My colleague/friend/fellow UMD faculty member/office mate, Linda, and I are still sharing one office key which means we have to do a nightly trade, but we're managing.
On the other hand, the leftovers
Our name plate on the door identifies us as "professors"
but the only folks with that title here are individuals who have achieved what we in the U.S. would consider "full professors". As I am an "associate" professor at UMD, I would be considered a "lecturer" or "tutor" here. Regardless, we are all using our given names with our students--both in the Study in England Programme group and in our classes. The goal here is to lessen the distance between us and our students.
We are meeting our students only once per week for three hour blocks. I really like the three-hour modules for our courses here. Understanding that my perspective is skewed, I find the class time really flies.
My Tuesdays are devoted to Interpersonal Communication. I have a wonderful mix of students, including seven UMD students, three UK students originally from Poland, one UK student of African background, and two other UK students. The small class size makes for a perfectly intimate environment, so the students seem quite comfortable sharing with each other. I don't think I've ever enjoyed teaching (or taking) Interpersonal as much as I am doing in this class. The students are offering terrific insights and providing great perspectives from their unique points of view. I feel so lucky and look forward to hearing their insights on upcoming lessons.
We hold a Cultural seminar every Tuesday evening. Tonight we reviewed our upcoming trip to Cornwall. Students will have an opportunity to try surfing. I'm not sure the over-50 contingent will be up for that. I, for one, will be in search of the perfect cream tea.
We also shared our "How did we come to be here" stories.
It's been a good day.
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