Know Your Profs is an ongoing series of profiles on the instructors at Camosun College. Every issue we ask a different instructor the same 10 questions in an attempt to get to know them a little better.
Do you have an instructor that you want to see interviewed in the paper? Maybe you want to know more about one of your teachers, but you’re too busy, or shy, to ask? Email editor@nexusnewspaper.com and we’ll add your instructor to our list of teachers to talk to.
This issue we talked to Camosun English and Creative Writing prof Jodi Lundgren about weekend hikes, getting creative with the family, and an unfortunate in-class accident.
1: What do you teach and how long have you been a teacher at Camosun?
English and Creative Writing are my teaching subjects, and I’ve been employed at Camosun for nearly 10 years.
2: What do you personally get out of teaching?
I love to see students light up as they discover new ideas, make connections, and learn the power of close reading and critical thinking. I also love to see their growth in confidence as they strengthen their skills in writing and public speaking. Recently, I stumbled across a post online and realized that a former student was addressing a crowd in the embedded video, and another former student had written the article that I was reading. It actually brought tears to my eyes to witness their evolution from college students into an inspiring leader and an independent writer, respectively. On another occasion a few months ago, I was at a community event that involved audience participation. One of my former students, in a class that had involved a lot of oral discussion, took the floor and spoke with conviction and compassion. Moments like these are so rewarding because, in teaching English, I like to think that I’m equipping and empowering students to participate actively in social and cultural dialogue.
3: What’s one thing you wish your students knew about you?
That during the semester, my workload is just as heavy as theirs is! We are all in this together.
4: What’s one thing you wish they didn’t know about you?
That sometimes my Friday and/or Saturday nights are spent prepping and marking. (They would know this if they checked the time stamp on some of my emails and D2L posts!)
5: What’s the best thing that’s happened to you as a teacher here?
Probably the best thing for me personally was getting converted from a term position into a continuing position. Having job security has allowed me to focus on teaching rather than on worrying about getting laid off. Term instructors get laid off at the end of every semester and have to wait to see if they’ll be rehired, which is really stressful.
6: What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you as a teacher here?
A lowlight definitely took place this semester when I invited a speaker into one of my classes through the Elders’ Voices program. We were all outside, and as the speaker was walking across a mossy rock, he slipped, fell, and broke his arm! It was terribly unfortunate.
7: What do you see in the future of postsecondary education?
It could go in two directions: one, postsecondary institutions could become credentialing centres for the non-tuitionable learning that is already taking place online, on the job, or peer-to-peer. Or, two, postsecondary might return to its roots in face-to-face learning communities as people begin to recognize their hunger for genuine connection in a world dominated by digital and virtual interaction.
8: What do you do to relax on the weekends?
I love to get outdoors and, if my nieces are visiting (they are delightful eight-year-old twins), then I like to go on adventures with them. Afterwards, we make up stories or poems based on our adventures, which is a lot of fun.
9: What’s your favourite meal?
My Secret Garden from Pagliacci’s. They call it “vegetarian erotica” for good reason!
10: What’s your biggest pet peeve?
My biggest college-related pet peeve is, fortunately, a rare occurrence. But twice in the relatively recent past, on days of heavy snow, the president held off on closing the college until about 10 am, when intrepid students and staff had already made their way to campus. As I see it, the whole point of closing the college on a snow day is to prevent accidents as people travel to and from campus. Either cancel classes at 6 am or keep the college open (unless weather conditions change during the day, of course, but in the cases I’m thinking of, the weather at 6 am was already as severe as it was going to get).