University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center

Fall 2003

2003-2004 TRC Graduate Student Staff

Mandy Hege is working toward a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology. Her current research focuses on ways in which memory distortions can be reduced. She is also investigating what causes the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. Mandy was a nominee for the Seven Society Graduate Fellowship Award. She is an Adjunct Instructor at Piedmont Virginia Community College and has served as a Seminar Leader for the Summer Enrichment Program through the Curry School of Education. In the fleeting moments between her teaching, her research, and her writing, Mandy enjoys traveling, gourmet cooking, wine tasting, and listening to and performing choral music-when she remembers the words.

Chris Jackson is a Ph.D. candidate in the English Department, where he is studying British Romantic and modern American poetics and poetry. He has taught several courses at U.Va. and was recently a finalist for the Seven Society Graduate Fellowship. In his teaching, he is especially interested in exploring the ways students can put literature to use in experiencing their own lives. When not pursuing his academic work, Chris enjoys practicing yoga, reading and reviewing contemporary fiction and poetry, cooking, gardening, and spending time with his wife.

Janna Levin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Environmental Sciences and specializes in low-temperature aqueous geochemistry and shallow subsurface hydrology. Through her dissertation research, she aims to contribute to a better understanding of colloid (a tiny clay particle) mobilization within unsaturated soils because colloids have been implicated in facilitating the transport of groundwater contaminants. In addition to receiving awards for her research, she recently received the Fred Holmsley Moore Teaching Award and the Graduate Teaching Assistant award from her department. In her free time, Janna enjoys visiting her family and friends, hiking, rock climbing, and traveling to foreign countries.

Following a rewarding year as a Graduate Student Associate, Bill Murad returns to help broaden the TRC's services and resources as a Teaching + Technology Support Partner. Bill will assist TRC staff to develop their individual apabilities, thus expanding their ability to consult with faculty and TAs concerning instructional technology. Bill will also help expand the TRC's web presence and offer workshops to the university community on web-based and other electronic resources. Bill is a Ph.D. candidate in the Classics Department, specializing in early ancient Greek literature and literary technique. His dissertation explores aspects of divine causation in Aeschylus' Oresteia and concentrates more specifically on the role played by the Furies in Aeschylus' divine scheme. Bill has taught at U. Va. for four years; he enjoys running, traveling, tennis and ardently wishes that everything was, in fact, Greek to him.