Sociology professor receives fellowship
Dr. Robin Harris has been named a Governor’s Teaching Fellow for the 2009-10 year. This is a prestigious honor with an application process that’s very intense.
“You have to get so many letters of recommendation,” Harris said.
Harris is an associate professor of sociology at GCSU. She teaches several classes including technology and society, technology and gender and historical sociology of women and technology and American culture. She is currently teaching two of those courses this semester. Harris has a doctorate degree in history, technology and society.
“I was interested in going to The Georgia Institute of Technology and when one of the professors told me about this new program I almost hung up the phone. My interest is in history, but he promised me it wasn’t all about nuts and bolts,” Harris said.
As a former student of GCSU the school is very near to her heart. She came to Milledgeville for her undergraduate degree as a non-traditional student.
“I remember my first day walking down the halls was a dream come true. My feet didn’t touch the ground,” Harris said.
She is currently writing a biography on one of the founders of the college, Julia Flisch, when it was a women’s college. Flisch is the reason that Harris decided to become a professor, she said.
“I realized what a tremendous impact she had on her students and I knew that was what I wanted to do,” Harris said.
As a professor her main goal is to help students adjust to academic life in college because it is so different than high school, she said.
“The big issue today is that all the students are very bright. Lots of the students did not have to work in high school, but they don’t realize they are the ones that need to step up because college is so different,” Harris said.
Being a part of the Governor’s Teaching Fellowship is helpful to her teaching, according to Harris. The organization’s Web site states that the program involves teachers from all over the state of Georgia getting together for seminars.
“There are so many different kinds of teachers that are brought together. People that teach physics and people who teach journalism, so you get a lot of exposure to new ideas,” Harris said.
Speakers come to their monthly meetings and they discuss what is new in the teaching world. According to Harris, they have talked about several different topics including dilemmas and conflicts in the classroom.
“Sometimes the other teachers talk about new preps they use before going into the classroom. For me every time I go into the class it’s a new prep. Each class is a new creation,” Harris said.
Being a Governor’s Teaching Fellow is an honor for Harris. She has cultivated many new skills and is also able to share her experience with other professors. She really loves teaching, she said, and it’s something she has done since 1994.
“I’m really happy that I found something that comes so naturally to me so late in life,” Harris said.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Dec 4 2009. Filed under News.
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