Graduate Student Instructor Teaching&Resource Center UC Berkeley

Grants

Course Improvement Grants

Departmental Grants

Past Grant Recipients

2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008

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Spring 2008

Anthropology

Course title: Anthropology 3AC: Introduction to Global American Anthropology

Project title: Anthropology in/of the Contemporary World read more

GSI: Nathaniel Dumas

# students benefited: 24

Comparative Literature

Course title: Comparative Literature R1B: Word and World

Project title:
Curse of the Starving Class Theater Outing read more

GSI: Katrina Dodson

# students benefited: 27

English

Course title:

English R1B: News and Literary Forms

Project title:

Maps and Power

GSI:

Marguerite Nguyen

# students benefited:

Near East Asian Studies

Course title:

Near East Asian / Religious Studies C104: Bablyonian Religion

Project title:

Clothing the Gods: Textile Production in Mesopotamia

GSI:

Terri-lynn Tanaka

# students benefited:

Course title:

Near East Asian / Arabic 1B: Elementary Arabic

Project title:

Teaching Arabic Conditionals and the Conditions of Arabic Realites

GSI:

Jason Vivrette

# students benefited:

Theater Dance and Performance Studies

Course title:

Theater, Dance & Preformance Studes R1B: Representing Queer Identities in Theater and Film"

Project title:

Live Queer Theater

GSI:

Michelle Baron

# students benefited:

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Spring 2007

Anthropology

Course title:

Anthropology 131:Archaeological Science

Project title:

Building a Lifetime Learning Agenda in the Classroom

GSI:

Celeste Henrickson

# students benefited:

Sensing the need for archaeology students to gain hands-on experience with collecting and identifying geologic samples, Celeste augmented her course with sections that introduce her students to geologic concepts. The rock collections and test kits that she acquired for her project benefit not only her current students, but also future students in the archeology department.

Comparative Literature

Course title:

Comparative Literature R1B: Books with Motives

Project title:

A Night at the Theater

GSI:

Karen Alexandra Spira

# students benefited:

As part of her course in exploring the different kinds of experiences literature can create, Karen and her co-instructor Ruth took their students to see a live performance of After the War, a play by Gotanda about the impact of Japanese internment in the aftermath of WWII. In preparation for the play, her students researched the playwright and the play and spent the section after the play discussing their impressions. Students additionally participated in an online discussion, using bSpace, in which they critiqued the play. For a number of students, this was their first experience with professional theater. The play animated many of the concepts students had discussed in class, as well as introduced students to the rich cultural offerings of the Bay Area.

Course title:

Comparative Literature 60AC: Culture Clash : Incommensurability in Migrant Narrative

Project title:

Reading Incommensurability On Screen: "The Namesake"

GSI:

Luis Ramos

# students benefited:

Luis took his students to the see the film The Namesake, an adaptation of the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, as part of their ongoing discussions of issues of cross-cultural encounters. His students compared the screen adaptation to the novel, and discussed the perspective on immigration offered by the film and those by other texts they had read in the class. Luis also asked students to examine how the film offers a different perspective from other texts examined in class by factoring into their critical purview the ways that categories of race, gender, and class shape the film's overall portrayal of immigrant lives.

Course title:

Comparative Literature 41D: Performing Gender

Project title:

Tickets to Theatrical Performance

GSI:

Maya Fisher

# students benefited:

In her entry-level course on drama with a focus on performing gender, Maya took her students to a live performance of the musical The Gay Divorce. In addition to examining typical gender roles, role-playing, and identity confusion, her students discussed the differences between reading and viewing dramatic texts and drew connections to the other dramas they studied in the course. Through an essay question in the final exam and questions on the course evaluation form, Maya assessed both her students' grasp of the material and the success of her project.

English

Course title:

English R1A: Facing West From California's Shores

Project title:

Watershed Ethics: Documenting Strawberry Creek

GSI:

Jeremy Ecke

# students benefited:

Jeremy incorporated photography into his R1A course by leading his students on a documentary photography project of Strawberry Creek. The course explored the parallelism between photographic and textual framing, examining the rich literary tradition of nature writing through the concepts of bioregionalisn and watershed ethics. His students' efforts resulted in a photography collection as part of the Strawberry Creek Cleanup project. The collection will be housed in the Marian Koshland Bioscience & Natural Resources Library.

