Dr. Kate Scarth is seeking an undergraduate Teaching Assistant to support the course, ENGL/DSJS 2210: “Writing by Women.” This course, “Writing by Women,” is particularly focusing on women writing the city, exploring how women have experienced, imagined, and written about the city in fiction. We will focus on psychological, emotional, sensual, imaginative, and bodily experiences of urban space. Students will bring their own interdisciplinary interests to course discussion and assignments; possible topics will include gender, sex and sexuality, the environment/ecocriticism, place/geography, time, walking, the five senses (sight, smell, touch, sound, taste), romance, marriage, class, work/labour, race, health/well-being, nationality, social justice, and the connection between the ‘real’ and the imagined.

The major project is a podcast. Small groups of students are responsible for a single podcast episode on a primary text/theme of their choosing, with the entire class creating a podcast season. In-class workshopping, collaboration, and peer review, as well as a final report, will support the podcast creation.

The successful candidate for this position will support the development of the course podcast. The teaching assistant will create a sample episode to test the podcast creation process—including performing a short recording and minor editing, as well as uploading and sharing that material to a podcast platform. This sample episode will serve as an example for students and provide them with a sense of the process, workload, and audio quality required. The successful candidate will be responsible for uploading and sharing all student podcast episodes to a public podcast platform at the end of term. The teaching assistant will also offer office hours to help students troubleshoot issues and to provide tips/advice.

The student teaching assistant will enhance their knowledge of podcasting, communications, and public engagement. While digital or technical expertise is not required, openness to learning new technologies is. The successful candidate will be given support and provided with training to develop relevant skills; this is an excellent opportunity for an Arts student to gain or improve their digital skills. While both the interview and the work of this position will be conducted virtually, regular communication and support will be provided. The student will be supervised by Dr. Kate Scarth, Chair of L.M. Montgomery Studies, and Assistant Professor, Applied Communication, Leadership, and Culture. This position is funded by the Applied Communication, Leadership, and Culture program. Potential applicants are welcome to contact Dr. Scarth with questions about the position before applying (kscarth@upei.ca).

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Contribute to the development of a podcast for the course, Writing by Women
• Create a sample podcast episode as an example for students registered in the course
• Provide students with a sense of the process, workload, and audio quality required for their podcast episode
• Provide tips for students on creating a podcast
• Help students troubleshoot issues with creating their podcast
• Provide office hours to talk with students about their podcast creation
• Upload and share student podcast episodes to a public podcast platform
• Perform other duties as required

QUALIFICATIONS:

• UPEI Bachelor of Arts Student (any discipline; students in this course come from a range of disciplines)
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal)
• Highly motivated and responsible
• Able to work independently and be well organized
• Willingness to learn new digital tools
• Experience with technology/digital tools (particularly podcasting or sound recording/editing) is desirable but not required
• Experience working closely with others
• Familiarity with or interest in writing by women, fiction, literature, and/or history is desirable

Priority will be given to University of Prince Edward Island students in accordance with Recruitment, Selection, Hiring and Employment Policies and the Procedures manual.