Keep Teaching Carissa Carter

Keep Teaching by Carissa Carter

No matter where you’re from, or what type of schooling you’ve had, I’m confident that you can name a teacher that’s had a profound impact on your education.

Richard Kollen showed me the power of primary resources in historical research when I was in 12th grade. He took our class to the town archives, gave us white gloves and a day, and told us to find a story that had never been told. What?! There are layers of history that aren’t set in stone? That a high schooler could uncover? He showed me that I had more agency than I thought, and simultaneously made clear that what has been written is only one person’s version of the truth.

When I was extra-interested in the Coriolis effect as a first-year in college, Rónadh Cox took my questions about how it changes near the Earth’s poles seriously. They were beyond the scope of her expertise or the oceanography class I’d taken just for fun, but over the course of a few days she investigated them on her own time and got back to me with answers. I’d never witnessed a teacher “not know” before, and I felt really special that an established professor spent her own time on something to help spark my own interest. I went on to major in geoscience because of her.

As a second year graduate student in product design, the late Bill Moggridge made the time to meet with me every other week and talk about my thesis project. He wasn’t part of the teaching faculty, but took me under his wing anyway. I’m still not sure why. At the time, I had no idea what a legend he was or how lucky I was to have his mentorship. I’d bike over to his office at ideo and he’d take a look at my work. Often, he’d bring a new framework that he thought I should consider or challenge me to make a model to explain my ideas differently. He helped instill and stoke my own love for maps. He met me where I was and then kept turning the crank–the ultimate guide. From many vantage points, it’s been a tragic and devastating year. Looking back on the last 12 months, the bright spots for me have all been related to the exceptional teaching we do at the d.school. Whether packed in-person in a high-energy classroom or distributed across the world on Zoom, our courses stayed thoughtful, challenging, and relevant. I’m so proud of our winter and spring instructors, flipping their classes on a moment's notice from analog to digital. I’m so grateful to the Teaching + Learning team, selflessly guiding, building, planning, supporting our teachers and students all while acutely feeling the effects of the pandemic and problems with society in their own lives. I’m so thankful to work at the d.school surrounded by a community that cares for, challenges, and builds on each other.

Great teaching is timeless. It fits into small moments or fills big emotional gaps. It doesn’t pause if there’s a pandemic. It finds a way through escalating racial violence. It comes into focus even more when we lose our heroes.

I’ve learned so much from all of you this year. Keep teaching, —Carissa Carter