Geography

Course title:

Geography 130: Natural Resources and Population

Project title:

Community Consequences of Gold Mining in Honduras

GSI:

Daniel Graham & Jessica Lage

# students benefited:

125

In a course that explores the complex interrelationships between human and natural systems, Daniel and Jessica brought three guest speakers with extensive experience with the mining industry in Honduras to their classroom. The students prepared for the speakers' visit through readings, discussion, and a special lecture by the GSIs. In their term papers, students connected the guest lectures to the themes of the course.

History of Art

Course title:

R1B: Reading and Writing about Visual Experience

Project title:

Visit to the SF MOMA for a study of Picasso and American Art

GSI:

Vesna Rodic

# students benefited:

In her introductory course in the field of visual studies, Vesna took her students to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to see the exhibit "Picasso and American Art." The visit reinforced the students' understanding of Picasso's work and its historical context. This deeper understanding is reflected in their journal entries where they compared a work discussed in class to one they saw in the museum. In the same journal, her students also identified the kinds of critical and analytical skills that they were able to practice in the museum that they otherwise did not experience in class.

Integrative Biology

Course title:

Integrative Biology 245L: Functional Neuroanatomy Lab

Project title:

Neuroanatomy Enrichment

GSI:

Aubrey Gilbert & Bradley Voytek

# students benefited:

Aubrey and Bradley added a number of innovations to their neuroanatomy class. Their students not only were aided visually in their understanding of the brain through illustrations in the Netter Neuroscience Flashcards, but they also gained hands-on understanding of the brain structure by molding the brain using multi-colored clay. Moreover, they also visited the UCSF Medical Center to speak with a neuropathologist and to witness a cerebral autopsy.

Students' comments:
"I love the hands-on experience on diagnosing neuropathologies--very useful!"
"It was fun and forced me to learn structure, yay!"
"[The clay modeling] reinforced structural understanding and orientation."
"See how neuroanatomy is exactly applied in the real world."
"So very cool. Dr. Tihan was really approachable and encouraging."
"Dr. Chen's lecture made me realize how much I learned and how much I want to be a neurologist."

Sociology

Course title:

Sociology of Prostitution

Project title:

Illustrating SF's Prostitution History

GSI:

Greggor Mattson

# students benefited:

To give his students a better understanding of the current issues surrounding sex workers, Greggor invited a speaker to talk to his students about her work with the St. James Infirmary in San Francisco. In a related project not supported by the grant, Greggor gave his students a walking tour of the 19th century prostitution sites in San Francisco. In a short paper following the projects, his students integrated what they learned from the guest lecture and the walking tour into the course.

South & Southeast Asian Studies

Course title:

South & Southeast Asian Studies R5B: India in the Writer's Mind

Project title:

Movie tickets to "The Namesake"

GSI:

Gita V. Pai

# students benefited:

As part of their course on the nature of South Asian diaspora, Gita took her students to view the movie The Namesake, adapted from a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri. In response to the movie, her students drew comparisons not only to the novel, but also to other readings and documentaries about the East Indian immigrant experience.

Student's comment:
"It was nice to see the themes we read about and discussed portrayed in a different form of media, and in many ways film is more easily accessible. I think watching movies and reading works that closely relate makes both experiences more meaningful, because while I absorbed more details and understood themes more deeply by reading The Namesake, I felt like I was physically closer to the characters when I saw them on the big screen in front of me."
—Brian Shen, freshman

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Fall 2006

Art Practice

Course title:

Art 8: Introduction to Visual Thinking

Project title:

Guest Artist Speakers

GSI:

Kara Hearn

# students benefited:

Kara invited three practicing artists working in different media to speak to her students. In preparation for each speaker her students wrote a short statement of what they wanted to learn from the guest artist, and afterwards they noted in their sketchbooks what they found interesting and/or problematic about the artists with regard to materials, content, concept, technique, and process.

