The material on this site is based on the teaching experience and research of Elizabeth Fagan, Ph.D.; Hilary Levinson, Ph.D.; Allison L. Tharp, Ph.D.; and Meriah Crawford, Ph.D.
We created this site to gather the most essential and accurate information about teaching online, relevant both generally and for the specific first- and second-year courses we teach. We sought to craft a curated set of resources that would dramatically reduce the time others needed to spend finding this same information. We hope you find it valuable!
We would love to hear from you, and suggested additions or changes are always welcome. Please email Meriah at crawfordml @ vcu.edu.
Bios
Alli Tharp is an assistant professor in the Department of Focused Inquiry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She received her doctorate in 19th century American protest literature from the University of Southern Mississippi and then spent three years as a postdoctoral researcher in writing pedagogy at the University of Delaware. She has taught a wide range of classes, from developmental writing to theory to literature (and once a really fun class on cults). When she’s not thinking about teaching, she can be found reading, hanging with her dog, or doing kickboxing or yoga. Visit her website at allisonlanetharp.com.
Meriah Crawford is an associate professor in the Department of Focused Inquiry at VCU, where she has taught since Fall 2006. She is also a writer and editor, with an MFA in creative writing and a Ph.D. in literature and criticism. Prior to joining the faculty at VCU, her experience includes project management, systems and business analysis, software testing and coding, technical writing and editing, and graphic design at companies including Microsoft and Dominion. She has also been a private investigator since 2003. Meriah’s writing includes literary fiction as well as mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. Her scholarly work has included encyclopedia entries about Virginia authors, short articles about teaching, and a re-definition of point of view with particular focus on the second person and trauma. For more information, please visit meriahcrawford.com.
Elizabeth Fagan is an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Focused Inquiry. She’s been teaching since 2009 on topics ranging from social theory to world history, issues of identity formation, and ancient populations who are hard to see using traditional historigraphical methods. Elizabeth is an archaeologist and historian who works in Armenia, thinking about the relationship between the Roman Empire and the ancient kingdom of Armenia. Her PhD was in anthropology and history from the University of Chicago, where she also worked as an assistant director in the Chicago Center for Teaching. She writes about her teaching and research at egafagan.com.
Hilary Levinson is an assistant professor in the Department of Focused Inquiry at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has taught a wide range of classes, including college writing and critical thinking, literature, and Spanish language. She earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature at the University of Michigan, and her academic interests include memory and politics, Latin American and Latinx literature, translation, migration and exile, and reading text and image. Hilary is also an editor and translator, working with materials in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan, and French. When she’s not teaching or writing, she enjoys cooking and doing yoga. Visit her website at hilarylevinson.com.