Cynthia Bair Van Dam Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer Literature
- Degrees
- MA in Literature, American University
BA in English, University of Nebraska - Book Currently Reading
- Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
- Bio
- Cindy Bair Van Dam is a compositionist who joined the Department of Literature faculty in 1995. In addition to teaching in the Writing Studies Program, from 2015-2022 Cindy served as the Chair of the AU Core Committee. She was also the Faculty Director of the Complex Problems Community Pilot. She earned an MA from American University and a BA from the University of Nebraska. Before coming to AU, she taught in the English Department at Howard University. Her research interests include composition pedagogy, anti-racist pedagogy, critical information literacy, and contingent faculty issues. In recognition of her leadership while developing the new AU Core, Cindy was honored with the Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award and an award for Outstanding Service to the University in a Term Appointment. She also won the University Honors Program's Outstanding Professor Award 2003-2004. When she's not working, she's reading contemporary fiction or Austen. Or she's rooting for the Cornhuskers.
- See Also
- Writing Studies Program
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Fall 2024
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WRT-106 College Writing, Intensive
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WRT-106 College Writing, Intensive
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WRT-301 Writing Across the Curriculum
Spring 2025
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WRT-106 College Writing, Intensive
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WRT-106 College Writing, Intensive
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WRT-301 Writing Across the Curriculum
Partnerships & Affiliations
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member
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Honors, Awards, and Fellowships
- Outstanding Service to the University Community in a Term-line Appointment, 2017
- The Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship for Teaching and Learning Award, 2017
- Outstanding Professor, The University Honors Program, American University 2003-2004
Professional Presentations
Presenter (refereed), "Connecting Faculty Development, Student Learning, & Practice: Building Habits Through Intentional Program Design," AAC&U General Education and Assessment Conference: Creating a 21st-Century General Education, February 2019.
Presenter (refereed), "Crafting Learning Outcomes and Identifying Common Ground: Building Faculty Consensus," AAC&U General Education and Assessment: Foundations for Democracy, February 2018.
Presenter (refereed), "Engaging Faculty and Developing Learning Outcomes: Shifting the Paradigm from Disciplines to Modes of Inquiry," 2017 Assessment Institute IUPUI, October 2017.
Presenter (refereed), “Equality or Exploitation?: Questioning the Risks and Rewards of Contingent Faculty Service," Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2015
Presenter (refereed), “The Walking Dead: Motivating Millennials as Pragmatic Idealists,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2014
Presenter (refereed), Did Not Attend. “Life in the Fast Lane: Why Students are Speeding Through Research, Reading and Writing,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2013
Presenter (refereed), “The Efficiency Generation: Understanding Why Students Make Odd Choices When They Research and Write,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2012
Presenter (refereed), “Did you hear the one about…? Plagiarism Narratives,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2010
Chair (refereed), “Remixing Reading, Writing, Responding,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2010
Presenter (refereed), "Teaching Students to Grade Between the Lines: a Contemporary Evolution of Peer Response,” National Council of Teachers of English Conference, November, 2009
Presenter (refereed), “The Limitations of the Supervisor-as-Mentor: a Three-tier Solution,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, April 2008
Presenter (refereed), “Inventing the Academic Writer: Teaching Strategies for Complicating the Middle-Class Writer-Identity,” Hawaii Conference on Arts and Humanities, 2007.Â
Presenter (refereed), “Consenting Adults: Peer Grading by Consensus,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2004
Presenter (refereed), “Apocalypse Now? Apocalypse Not!: Creating Collegiality among Contingent Writing Faculty,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2003
Presenter (refereed), “Strategies for Creating Information Literate Writers,” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March 2002