Our staff are always ready to help you answer your questions and provide consultations on a number of topics. We know it can be intimidating to ask for help from strangers. So, we’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our team in a new series spotlighting Center for Teaching staff members.

If you’re looking for help designing writing assignments and assessments, there’s a good chance you’re going to set up a meeting with Tamar Bernfeld. Before joining the Center for Teaching team, Tamar worked as a writing consultant and coordinator of the Writing Resource in the College of Education here at the University of Iowa and was previously a writing consultant and ESL specialist at the Writing Center at the University of Pittsburgh where she also taught composition. Her expertise in writing is just one of the many skills she brings to our team. We asked Tamar to answer some questions for us so you can get to know her and her work a bit better.

What are your primary responsibilities at the Center for Teaching? 

My primary responsibilities include running Students as Partners – a pedagogical partnership program that matches faculty members with undergraduate students recruited through Iowa’s 1stGen@Iowa program. Our program is currently funded by an HHMI grant and focuses on large lecture STEM courses.  This program brings student perspectives/student voices into the process of course design and enhancing teaching practices.  

In addition, I work with the TA mentor program, which involves meeting regularly with experienced TAs to help them support new and continuing TAs teaching large lecture STEM courses. Over the past year and a half that this program has been in existence, we have seen how peer mentorship has had a powerful impact on new TAs’ sense of self-efficacy and confidence in teaching and an increased sense of belonging as part of a cohort of graduate teaching assistants. TA mentors serve as a point of communication and connection between the faculty teaching the course and the numerous TAs in discussion and lab sections.  Improving this communication and providing support for the TAs has a positive impact on the experience of undergraduates in these courses. 

I am also running the Inclusive Teaching Book Club, which will be reading Liz Norell’s book The Present Professor this Spring.

What kind of consultations do you do most often? 

Most often I consult with instructors working on designing writing assignments and assessments. In addition, I consult on general education courses as early as the proposal phase as well as consulting on adjustments and updates to well-established general education courses.  I also frequently consult with international and multilingual instructors with a focus on their linguistic and cultural experiences in classrooms at Iowa.  

What are your scholarly areas of interest? 

My scholarly interests are related to language ideology – particularly monolingual English language ideologies in the context of education in the U.S.  I am interested in teachers’ encounters with language diversity in their classrooms, their beliefs about their students’ languages, and how their experiences and beliefs manifest in classroom practices.  

I am also interested in Writing Across the Disciplines and writing pedagogy and support in higher education.  

What is your favorite part about working at the Center for Teaching? 

I think I am particularly lucky because the programs I am working with allow me to interact with instructors, graduate students, and undergraduates.  I love how working in the Center for Teaching allows me to build relationships with such varied groups of people across campus.  

Tell me about the course you are teaching this spring.  

In the spring I am teaching a new course: World Englishes. This course will be offered through the Department of Linguistics and will fulfill the new World Language and Cultural Exploration general education category. In this course, students will learn how and why English is used in various regions around the world and will develop an understanding of linguistic principles to explain language variation and change through the lens of World Englishes.  

What is a unique thing you enjoy doing in Iowa City? 

I have really been enjoying the live music at Club Hancher. I love the smaller venue and the artists that it attracts.  Last year a standout was La Dame Blanche.  Just last month I had the privilege of experiencing Cécile McLorin Salvant. These two artists are so incredible and inspiring – I never imagined I would have a chance to see them in Iowa City.  

What is something on campus that you look forward to participating in? 

I’m looking forward to participating in Cultivating Success: A Global Faculty Initiative: International Teaching, an event that International Programs is hosting in February. The Center for Teaching is co-sponsoring the event, which will include international faculty members from across campus. I am fortunate to be involved in this event, which is again an opportunity to collaborate with new groups on campus as well as integrate my academic interests with my current work in the center.  

Interested in a consultation with Tamar or any other Center for Teaching staff member? Request a teaching consultation!