. They study the foundational elements of vocabulary and grammar to read fluently. They read to get ready to discuss. They discuss to begin to form the building blocks of ideas. They write to put those building blocks together and put them in conversation with others who are themselves engaged in that same work. The classroom is only one stage of this long, iterative process. But it is an important one. It has been the privilege of my life to play a part in my students’ journey as learners, thinkers, and people.