Title:

Developing Student Engagement in the Writing Classroom

Abstract:

Dr. Ryan Thorpe, an American instructor, initially taught his SJTU writing classes as he had at an American university, believing these methods were key to his success. However, over ten years, he recognized the need to adapt his teaching approach due to shifts in the student population, realizing that a more flexible toolkit of strategies was necessary to cater to different assignments.

In this talk, Dr. Thorpe will reflect on his twenty-year evolution as a writing instructor, showing how he has developed a diverse set of teaching methods to accommodate various academic writing tasks. Ultimately, writing is a skill requiring practice, but the context, motivation, preparation, and feedback to that practice can drastically change the course of a student’s learning.

Biography

Dr. Ryan Thorpe is an associate teaching professor and teaches humanities and writing courses at the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute. He also serves as the director of its academic writing program and its writing center. He is the executive director of Inkwell (www.inkwell.asia), a literary collective that holds free and public writing workshops in China. He has written columns for The Global Times, China Daily, and Sixth Tone, and has published in numerous literary journals. His first scholarly book, Teaching Second Language Creative Writing was published in December of 2021 by Routledge. Three fantasy novels, The Willows, Arcadian Midnight, and The Warden were published by Aethon Books.

Date and Time:

May 21 (Tuesday), 2024, 11:50-13:20

Venue:

504 Chen Ruiqiu Building

Joint Event by JI CLT and SJTU CTLD

Please sign up for this talk by 2pm on May 20, 2024.