After three months of pool parties and alarm clock-less mornings, it can be a challenge getting in the back-to-school groove for college students. Meet five highly respected Arizona professors who, thanks to their unique teaching styles and passion for education, are making the first day of school something to look forward to.
Dr. Ayanna Thompson of Arizona State University
Arizona State University’s Dr. Ayanna Thompson always saw herself growing up to be a lawyer or a businesswoman. It wasn’t until she took English courses at Columbia University that literature opened up to her.
“I loved everything I read: the aesthetics, the politics, the controversies and the critical debates,” she says. “When I realized that, I wanted to go all the way.”
After graduating from Columbia, Thompson briefly worked on Wall Street as an investment banker and eventually left to continue her education in pursuit of becoming a professor. As a recipient of a Marshall Scholarship, she received her master’s degree at Sussex University in England and went on to get her Ph.D. at Harvard University. Having primarily lived and studied on the East Coast, Thompson was ready for a change of scenery. “I wanted to experience living in the Southwest.” She worked for three years at the University of New Mexico before becoming a Sun Devil in 2004.
As a literature buff, Thompson enjoys changing students’ perception about the works of Shakespeare. She relates the plots to their own lives for a clearer comprehension, igniting shared learning with classroom discussions and debates. “Every time I enter the classroom, the students make the material new and exciting for me.”
With her vast intellect and sincere passion, a lot can be expected in the future from this ASU professor. She is looking to develop a How to Teach Shakespeare class for educators and education students. “I want to share my knowledge, techniques and resources with the teachers in the frontlines of secondary education,” she says. “It would be one small way of paying back all that I have benefited from over the years.” —E.L.
