This fall, the Center for Teaching welcomed four new graduate teaching fellows for the 2021–2022 academic year. Fellows work on a range of pedagogical issues and gain practical experience in the field of educational and faculty development. They work with Center for Teaching staff to develop their own workshops and to create a teaching project.
After a competitive selection process, the Center for Teaching is delighted to welcome Dan Corry, Dominic Dongilli, Lauren Irwin, and Hao Zhou.
Dan Corry, Epidemiology
Dan Corry is a PhD candidate in the Department of Epidemiology. He has a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and a bachelor’s degree in biology of global health from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. His primary research interests center on the physical and psychological consequences of traumatic brain injury, and he currently researches these consequences in both global and veteran populations. He has served as a teaching assistant for courses in public health science and data management/analysis in epidemiology and has also given guest lectures in courses focusing on epidemiologic methods.
Dominic Dongilli, American Studies and Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies
Dominic Dongilli is a PhD candidate in the Departments of American Studies and Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies. His work centers on questions of embodiment, community knowledge formation, and American zoos. As a facilitator and teacher, he is interested in the formation of learning communities through situated knowledge and storytelling—in contrast to more orthodox paradigms of “academic inquiry.” His commitment to the humanities is deeply informed by his undergraduate education in biology and prior work as a great apes zookeeper. He also serves as a member of the Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee and gallery team member at Public Space One, a community-driven contemporary art space.
Lauren Irwin, Higher Education and Student Affairs program
Lauren Irwin is a PhD student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program and a graduate researcher in the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in anthropology and education studies and a master’s in student affairs administration from Michigan State University. Prior to pursuing her PhD, Lauren created and ran a campus-wide leadership education program and taught InterGroup Dialogues at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Lauren’s research uses critical theories of race and whiteness to examine how inequities are perpetuated on college campuses, with a specific focus on whiteness in co-curricular leadership education programs. Lauren currently TAs and instructs courses related to student affairs and college student development in the UI College of Education.
Hao Zhou, Film & Video Production program
Hao Zhou (he/they) is a filmmaker and photographer and is currently an MFA candidate in the UI’s Film & Video Production program. Hao’s most notable experiences include producing multiple feature-length films, writing for Douban.com, and taking part in residencies, such as the Cannes Film Festival’s La Résidence. Hao enjoys teaching students how to realize their own artistic goals through specific technical skills and more general creative processes. At Iowa, Hao has assistant taught introductory filmmaking courses and is developing a new undergraduate course titled Producing Identity.
Be on the lookout for the fellows’ workshops in spring 2022.