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Nancy’s Cyber Office | Nancy’s English Department Page

Assistant Director, CFT
Affiliated Faculty, Department of English

Nancy Chick came to Vanderbilt from one of the smaller campuses of the University of Wisconsin System in January of 2012, a year after being promoted to full professor.  This transition reflects the trajectory of her career to integrate a scholarly focus on pedagogy. Her determination to blend her research and teaching interests began in graduate school, where she was selected as part of the program that resembles Vanderbilt’s Graduate Teaching Fellows.  There, she developed a curiosity about how students learn–or don’t–what she loves about her own discipline (literary studies) and how to make that happen most effectively.

In the early 2000s, as a faculty member, her research shifted from multicultural American literature to literary pedagogy, inclusive and feminist pedagogies, and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).  This work led her to co-edit and write the literary studies chapter in Exploring Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind (Stylus, 2008) and Exploring More Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind (Stylus, 2012). She has also published her SoTL work in various books and peer-reviewed journals.  She is also the founding co-editor of Teaching and Learning Inquiry, the new journal of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL).

At the Center for Teaching, she serves as liaison to many A&S departments and programs in the humanities, as well as to the Blair School of Music, the Divinity School, and the Women’s Center. She teaches courses in Vanderbilt’s English Department and its Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

Education

B.A. (1990), summa cum laude in English (American literature), University of New Mexico
M.A. (1992) in English, University of Georgia
Ph.D. (1998) in English (multicultural American and women’s literature), University of Georgia

Publications

Editing

• Teaching and Learning Inquiry, the journal of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), Indiana University Press, 2013+.
• Exploring More Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind, edited by Nancy Chick, Aeron Haynie, and Regan Gurung, Stylus, 2012.
• Exploring Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind, edited by Regan Gurung, Nancy Chick, and Aeron Haynie, Stylus, 2008.
• The International Commons (newsletter of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning/ISSOTL), founder and editor, May 2006-Jan 2012.

Book Chapters

• “Difference, Power, and Privilege in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: The Value of Humanities SoTL” in The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning In and Across the Disciplines. Ed. Kathleen McKinney, Indiana University Press, 2013.

• “Signature Pedagogies in the Liberal Arts and Beyond” by Aeron Haynie, Nancy Chick, and Regan Gurung. Exploring More Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind, edited by Chick, Haynie, and Gurung, Stylus, 2012.
• “’It Always Ends the Same”: Paternal Failures.” With lead author Holly Hassel. Looking for Lost: Critical Essays on the Enigmatic Series.  Ed. Randy Laist. McFarland Press, 2011.
• “Teaching Diversity through Literature: Urging Voyages toward Deeper Understanding.” Getting Culture: Incorporating Diversity Across the Curriculum, edited by Regan Gurung and Loreto Prieto, Stylus, 2009.

• “Unpacking a Signature Pedagogy in Literary Studies.” Exploring Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind, edited by Regan Gurung, Nancy Chick, and Aeron Haynie, Stylus, 2008.
• “From Generic to Signature Pedagogies: Teaching Disciplinary Understandings by Teaching through the Disciplines” by Nancy Chick, Aeron Haynie, and Regan Gurung. In Exploring Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind, edited by Gurung, Chick, and Haynie, Stylus, 2008.

• “Judith Ortiz Cofer’s Silent Dancing: Making More Room for Puerto Rican Womanhood.” Women on the Edge: Ethnicity and Gender in Short Stories by American Women, Garland Publishing, 1998: 61-84.

Articles

• “SoTL as Women’s Work: What Do Existing Data Tell Us?” with Kathleen McKinney (lead author), International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (IJ-SoTL), 4.2 (July 2010)
• “‘Pressing an Ear Against the Hive’: Reading Literature for Complexity” by Nancy Chick, Holly Hassel, and Aeron Haynie. Pedagogy, 9.3 (Fall 2009): 399-422.
• “Learning from Their Own Learning: How Metacognitive and Meta-affective Reflections Enhance Learning in Race-Related Courses” with Terri Karis and Cyndi Kernahan. The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 3.1 (Jan 2009).
• “’Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Virtual’: Feminist Pedagogy in the Online Classroom” with Holly Hassel.  Feminist Teacher. 19.3 (2009): 195-215.
• “The Great Connector.” Wisconsin People and Ideas, magazine of Wisconsin Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. Summer 2008
• “Does Power Travel in the Bloodlines? A Genealogical Red Herring.” Approaches to Teaching the Works of Louise Erdrich, edited by Greg Sarris, Connie A. Jacobs, and James R. Giles, MLA Publications, 2004.  83-87, 211-223.

• “Teaching Conflict through Multiple Rhetorical Stances.”  Academic Exchange Quarterly, 7.4 (Winter 2003): 245-49.
• “Louis Owens, The American, and Me: A Lesson in the (Uncomfortable) Art of Teaching.” Studies in American Indian Literature (SAIL), 14.2/3 (Summer/Fall 2002): 82-85.
• “Anthologizing Transformation: Breaking Down Students’ ‘Private Theories’ About Poetry.”  TETYC/Teaching English in the Two-Year College (NCTE journal), May 2002:418-23.
• “The Broken Clock:  Time, Identity, and Autobiography in Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy.”  The CLA Journal 40 (September 1996): 90-103.
• “Marita Bonner’s Revolutionary Purple Flowers:  Challenging the Symbol of White Womanhood.” The Langston Hughes Review 13 (Fall 1994/Spring 1995): 21-32.

