Every year, the Center for Teaching chooses six Graduate Teaching Fellows through a competitive application process. Fellows deepen their knowledge of the scholarship of teaching and learning throughout their time in the cohort, leading to the creation of a campus-wide interactive workshop or pedagogical project on a topic of their choice. The fellows program is co-sponsored by the Graduate College.
Our 25-26 AY Fellows come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. Check back in on our newsletter this spring to learn more about their projects.
Brody DeBettignies is a PhD candidate in Political Science. He received his BA in Political Science and Religious Studies and an MA in Political Science from the University of Iowa. His research interests include gender and politics, morality politics, LGBTQ+ politics, public policy, and public opinion. His dissertation project examines state and federal morality policymaking in the US. Brody has taught several courses within political science, including Public Opinion and Introduction to Social Media and Politics, and has served as a teaching assistant for many others. He has enjoyed the opportunity to connect with other graduate students across disciplines as part of the fellowship. The opportunity to engage with fellow graduate students across campus who are deeply committed to excellence in teaching has been invaluable.
Sarah Frank is a PhD Candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant in English at the University of Iowa. Her research and teaching examine representations of material infrastructures in 19th- and 20th-century modernist literature. She is currently writing her dissertation, which investigates how literary depictions of the built environment shape the way we perceive and understand the stakes of our infrastructured world.
Meredith Healy is an MFA Directing candidate in the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa. As a director focused on the development of new works, Meredith enjoys building worlds with casts and creative teams. Taking inspiration from the dramaturg Elinor Fuchs, she strives to treat plays like small planets, dissecting the intricacies, patterns, sounds, places, and people that make the world unique. During her time in graduate school, Meredith has had the privilege of collaborating with MFA Playwrights on productions and is currently in rehearsals for her thesis production of How to Defend Yourself which opens in February 2026. As a Teaching Assistant for Script Analysis and History of Theatre and Drama, she creates an environment where students are encouraged to think critically about plays and consider the impact theater has on the larger community.
Paria Karimi is a PhD candidate in the Department of Mathematics. She received her a master's degree in mathematics from University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Her primary research interests are applied topology and knot theory, and she is currently working on modeling the action of an enzyme called Topoisomerase type II on DNA knots. She serves as a graduate teaching assistant at the department of mathematics and finds teaching and interacting with students very fulfilling.
Shri Vishalini Rajaram is a PhD candidate working in the Division of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the College of Dentistry. With a bachelor's in Genetic Engineering and a master's in Computational Biology from India, she pursues interdisciplinary research that combines biology and data science. Her work draws on toxicology, microbiome science, and computational analysis to examine how microbial communities and environmental exposures, including diet, drugs, and chemicals, influence oral health and disease. Alongside her research, she is actively engaged in teaching and pedagogical development, focusing on helping students work confidently with complex biological concepts and real research data. She enjoys experimenting with creative teaching approaches, including storytelling, visual explanations, and data-driven examples, to foster curiosity and confidence in scientific thinking. She values clarity and structure in instruction and designs learning experiences that connect theory to practice across disciplines. One aspect of the Graduate Teaching Fellowship she has especially enjoyed is discussing how educational organization and institutional policies shape student experiences, while also identifying common ethical principles that guide teaching across different contexts.
Jenna Springer is a PhD student in the Department of Health, Sport, and Human Physiology and is pursuing a Certificate in College Teaching. She is an NBHWC-certified health coach and holds a Master of Science in Health & Human Physiology and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Health Promotion from the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on testing health interventions to promote sustainable behavior change and quality of life. She serves as a teaching assistant for multiple health promotion courses. She has thoroughly enjoyed engaging in conversations about assignment and course design, the current climate in higher education, and learning from various perspectives across departments through the Fellows program.