English

Course title:

English R1A: Reading and Composition: Image & Text: Visual Reading

Project title:

Aurora Theatre Company's Production of Wilde's Salome

GSI:

Sophia Wang

# students benefited:

In exploring the relationship between visual culture and textual works of art, Sophia took her students to a theatrical performance of Wilde’s play Salome. Her students prepared for the theater performance through three discussion sessions and their online discussion forums, and they evaluated the performance by writing a critical analysis of the production’s response to the written work.

GSI's comment:
"Students reported being surprised by the humor in Wilde's writing which the performance made evident, and were motivated to reconsider their initial assessment of the play's narrative after experiencing nuanced portrayals of characters who had seemed unsympathetic in our reading and discussion of the play. I now feel that attending a live performance is an indispensable part of studying dramatic writing, and will incorporate this kind of experience in future classes -- even if it means we have to perform the play ourselves!"
—Sophia Wang

Course title:

English R1A: Reading and Composition: Reason is but choosing: Ethical Dilemmas and Literary Form

Project title:

Ethical Dilemmas and Visual Art: Anselm Kiefer

GSI:

Penelope Anderson

# students benefited:

Penelope took her students to the “Anselm Kiefer: Heaven and Earth” exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as they explored ethical dilemmas in her composition course. She arranged for a docent-guided tour at the museum; in preparation, the students each prepared two or three questions for the docent and articulated their expectations for the trip. As part of the visit, the students chose one piece of art to study in detail, which they later analyzed in an in-class essay.

GSI's comment:
"Many students named this trip as their favorite part of the course, citing the exposure to modern art (many of them had never been to a modern art museum before) and the way it helped them, as visual learners, to consider course materials from a new perspective. The trip also helped me to interact with my students in a different way: both in the tour and in informal conversations afterward, we shared in the discovery of something that was new to all of us."
—Penelope Anderson

French

Course title:

French 4: Special Section

Project title:

French Presidential Election

GSI:

Helene Bilis-Gruson

# students benefited:

Recognizing past students' interest in cultural and political events relating to contemporary France, Helene created a special section of French 4 in Spring 2007 that focused on the French Presidential Election. Her course was designed with both textual, audio, and visual material to help students understand the events surrounding national election in France.

Mechanical Engineering

Course title:

Mechanical Engineering 101: High-Mix Low-Volume Manufacturing

Project title:

Manufacturing with Legos

GSI:

Corinne Reich-Weiser

# students benefited:

Corinne's students gained hands-on experience with manufacturing authorization techniques by simulating an assembly line in a "lego factory." They learned about the techniques prior to the project through lectures and homework assignments, and provided direct feedback on how to improve the simulation as it occurred and afterwards.

Slavic Languages and Literatures

Course title:

Slavic 1: Beginning Russian

Project title:

The Moscow Circus: v tsirke

GSI:

Kathryn Schild

# students benefited:

Kathryn enriched her students' experience with Russian with a performance by the Moscow Circus. Her students learned circus and theater-related vocabulary in class and were able to discuss the logistics of the performance in Russian. After the performance, they followed up with discussions in class, a guest presentation on the role of the circus in Russian culture, and an essay titled In the Circus about how life is like in a Russian circus. This excursion motivated communication and served as a foundation for various grammatical and lexical elements, but it was also a great bonding opportunity which improved the tenor of class discussions for the rest of the semester.

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Spring 2006

Art Practice

Course title:

Art 8: Introduction to Visual Thinking

Project title:

Guest Artist Speakers

GSI:

Jonn Herschend

# students benefited:

Course title:

Art 8: Introduction to Visual Thinking

Project title:

Guest Artist Speakers and Visit to the Asian Art Museum

GSI:

Jaime Cortez

# students benefited:

English

Course title:

English R-50: "Stylin"

Project title:

Dave Brubeck Quartet

GSI:

Stephen Katz

# students benefited:

Political Science

Course title:

Political Science 147: Domestic Politics of Western Europe

Project title:

Engaging with British Political Attitudes

GSI:

Elizabeth Carter

# students benefited:

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Fall 2005

Art Practice

Course title:

Art 8: Introduction to Visual Thinking

Project title:

Guest Artist Speakers

GSI:

Kenneth Lo

# students benefited:

English

Course title:

English R1A: Reading and Composition: Reading and Writing About Visual Experience: Art and Collaboration