Manuscripts in Process

• “Am I Racist?: Listening to Students as They Learn about Race and Racism” with lead author Cynthia Kernahan, in book edited by Regan Gurung and David Voelker, 2014. In progress.
• “‘All They Want To Do’: Novice Practices and Misconceptions in Literary Studies” with Holly Hassel and Chuck Rybak.  In revision.
• “Fishbowls and Feminist Pedagogy: ‘Getting Out of the Way’ Across the Disciplines.”  Written for a book that was never published, needs to be revised with new data (from spring 2014 class) and resubmitted elsewhere.

Reference Articles

• “Toni Morrison.”  Feminist Writers, Ed. Pamela Kester-Shelton.  St. Clair Shores, MI: St. James Press, October 1996.
• “The Poetry of Phillis Wheatley,” “Judith Ortiz Cofer,” and “Silent Dancing by Judith Ortiz Cofer.”  Issues and Identity in Literature, Ed. Eric Howard.  Pasadena, CA:  Salem Press, November 1997.
• “Louise Erdrich,” “Toni Morrison,” “‘Recitatif,’” “Judith Ortiz Cofer.” Reader’s Companion to the American Short Story, Ed. Abby H. P. Werlock, 1998.

Blog Posts

• See below.

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Conference Presentations, Workshop Facilitation, & Keynote Addresses

Nancy gives presentations and conduct workshops on a variety of topics, including the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), signature pedagogies, feminist pedagogy, and inclusive pedagogy. Contact her if you’d like to arrange a visit. Her research background and interests are below:

Signature Pedagogies

• Keynote addresses for Organizing and then Annual Meetings of Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of British Columbia (BC’s faculty union), Vancouver, British Columbia (Nov 26, 2011; February 25, 2012)
• Keynote address and three-day workshop at University of Wisconsin System Faculty College (100 faculty from across the state), lead speaker and facilitator with Lendol Calder and Aeron Haynie (May 2011)

• Plenary panel and book signing for Exploring Signature Pedagogies at 2009 University of Wisconsin System Spring Conference
• Workshop for faculty at 2008 Lilly West Conference at Cal Poly Pomona
• Workshop for faculty at 2008 ISSOTL in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada—with book launch and signing of Exploring Signature Pedagogies

Literary Signature Pedagogies and Learning (Various SoTL Projects)

• Presentation at 2005 ISSOTL Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Presentation at 2006 ISSOTL in Washington, DC
• Presentation at 2006 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Colloquium in Madison, WI
• Presentation at 2007 ISSOTL in Sydney, Australia
• Presentation at 2007 SoTL Commons Conference in Statesboro, GA
• Presentation at 2007 SoTL at Liberal Arts Colleges Conference, St. Olaf/Carleton Colleges in Northfield, MN
• Presentation at 2008 ISSOTL in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• Presentation at 2009 ISSOTL in Bloomington, IL
• Presentation at 2010 ISSOTL in Liverpool, England

Literature and Diversity Learning (Various SoTL Projects)

• Presentation at 2009 ISSOTL in Bloomington, IN

Humanities SoTL

• Featured panel at 2009 ISSOTL in Bloomington, IN
• Presentations at 2012 ISSOTL in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Introductions to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

• Workshops for faculty at Emory / Oxford College (November, 2012; February, 2013)
• Workshop for University of Wisconsin-Superior faculty (August 16, 2011)
• Keynote address and day-long workshop at faculty conference at Lewis University (May 2008)

• Workshop focused on gathering and analyzing evidence of student voice in SoTL for University of Wisconsin System faculty, with Renee Meyers (quantitative) and Katina Lazarides (qualitative, with me), in Madison, WI (Feb. 2007, Feb. 2008, Feb. 2010)
• University of Wisconsin System Summer Teaching Institute, co-designed and facilitated with Jane Ewens (five days every June in Madison, WI: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)

SoTL Writing Workshops

• Targeted program for University of Wisconsin-Stout faculty writing group (summer 2012)
• SoTL Writing Collaborative Institute for the University of Wisconsin System, lead developer and facilitator with Renee Meyers (three days in January, two days in May, one day in Sept 2011; online activities throughout)
• Workshop for faculty members across the disciplines at University of Wisconsin-Stout (two days in June 2009)

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Courses Taught

American Literature
Multicultural American Literature
Women’s Literature
Introduction to Literary Studies
First-Year Composition
Introduction to Women’s Studies
Women in Popular Culture
Film Studies: Monsters
Film Studies: Comedy

Personal Interests

Yoga, Jogging, Meditation
Film, Horror
Vegetarianism and Veganism
Crohn’s Disease

Blog Posts

• SoTL Spotlight: Bringing a Scholarly Approach to Vanderbilt’s Classrooms
• SoTL Spotlight: What’s In It For Me?
• Summer Reading Recommendations from CFT Staff
• Alternatives to Generic Teaching: A Plenary North of the Border
• Student Learning on Display: Interactive Photo Exhibit (podcast)
• Ask Professor Pedagogy: A Mountain of Grading
• Reflections on Last Week’s ISSOTL Conference
• Helping Future Faculty “Come Out” as Teachers
• Talking with Faculty about Cognitive Science & Learning
• Making Student Thinking Visible: Metacognitive Practices in the Classroom
• Ask Professor Pedagogy: Learning Styles
• Learning Styles Teaching Guide
• Video Asks “TAs: What Does Peabody Want?
• SoTL Spotlight: Teaching & Learning Inquiry
• SoTL Spotlight: Public Performances of Learning
• Learner-Centered Teaching at Vanderbilt

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