Maria Damen borrows the phrase “necessary fire” from author Sue Monk Kidd’s book “Traveling with Pomegranates” to describe her passion for teaching. In the book, Kidd describes writing as her “necessary fire,” and this is how Maria sees her own teaching.The manager of the Writing Lab and an adjunct associate professor in the RWC English and Communications Department, Maria Damen is the winner of this year’s RWC Distinguished Teaching Award.
She is known for finding and building connections that benefit her students. Damen has earned multiple certificates from UC’s Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, including Hybrid Learning, Instructional Technology, and Effective Learning Environment. From using Blackboard extensively to using a new software system called Captivate that provides a visual lesson for students to review at their own pace, she is always helping students achieve higher standards.
When RWC partnered with the non-profit organization Accountability and Credibility in Training (ACT), which provides educational opportunities for low-income, first-generation college students, Damen was there to help teach students in English Composition.
For fifteen years, she has mentored students, even long after they leave her class. Damen says that her hope and goal is that she is able to spark a fire, no matter how small, in her students. She also volunteers to participate in the English Department’s Composition Assessment, serves as a judge of children’s poetry for the Riverbank Poetry Project, and judges RWC’s poetry month competition for faculty, staff, and students.
Damen not only loves teaching, but she also loves teaching at UC. “To be recognized and honored for the work I love, at a place I love, is the epitome of good fortune,” Damen said via email. “I am proud and delighted to receive the 2010 Distinguished Teaching Award, and having my family, friends, colleagues, and even former students share my moment of glory, makes the honor especially special and memorable.