Teaching in focus: Sara Ann Knutson

Name:

Sara Ann Knutson

My pronouns:

she/ her

Title:

Assistant Professor of Teaching

Faculty/Department/Unit:

Faculty of Arts, Department of History

Location:

Vancouver

Year I started working at UBC:

2022

What first motivated you to become an educator?

To me, teaching and learning have always carried very personal meanings. I was the first in my family to earn a bachelor’s degree—from the same institution that my mother had once been accepted to but could not attend. From that background, my experiences learning from fantastic teachers, and my later work as a museum-based educator and instructor of undergraduates, I internalized the impact that great teaching and mentorship can have on someone’s life.

Tell us more about your work.

I currently teach premodern global history, history of the Islamic World, and historiography. My multidisciplinary background in History, Archaeology, and Anthropology shapes my teaching and I encourage students to think across disciplinary categories. I think exploring the past to ground ourselves in the present and imagine futures is very human; I communicate to students that they do not need to be academics in order to engage the past and understand its role in the present.

What inspired your particular approach to teaching?

My approach to pedagogy transformed during graduate school as a result of learning from leading specialists of teaching and learning. That experience taught me that I could be transparent with my students about the pedagogical logic behind each aspect of my teaching and that students appreciate being involved in these discussions. My pedagogy also honours students as partners, with their own expertise in the learning process, rather than as passive recipients of predetermined knowledge.

What have you learned while teaching that has surprised you the most?

I think I have been most surprised by how much the same course on paper can transform with each new student cohort. I may provide the syllabus and the structure for the course content, but it is the students who really create the class and determine the learning that happens in the classroom, based on their own positionalities, life experiences, and expectations. Teaching is definitely a dynamic activity.

What impact do you hope to have on your students?

My wish for students is to be kind, and find and sustain joy in the life-long learning process. Teachers can take on many forms beyond the instructor in the classroom, such as peers, friends, and strangers. I hope students leave my classroom just a little more curious and open about the world and to recognize that they have capacity for creativity, in whatever form that may take.

Are there any colleagues or mentors you’d like to acknowledge and why?

My parents are certainly my earliest and most enduring teachers and among the smartest people I know. There are more colleagues and mentors whose friendship have shaped me beyond what I can express. Rosemary Joyce (UC Berkeley) and Pheroze Unwalla (UBC) are two people who continue to profoundly shape my teaching practice; the ways they each prioritize student wellbeing and social justice in their pedagogies are awe-inspiring.

Learn more:

https://history.ubc.ca/profile/sara-ann-knutson 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-ann-knutson-452494166/