2023 Teaching Mentors

Megan Bruun

Teaching Department: Psychology

Megan is a Ph.D. student in the Psychology department. As an undergraduate, she began teaching at the University of Oregon, where she led Introduction to Psychology labs for other undergraduates. She continued to teach while earning her master’s degree. Here at UW-Madison, Megan has been both a teaching assistant and an instructor of record. Her favorite class to teach is Social Psychology because she loves to watch her students apply the material by detecting and observing social psychology concepts in their personal lives. In all of her teaching, she strives to empower students to lead their own learning, be critical thinkers, and build communities of support amongst each other.

Denise Oyuki Castillo

Teaching Department: Spanish & Portuguese; Writing Center

Denise Oyuki Castillo is a Ph.D. candidate of Hispanic Literature. She is a passionate educator that has taught beginning through advanced Spanish culture and language courses for the last 10 years in New Mexico and Wisconsin. The oral traditions and folk tales from Chihuahua and New Mexico shared with her by her grandparents inspired her to become a teacher and study literature. Denise enjoys teaching language, and literature and empowering students to embrace their heritage.

Caro Cruys

Teaching Department: Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work

Caro has been teaching research methods for social work students since the summer of 2021, along with guest lecturing in courses throughout their doctoral program. Their approach to teaching centers on the student experience. Their hope is to help students connect the course materials to their lives and work, which involves ensuring that students critically understand key concepts and moving at a pace that doesn’t leave anyone behind while also attending to folks who may be familiar with the materials already. Caro asks for student feedback throughout their courses, integrating in suggestions as they can and addressing concerns immediately. They also try to clearly communicate to their students that they care about both their success in the course and their well-being. By accepting feedback from, providing feedback to, and supporting students as much as they can,  Caro and their students are better able to co-create a constructive, challenging, and (hopefully) enjoyable course experience.

Mark Fuka

Teaching Department: Integrative Biology

Mark has been teaching for a total of 6 semesters, with his favorite class to teach being the first of two Introductory Biology laboratory sections because they are hands-on and utilize practical scientific techniques. Additionally, the class introduces students to the importance of scientific writing and communication that undoubtedly aids them in future research endeavors. Mark’s approach to teaching is to guide his students through the facilitation of learning outcomes and clear objectives. When concepts build off one another, it’s often easier to see a clear path forward and allows students to think critically about complex concepts. Mark emphasizes the importance of effective communication in class as it is vital to fostering professional relationships and inclusive science.

Marissa Gurtler

Teaching Department: Classical & Ancient Near Eastern Studies 

Eric Hensley

Teaching Department: Classical & Ancient Near Eastern Studies

Since beginning his PhD at UW-Madison, Eric has taught Elementary Latin first and second semesters as a primary instructor, then acted as TA for two Communications B courses: The Greeks and The Romans. He is passionate about all things to do with the ancient world, so his favorite thing about teaching is to open up a new subject for students and to get them excited about it as well. Eric’s specialty is in Greek and Latin inscriptions and graffiti, so he enjoys bringing material he is working on into his classes to allow them to read something that a person actually wrote 2000 years ago. His approach to teaching is to explain concepts from the beginning while also not making them too mundane. In that way, students will not feel lost from the beginning of class and will establish a foundation to build on for the remainder of the course. 

Michael Hoffmeister

Teaching Department: Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work

Michael Hoffmeister is a PhD Candidate and Teaching Faculty at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work. He has been teaching Master of Social Work students since Fall 2019 as the instructor of record for a field-based course titled “Social Work Practice in Public Child Welfare.” Michael brings his prior social work field experience to the classroom to facilitate interactive learning for students that integrates course content with field opportunities and community connections. He capitalizes on these real-life experiences to engage students and to help them realize their full potential as learners and professionals.

Cameron Jones

Teaching Department: Statistics

Cameron has been teaching a high-enrollment introductory Data Science course (Stat 240) for two years, initially as a TA and now as an instructor of record. He hopes to have a positive impact on all his students, no matter their background or prior experience. This could be sparking enthusiasm for the subject in an undecided-major student, preparing future data scientists for real-world problems, or leaving non-DS majors with important big picture takeaways. Beyond learning outcomes and pedagogy, Cameron believes a positive classroom experience starts with the little things – a “good morning”, knowing (or asking!) a student’s name, and showing your students empathy and kindness.

Sam Kramer

Teaching Department: Physics

Sam is a PhD student in the Department of Physics and has been teaching for Physics 202, a course for engineering major undergraduates that focuses on electricity, magnetism, and optics, since arriving in Madison. Sam also taught for a similar course as an undergraduate at Saint Louis University. In this role, he leads both discussions, which focus on problem solving, and labs, which provide hands-on experience with the concepts being taught. Physics can be an overwhelming subject, so Sam tries to distill the material into manageable chunks for the students, emphasizes the broader concepts underlying the formulas students use, and draws explicit connections between parts of the curricula. This is meant to develop the dynamic problem solving skills students need when encountering problems they have not seen before.

