Search 
MyUMUC 
WebTycho Center for Teaching and Learning
Faculty Excellence at UMUC
 |
Faculty Interview
|
| Interviewer: | Please tell us about yourself--what made you decide to teach at UMUC? What kind of work do you do when you are not teaching at UMUC? Are there any life experiences that have influenced your teaching at UMUC? If so, please share one story. |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | I met a UMUC online faculty member who raved about the wonderful medium of online teaching and encouraged me to try it. I had been slowly working my way into supplementing face-to-face teaching with Web-based materials. At that point I was anxious to see what pedagogical opportunities online interaction and Web access could bring. I was also fascinated with the idea of communicating with people from all over the world. |
| Interviewer: | How would you describe your teaching style or philosophy? What experiences or person(s) have influenced your style or philosophy? |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | In teaching I aim to balance firmness with freedom. I think structure and creativity go hand-in-hand. Thus I urge students to be disciplined in their writing, but at the same time give free-reign to their ideas. For example, for the HUMN 350 course (The Religious Quest) I want students to master a certain amount of "factual content" about each world religion, but push further to find "meaning" in the facts. I tell them to go beyond the "WHAT" to the "SO WHAT." I want students to gain confidence in their own ability to think and to realize that thinking involves both staying grounded on topic and reaching to make new connections. I was fortunate in my education to meet many teachers who encouraged me to follow my interests. Their influence also prompted me to persist with questions even when others did not quite understand why I wanted to know something. I would point to four teachers in college/graduate school at the University of Chicago whose lessons have stuck with me in terms of teaching style and philosophy. (These four were by no means my only influential teachers.) Richard McKeon (philosopher, professor of history of ideas) encouraged me to read carefully. As a naïve undergraduate in his class I felt comfortable because not even the most "fancy-talking" students had any advantage in the classroom. All students had to simply think and not try to prove anything about how smart they were and how much they knew. McKeon generally would have us spend the whole class period (except for the last couple of minutes) on one paragraph of a book! (Okay, sometimes two paragraphs.) This was often the first paragraph of a well written book in which all the major terms, distinctions, and issues of the work were embedded. Then at the end of class we'd suddenly realize the fact that all the issues packed into an opening section were played out in the rest of the work. Eugene Gendlin (clinical psychologist, professor of philosophical psychology) taught me that when a person asks a question, he or she already has the seeds of an answer that should be explored. Questions do not come out of "nowhere," and simply by following up on the implications of a question, one can find answers. Gendlin encouraged students to map out our ideas by writing them down in little boxes all over a piece of paper and then to go back to draw connections between them. I later realized that Gendlin's approach was grounded in what is called the Socratic Method of study. Gendlin liked to remind us of this story Plato wrote about his teacher. One time Socrates showed an uneducated boy that he had within him the capacity to produce theory in geometry. By asking many questions, Socrates helped the boy come to amazing insights. Mircea Eliade (the Romanian historian of religions) upon seeing a copy of my doctoral dissertation in process wrote a note saying: "Bon Courage!" Although I studied French, I am still wondering about the meaning of his not-so-simple statement. I think he was telling me to always have intellectual courage. Eliade's classes were very inspiring because he brought not only world religions to life, but also the authors of books on history of religions to life. Eliade made me realize that the best scholars are motivated by a deep quest for knowledge. Karl Weintraub (founder of the graduate program in History of Culture) upon seeing me struggle with my dissertation, said: "Don't get it right, get it written!" Of course, he did not mean I should be sloppy in my writing. But he meant to press on -- because the process of research and writing never ends. From Weintraub I got the sense that one finally has to produce something knowing that the work of scholarship is ongoing. He taught me to have confidence and not get hung up because ideas have to build on each other. In the development of ideas one must have courage to move through the snags -- or as another friend said: "Hold your nose, and write!” |
| Interviewer: | Please explain if you do something special or unique in your teaching and what made you develop this. |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | In my teaching I try to have each and every person feel confident regardless of his or her previous exposure to the subject matter. Interest in a subject and enthusiasm for learning are the two most important elements a student can bring to the class. As far as I am concerned, interest and enthusiasm far outweigh expertise because they open the way for learning. |