Project title:

Confronting Art: The Winter's Tale

GSI:

Dori Aspuru-Takata

# students benefited:

Course title:

English R1A: Reading and Composition: Adapting the Nineteenth Century

Project title:

Pride and Prejudice Tickets

GSI:

Leslie Walton

# students benefited:

History of Art

Course title:

History of Art R1B: Reading and Composition: Reading and Writing about Visual Experience: Art and Collaboration

Project title:

Author in Person: Tirza Latimer and Excursion to SFMOMA

GSI:

Bibiana Obler

# students benefited:

Scandinavian

Course title:

Scandinavian R5B: Ghosts

Project title:

Finn in the Underworld at the Berkeley Rep

GSI:

Kendra Willson

# students benefited:

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Spring 2005

Art Practice

Course title:

Art 8: Introduction to Visual Thinking

Project title:

Visiting Artists

GSI:

James Gaylord

# students benefited:

Comparative Literature

Course title:

Comparative Literature 40: Dancing Girl

Project title:

Tickets to Performance of Trisha Brown Dance Company

GSI:

Selby Schwartz

# students benefited:

Course title:

Comparative Literature R1A: Exotic and Erotic

Project title:

Othello Performance by Impact Theatre

GSI:

Naomi Shulman

# students benefited:

English

Course title:

English R1B: Reading and Composition: Strange Relationships

Project title:

Theater tickets for Caroling or Change

GSI:

Misa Oyama

# students benefited:

Sociology

Course title:

Sociology 190: Interviewing

Project title:

Guest Speaker Tabitha Soren

GSI:

Allison Pugh

# students benefited:

Women's Studies

Course title:

Women's Studies 144: Black Diaspora Genders and Sexualities

Project title:

Guest Speaker on Black Lesbian Femme Identity and Performance

GSI:

Mattie Richardson

# students benefited:

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Fall 2004

Art Practice

Course title:

Art 8: Introduction to Visual Thinking

Project title:

Visiting Artists

GSI:

James Gaylord

# students benefited:

Course title:

Art 8: Introduction to Visual Thinking

Project title:

Visiting Artists and Field Trip

GSI:

Melissa Day

# students benefited:

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Course title:

Engineering 36: Engineering Mechanics I

Project title:

Application of Hands-On / Interactive Engineering Mechanics

GSI:

Kofi S. Inkabi

# students benefited:

Course title:

Engineering 36: Engineering Mechanics I

Project title:

E-36 - Hands on Project

GSI:

Rune Storesund

# students benefited:

Course title:

Engineering 36: Statics

Project title:

E36 Statics Course Project

GSI:

Janet Alviso

# students benefited:

Comparative Literature

Course title:

Comparative Literature R1A: Writing (about) Difference in Literature

Project title:

Dramatic Mediations: Aeschylus' Persians in Text and Performance

GSI:

William Tyson Hausdoerffer

# students benefited:

Course title:

Comparative Literature R1B: Women Behind Locked Doors

Project title:

Visit to Asian Art Museum's Geisha Exhibit

GSI:

Selby Schwartz

# students benefited:

Near Eastern Studies

Course title:

Near Eastern Studies 102A: Archaeology of Egypt

Project title:

Egyptian Opera - Akhnaten

GSI:

Heidi Saleh

# students benefited:

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Spring/Summer 2004

Chicano Studies

Course title:

Chicano Studies 133: Chicano Music

Project title:

Course materials and speaker honoraria

GSI:

Irene J. Nexica

# students benefited:

Comparative Literature

Course title:

Comparative Literature R1B: Writing Violence

Project title:

Art Spiegelman lecture

GSI:

Amelia Borrego

# students benefited:

Course title:

Comparative Literature 41E: Influence vs Appropriation

Project title:

PFA Bergman Festival

GSI:

Yehoshua Sayar

# students benefited:

English

Course title:

English R1B: Cyborgs and the Inclusive Embrace of Media

Project title:

Robot Stories film

GSI:

Suzie Park

# students benefited:

International and Area Studies

Course title:

International and Area Studies 45: Survey of World History

Project title:

Globalization Simulation

GSI:

Luke Clossey

# students benefited:

135

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