At the University of Alabama where I currently am, I have taught World Literature, American Literature, African American Literature, and English Composition (I have also worked as an elementary, middle, and high school teacher in Nigeria).
I am very committed to student-centered teaching and learning, as well as its commitment to individualized, supportive mentoring. This approach is reflected in my classroom practice, which is structured to center student engagement and foster collaborative learning. My classes begin with close readings of media texts grounded in diverse literary and artistic traditions, followed by lectures that transition into seminar-style discussions guided by student inquiry. I then adopt a flipped classroom model, allowing students to lead through group presentations and collaborative exercises that reflect their interests. I conclude units with one-on-one conferences, and creative, multimodal assignments, such as podcasting, free writing, or curated music playlists, that allow students to express their learning in diverse ways. I also integrate experiential learning to support civic awareness, taking students to museum exhibitions, gallery openings, and public arts events, and guiding them to connect these experiences to course texts through reflective writing. Through this combination of pedagogical approaches and the use of digital storytelling tools, I create a classroom that supports diverse learning styles while helping students develop critical thinking, adaptability, and the ability to engage multiple perspectives through multimodal dialogue.
In my UA courses, I invite guest artists and instructors whose non-Anglophone and international specializations enrich course units. My African American students and I learned about the lesser-known Harlem Renaissance group, Niggerati, from an invited speaker I arranged. My students have written reflection of our tours at the Murphy African American Museum led by the spirited 70-year-old Mr. Jerome Jefferies who shared his experience of the late Jim Crow Era with us, the Autherine Lucy themed exhibit at the Paul R. Jones Museum, and the Bryce Mental Health Hospital, all within Tuscaloosa where UA is located. They also get to be part of real exhibitions too, by submitting their creative coursework to my exhibitions: the Remix Exhibition for First Year Writing; the Arts of War, Hearts of War exhibit in conjunction with local veterans at the former Mildred Warner Transportation Museum; the Community Fan Art Exhibition at the Tuscaloosa Public Library. With these exhibitions, I expose my students to the artists and leaders I collaborate with.
In mentoring students, I encourage them to take initiative. What I mean is that I encourage them to pursue and present their co-curricular interests through a course requirement in which students, working in groups, organize an event for the class. In my courses, we have watched a student compete in a rowing club event on the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa, held a study session at a café, and joined the UA Forge Metal Club to observe their ironwork. Encouraging students to take responsibility for class events helps them develop habits of collaborative inquiry and gives them a reason to seek guidance from me and their peers. It prepares them to become thoughtful scholars, engaged citizens, and team-oriented leaders. They also build friendships and learn to respect the diversity of one another’s interests.
I am able to integrate diverse materials and perspectives in my classes because I have taken courses in theatre, gender and sexuality studies, art and art history, dance, ceramics, music, creative writing, and museum studies. I have also participated in civic initiatives as part of my interest in public humanities: Family Day at the Alabama Museum of Natural History, volunteering for the Native American Festival at the Moundville Archaeological Park and singing as part of the Druid City Community Choir at UA. I have been well-trained to teach interdisciplinary courses, too.
Read the following materials to learn more about my teaching practice.
Teaching Statement
“Hello Lovelies.” This is the salutation I tuck into emails, announcements, assignment sheets, and any other materials that take the form of correspondence with my students. The tenderness of this phrase reflects the humanist ethos guiding my teaching practice. By this, I do not mean the philosophical notion of “humanism”; rather, I refer to the practice of foregrounding the relatable, everyday dimensions of being human, showing how my courses resonate with the shared yet diverse experiences of students. As the paragraphs below explain, I enact this humanist ethos in my classes in five ways: 1) by prioritizing interest over expertise, 2) encouraging democratic classroom practices, 3) cultivating intellectual resonance through experiential learning, 4) defamiliarization, and 5) individualized mentoring. At the core of my teaching philosophy is the belief that learning is fundamentally human-centered. Thus, rather than privileging any single pedagogical method, I begin and end my courses by listening closely to what students need to thrive in the classroom and to carry forward meaningful knowledge beyond it.
Teaching evaluation
The success of my teaching practice is backed up with testimonials from students
The following information was compiled from Student Opinions of Instruction (SOI) surveys issued through the online learning management system at the University of Alabama for courses taught Fall 2022 through Fall 2025. Surveys are made available to students after ten weeks of instruction and must be completed before the first day of final exams. All SOI surveys are anonymous, and responses are not released to the instructor until after final grades are posted.
SOI surveys are divided into two basic categories: evaluation of the instructor and evaluation of the course. Both overall instructor and course ratings are measured on a scale of 1-5 with response options being: (1) Poor; (2) Below Average; (3) Average; (4) Above Average; and (5) Above Average.