In June, Beth Fisher became the assistant director of The Teaching Center. Fisher directs Teaching Center programs for graduate students, including the Teaching Citation program, jointly administered with the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (for more information, see The Teaching Center website.) Fisher is dedicated to helping graduate students develop their pedagogical knowledge and hone their teaching skills in their work as Teaching Assistants and as they prepare for future academic positions. In addition to providing regular workshops for departments and graduate-student groups, she meets with graduate students on an individual basis to discuss teaching and professional development. She also organizes the annual University TA Orientation each August.

Fisher has been a lecturer in the Women and Gender Studies program since 2001. She has taught courses in literature and expository writing at the University of Iowa, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Fontbonne University. An alumna of Washington University (A.B. 1992), she earned a Ph.D. in English and American literature in 2001 from the University of Iowa.

Currently, Fisher is developing a wide range of teaching materials, including a manual for Washington University Teaching Assistants, a collection of teaching resources on reserve at Olin Library, and hand-outs on teaching strategies available to faculty and graduate students on the The Teaching Center Web site. She looks forward to creating new graduate-student programs at The Teaching Center, including an on-line learning community. Graduate students and faculty members who would like to discuss current and future programs are invited to contact Beth Fisher at bfisher@wustl.edu or 935-5921.