Taylor Laemmli

Teaching Department: Sociology

Taylor Laemmli is a dissertator in the Sociology Department. She has taught a wide range of courses at UW-Madison as both a TA and lecturer, supervised undergraduate researchers, and served as the inaugural instructional peer mentor in her department. She is passionate about introducing students to the sociological imagination and guiding them through the process of developing their own ideas and research. Her research explores people’s experiences of class and inequality, and her dissertation is about the relationship between elites and the privileged professionals who are central to the production of elite status. Outside of work, Taylor enjoys reading, eating at great restaurants, and doing agility training with her enthusiastic and tireless Australian Shepherd, Loudon. 

Justin Marquez

Teaching Department: Physics

Justin has been teaching Physics 208, an introductory E&M course, for nearly two years. He has enjoyed teaching discussions and leading labs, and specifically enjoys being challenged to constantly improve his teaching for his students. In discussion sections, Justin conducts a short lecture review, focusing on key concepts before he breaks students into their groups for the worksheet. He checks in with the students during the review and the groups work to gauge their understanding of the material and the major hurdles they face on each topic. Justin’s favorite part about teaching is finding the best ways of explaining a concept for a student and watching them piece it all together and get an “Aha!” moment.

Nathan Nicholson

Teaching Department: Mathematics

Nathan has been teaching or tutoring in some capacity for eleven years now. He loves teaching introductory proof-based courses like linear algebra, because it’s often an entirely different type of mathematics that requires his students to think in new and interesting ways. Nathan’s teaching philosophy revolves around being friendly, speaking clearly, asking effective questions, and using positive reinforcement to boost student confidence.

Mojca Penca

Teaching Departments: English & Asian American Studies

In her five years of teaching at UW-Madison, Mojca has taught college composition courses, introductory literature courses at the English Department and the Asian American Studies Department, and worked as a Writing Center Instructor. She has particularly enjoyed teaching “Eng/AAS 150: Literature and Culture of Asian America” and “AAS 152: Race, Fantasy, Futures.” 

Mojca’s approach to teaching has focused on cultivating a culture of care and compassion in her classrooms as well as creating a dynamic environment built around student engagement and collaboration. She sees the classroom as a space of engagement where students not only feel welcome and respected but where participation is a co-created experience between students and the instructor. Because she recognizes that active participation looks different in different academic cultures, Mojca seeks students’ input in identifying strategies that will help them engage in section activities and gain confidence. 

William Quade

Teaching Department: Communication Arts

William is an instructor in the Communication Arts Department specializing in Film. He has taught at UW-Madison for five years instructing classes on written communication, film production, and media studies. His favorite class he has taught is Comm Arts 355: Intro to Media Production which allows students hands-on training in basic film production practices and techniques. William’s teaching relies heavily on student interaction and feedback wherein he can adjust the rigor of his methods based on the diverse makeup of each section of students. He also approaches students as intellectual peers ready to learn and believes sensitively challenging their ideas of art, media, and film yields more successful results creatively and intellectually for all involved.   

Guadalupe Remigio Ortega

Teaching Department: English

Guadalupe is now in her 8th year of teaching including first year writing courses at California State University Fresno, first-year writing and basic writing courses at Reedley College, and first-year writing, intermediate composition, and technical writing at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her favorite class to teach so far has been English 201: Intermediate Composition. Guadalupe’s approach to teaching is student-centered with collaborative teaching and learning. Her students learn from her and one another and she learns from them. Guadalupe provides lots of opportunities for students to co-facilitate reading discussions and teach writing conventions. Her classes engage in reflective writing, revision, and self-assessment. 

Lesley Stevenson

Teaching Department: Communication Arts

Lesley is a Ph.D. student in Media & Cultural Studies with four years of instruction at UW­–Madison. She has worked as a teaching assistant for introductory media production and survey courses as well as lectured “Producing for Internet TV and Video,” an upper-level summer class that merges business and production. In all her classes, Lesley prioritizes media literacy—empowering students to be more thoughtful and critical about the content they consume and create. She leverages her prior experience working in the entertainment industry as much as possible by relating learning goals to real-life experiences, inviting young, relevant guest speakers, and preparing students for the realities of media work. In doing so, Lesley hopes to contribute to a new generation of creators and executives who prioritize equity and inclusion both in front of and behind the camera. 

Jiangjiang Wu

Teaching Departments: Anthropology & Sucessworks

As a PhD student, Jiangjiang has worked as a teaching assistant at UW-Madison for over 8 semesters, during which she taught amazing courses such as Cultural Anthropology and Human Diversity (Anthro 104) and Communicating about Careers (INTER-LS 215). SHe enjoys promoting meaningful and thought-provoking discussions by posing questions that encourage critical thinking and active engagement. In teaching social sciences courses, Jiangjiang has found that engaging students’ life experiences is an effective way to help them comprehend abstract concepts and ideas.

Taiyu Ye

Teaching Department: Statistics

Taiyu is a 5th year PhD student in the Statistics department of UW-Madison, and he has been TA here for 5 years! Taiyu spent four semesters teaching one of the most difficult PhD courses, STAT 709, in our department. Accuracy and conciseness are his top two values teaching a course as difficult as this. He also enjoyed talking to students to hear their needs or understandings of the course materials so that he could make the best adjustment for them. By sharing his own thoughts, understandings, and experience in learning STAT 709, Taiyu helped students get through it from year to year.