Sarah Rainey-Smithback, PhD

I love what I teach, and in the classroom I am a storyteller, connecting theory and experience. I believe passionately in the value of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Cultural and Critical Studies, and my enthusiasm is clear inside and out of the classroom.  Such contagious energy is important because it helps students connect to the material.  Quickly, things start to “click” and they start to see concepts like “compulsory heterosexuality” and “objectification” all around them.  When this happens, I know I have reached my pedagogical goal—the student has learned to see and think differently.

Because I have taught such a diversity of courses, I have been able to see this change in thousands of students, and regardless of whether class is a first-year seminar, an undergraduate upper-level course, or a graduate course, the pleasure of witnessing such cognitive changes is exhilarating.  I have taught courses at all-levels, including a large-section of Introduction Women’s Studies (100+ students), required courses for majors, and upper-level electives.  I also regularly teach a service-learning course that introduces students to working in non-profit and community agencies and allows them to gain firsthand experience working on a social justice issue.  Although I typically teach in a traditional classroom, I have taught almost a dozen of courses online.  I love using innovative tools and technology to teach in both traditional classrooms and online.