Dr. Kurk Gayle Q&A

Teaching in the MLA since:				2014
Specialty/Area of Research:				Sociolinguistics
MLA Courses Taught:				Translation in Society The Concept of Female: Feminism and Sexism before and after Aristotle

 

 

 

 

 

How many years have you been teaching in the MLA program and what class or classes have you taught?  

2014 was the start of my MLA teaching online asynchronously. At the end of the first course, one student anonymously wrote on the eSPOT:

The structure of the course is better than any I have seen (I have been working in the online learning environment for 12 years and my husband currently teaches online). The pace of the course content was a little overwhelming the first six-weeks, but the instructor made adjustment in the second half.

2022 was the beginning of my MLA teaching on campus, in-the-classroom, in real time. At the end of the most recent course, one student anonymously wrote on the eSPOT:

Keep teaching it in person! The discussions were very fun to engage in.

Both online and on campus, I’ve taught two MLA program courses: “Translation in Society” and “The Concept of Female: Feminism and Sexism before and after Aristotle.” All that any MLA student has written anonymously on the eSPOT, the good, the bad, and the ugly, about my teaching of either course can be read here: https://bit.ly/MLAstudentsTalkOnCampus.

 

Tell us a little bit about your specialty or area of research?

Like all MLA students are, I’m in “liberal arts.” My own Master’s degree is part of liberal arts, the specialized field of sociolinguistics. My Ph.D. from the TCU AddRan College of Liberal Arts is in English, literature and rhetoric and composition.

 

How does your background inform your teaching and scholarship?

Graduate school in the liberal arts gave me, and still gives me, a place to work with others in various ways, in the most exciting and fun ways, to “inform.” My background, and the respective backgrounds of MLA students, is crucial to our learning, our research, and any publication any of us makes as a result.

How do you try to make the material in your class engaging considering most students complete their MLA degree 100% online?

MLA students have been candid in their anonymous eSPOTs after taking a course with me online and with me on campus. I do my very best to listen when I hear from any MLA student on what has been and still can be done to make the courses "very enlightening" and "very engaging"! (All that any MLA student has written anonymously on the eSPOT, the good, the bad, and the ugly, about my teaching can be read here: https://bit.ly/MLAstudentsTalkOnCampus.)

What is an interesting fact about yourself that you like to share with your students?

It’s hard to pin down where I’m from and what my language is:

When I moved to Fort Worth, I was 33 years old, moving into my 33rd address, having lived in four American states (Arkansas, Hawaii, Virginia, and Texas) and in four nation states (Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the USA). I grew up speaking English and Vietnamese and studied Indonesian in high school, Japanese and Greek in undergrad school, Hebrew and Cherokee in graduate school, and Comanche, American Sign Language, and Spanish after the Ph.D.

What advantages do you think there are to getting a Master’s Degree in the Liberal Arts? How can it be helpful in the “real world”?

While getting their Master’s Degree in the Liberal Arts, MLA students immediately (can) make connections in their courses to the “real world” that help them make good changes. For example, a student whose real world was a paid full time position doing important crucial work in TCU’s School of Medicine took was taking one of my MLA courses and took from it skills and knowledge that launched that individual, with the MLA degree, into a related job with more pay and impact at a different institution. Another student tells me they have found in MLA courses a completely new direction for life professionally in the “real world.” Another student completed TCU’s MLA and was immediately admitted to a doctoral program thereafter; likewise, quite a few public school teachers in the “real world” of educating young people have not only found a few courses helpful in credentialling them to be college level instructors but also have been given access to leadership positions with the completed Master’s Degree in the Liberal Arts.