I
have taught a wide range of photography, art, and design courses both in
America and abroad. My experience includes 30 courses in 17 subjects through 5 universities. I currently teach as an Assistant Professor of Photography for the Art Department of Radford University in Radford, Virginia. My courses at Radford include both darkroom and digital-based photography, from beginning to advanced, and at both the MFA and BFA levels. Prior to Radford University, I taught as an Adjunct Faculty member at The Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham in Durham, North Carolina. At the Art Institute, the courses I taught included Lighting, Studio Photography, Advanced Lighting, View Camera Theory, Web Photographic Portfolio I & II, Time-Based Media I, E-Portfolio, and a Special Topics course I created in Flash and Event Photography.
In Spring 2009 I taught courses in Survey of Studio Art Practices and Photo for Non-Majors through Florida State University's International Program in Florence, Italy. I was awarded this teaching position after being selected as the Florence, Italy Teaching Fellowship recipient through Florida State University's Art Department. This award also included an adjunct instructor position for Fall 2008 at the Tallahassee campus, during which I taught Photo I, Photographic Lighting and Studio, and Web Design I – as well as teaching the second half of Catalyst for Art Making, after the original professor had to take leave mid-semester.
While a graduate student at Florida State University, I was awarded with teaching assistantships for both my second and third years, 2006-2008. I taught Photographic and Digital Imagemaking and Web Design I. I was also fortunate to be asked to teach in China during the summers of 2006 and 2007, through the EnviroChina collaborative graphic design program at Taiyuan Normal University in 2006 and then courses in Photographic Composition and Advertising Photography at Taiyuan Normal University and Shanxi University in 2007. During my second summer of teaching there, I was named an Honorary Professor at Taiyuan Normal University.
Before entering graduate school, my love for teaching began at local North Carolina arts institutions: The ArtsCenter in Carrboro and the Durham Arts Council in Durham. The courses I developed, Photographic Lighting and Photographic Composition, were part of the Making a Living in Photography certificate program cross-listed through Durham Technical Community College. I have also given workshops on flash photography, worked with photo club students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and led photography seminars to high school and junior high school students of Chapel Hill and Orange County, North Carolina, schools. In additional teaching-related experience, I was a Cub Scout leader for four years, a Youth Leadership Program mentor for one year, and a Photography Merit Badge instructor to the Boy Scouts. I was named Orange District Den Leader of the Year for 2000 in Occoneechee Council, North Carolina for my work with boys from a Chapel Hill public housing community.
To read additional information about the courses I have taught, click on the courses link at left. My teaching philosophy statement is available through the philosophy link. And I have examples of student work that can be viewed through the student work link.
(photo by Shi Xiao Bo, from my 2006 class at Taiyuan Normal University in China)