| Interviewer: | What do you think it is about your teaching style that appeals to students? |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | I hope that students feel my respect for each and every one of them. If a student can feel this, then being in a class with me would naturally appeal to her or him because every person wants to be taken seriously. |
| Interviewer: | Do you teach face-to-face, online, or both? Do you have a preference between teaching face-to-face and online? If so, please explain. |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | At present, I teach exclusively online. I enjoy both methods of teaching. Each method has its strong suit. (i) Online teaching allows students to deliberate at length about what everyone is saying in the classroom. It allows both teachers and students to focus on ideas presented. What surprised me at first was the extent to which the "personality" of people comes through in an online environment. Humor, intensity, and enthusiasm all come through the screen. (ii) Face-to-face teaching has the advantage of spontaneity. Students can get their questions answered immediately and can build discussions as their ideas freshly grow. Sometimes face-to-face teaching is better for explaining nuances of an idea, details of historical circumstances, and so forth. |
| Interviewer: | Please tell us about your chosen discipline-i.e., what made you interested in the area initially? What do you do to stay current in your discipline? What do you like best about teaching in your discipline? |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | I became interested in the History of Culture through an interest in comparative religions. I focused on religion and culture because I wanted to know what people in various cultures throughout history had discovered about human potential. I asked myself: "What inner resources is a human being capable of developing?" I first turned to a study of the meditation traditions of India to find a "psychology" that complemented western psychology. From studies of India, I branched out. There are so many rewards for studying religions of the world. The rewards are both personal and social. (i) Numerous ideas and biographical illustrations I come across every day are personally inspiring, and helpful. I think others have similar experiences in studying the history of culture (with a focus on religions). (ii) The more I learn, the more I feel connected with people of all cultures. The study of history of religions helps a person become cosmopolitan, i.e., a world citizen. I am rewarded by new realizations that students have regarding the underlying humanness of people of all religions. |
| Interviewer: | What is the most challenging to you in teaching in this area? What teaching strategy do you use when you encounter the challenge? |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | There is a saying: "Never talk about politics or religion." Politics and religion are emotionally laden topics because they mean so much to people. Many people take their religious views very seriously, so discussions about religion can lead to arguments or hurt feelings. It is challenging to lead students into culturally unfamiliar areas full of ideas that contradict one's personal beliefs. I always encourage students to both be honest and open-minded. |
| Interviewer: | What suggestion would you give to students who are interested in majoring or working in your discipline? |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | Studies in the History of Culture are useful in any field that involves people -- from law, to social work, to medicine, to sales, and so forth. I advise students to create their own "agendas." This means that I feel a student should develop her or his own interests and not just study to meet someone else's requirements for a grade, for a degree, and for a job. This personal intellectual development will then help the student adapt to many different job requirements in a creative way. |
| Interviewer: | In your opinion, what makes UMUC the college of choice for students? |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | UMUC has wonderful professors who are committed to teaching. UMUC also has a tremendous administration and staff committed to their work. UMUC offers options for study that meet the needs of diverse people. Online study attracts people from all social backgrounds, many areas of the world, and various vocations. This pool of students generates a tremendously rich collective body of experience. Therefore students learn a huge amount from each other. They also help and encourage each other because they see a common commitment among peers to get an education even under difficult circumstances. In short, I see "commitment to education" all the way around at UMUC among students, administration, and faculty. |
| Interviewer: | In your opinion, what makes UMUC the employer of choice for future faculty members? |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | UMUC makes a real effort to help its teachers deliver high quality online classes, with training, mentoring, and personal attention from directors. |
| Interviewer: | What suggestion would you give to new faculty who are interested in teaching in your discipline at UMUC? |
| Victoria Urubshurow: | Stay focused. Don't fall behind. Be regular and predictable so students know when they can expect to hear from you. Be respectful of student's time. Online teaching has to be handled in an efficient and streamlined manner. Make sure students are clear about their assignments and due dates. Don't make "busy work" for students or have them run around trying to figure out "what to do when." Stay on top of discussions and give appropriate directives without interfering too much. This means be a good facilitator. |
Faculty Excellence at UMUC Home
