Writing Program Faculty
	Andrew Scott Assistant Professor MFA, New Mexico State University Office: Robert Bell 2113 Phone: (765) 285-8416 E-mail: arscott2@bsu.edu Website: http://arscott2.iweb.bsu.edu

Teaching Philosophy

For three years during graduate school, I worked as an editor of Puerto del Sol, a national literary journal produced in the English Department at New Mexico State University. The experience greatly affected my life as a writer, reader, editor, and teacher.

Literally translated, the journal’s name means “door of the sun,” but its intent reaches far beyond the literal. A better translation, one with tooth and heart, is “an opening into light.”

Despite its new-age leanings, this concept has shaped my teaching philosophy. Perhaps a line from one of the world’s great short stories, James Baldwin’s “Sonny Blues”—a quote that also touches on this idea of being drawn into the light—best summarizes my approach as writer, reader, and teacher: “For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it must always be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.”

A writer is interested in the telling; a teacher should be interested in listening. I am deeply invested in both. There is much suffering in the world, yet there is also delight and triumph. Writing can be one light in the darkness, and my role as teacher is to help students open the door. And in doing this, I have adapted a style of teaching clearly based on my experience as a reader: I have learned to be patient and rigorous, curious and careful, demanding and rewarded.

Classes Taught

• ENG 101: Fundamentals of English Composition I,
• ENG 102: Fundamentals of English Composition II,
• ENG 103: English Composition I,
• ENG 104: English Composition II,
• ENG 205: World Literature,
• ENG 287: Fiction Writing I,
• ENG 417: Writing for Younger Readers

Academic/Research Interests

Rhetoric, composition, fiction writing, contemporary American literature, graphic storytelling, screenwriting

Awards

• Individual Artist Grant in Literature (twice),Indiana Arts Commission
• Frank Waters Fiction Fellowship (twice), New Mexico State University

Professional Organizations

Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)

Publications

Modern Love, a story chapbook; essays and articles in several publications, including Glimmer Train, The Writer’s Chronicle, and AWP Pedagogy Papers