Heather Treseler: Teaching students to read as writers
Professor of English, 2017 Alden Award Winner
Heather Treseler is a professor of English and a multi award-winning poet who has studied under preeminent authors, including the novelist Saul Bellow and literary critic Maud Ellmann. At Worcester State, she views her students as literary collaborators.
“I think of my students as fellow writers, capable of engaging with the major inquiries of literary scholarship and the rigors of sustained creative endeavor,” Treseler said. “I view our work together as a collaborative effort.”
She believes it is important to teach students to think deeply about what they read because it helps them develop their own strong habits of reading.
“My teaching philosophy is to help students read as writers and think as authors, developing their own habit of reading closely, contextually, and imaginatively that they can apply to any text or situation,” she said.
By thinking about the choices writers make in constructing a literary text, such as genre, mode, imagery, and aesthetics, students can gain a deeper understanding of the author’s intentions and the overall meaning of the work, she said.
Beyond the classroom, it also is important for teachers to help students find their way along their career paths, she said. One of her students who initially planned on becoming an elementary school teacher realized it wasn’t her calling after completing her first teaching observation. The student appeared at Treseler’s office door in tears, seeking guidance. Treseler helped her explore other professional options, which eventually led her to finding her passion in library science.
Treseler believes a successful English professor meets the students where they are and guides them in exploring literature and writing in ways that hone their concrete skills as readers and writers. “I hope that my students conclude my classes with new and sharper tools—of textual analysis and interpretation, of inquiry and discussion, and of writing analytically and creatively.”
