Meet Our Faculty: Colin Moore

Colin Moore

 

Assistant Professor, Political Science

School of Humanities and Social and Sciences

 

What he teaches:

Intro to US Government and Politics, Intro to International Politics, Intro to Political Ideologies

 

Number of years teaching at SLCC:

Full-time since Summer 2017, Adjunct from Spring 2015 to Spring 2017.

 

Undergraduate:

James Madison University

 

Master’s:

Jeonju University, South Korea

 

Doctorate:

University of California-Irvine

Why working at SLCC matters:

 

SLCC has provided me an amazing opportunity to realize my professional aspirations by teaching community college students. I am able to give back to students who may not have the expectation that they will attend and graduate from college. There is nothing more professionally satisfying for me than to watch a first-generation college student grow from viewing the college experience, or more specifically, my course with trepidation to becoming confident and self-reflective about their growth as a learner as well as more knowledgeable about specific course content.

 

Greatest professional challenge:

 

One challenge is the uncertainty of how much material the students are actually absorbing during class and how to pursue pedological practices which maximize their understanding of course content beyond the semester. I strive to lecture in 12-15 minute ‘chunks’ with active-learning breaks in between. Thus, I am consistently working on my PowerPoints to balance between information delivery and in-class student demonstration of knowledge. This process is ongoing, and many of my ideas have come from enlightening faculty development opportunities at SLCC and beyond.

 

Greatest professional accomplishment:

 

My greatest accomplishment is getting hired at SLCC. I realized during grad school that I did not primarily want to do research and that I thoroughly enjoyed being in the classroom. I received my PhD in 2012 while living in Northern California during a time when local job prospects were very grim. I moved to Salt Lake City and was hired as an adjunct professor at SLCC in 2015. I was hired full-time in the summer of 2017 after seven years as an adjunct. I fully realize that higher ed jobs are not easy to attain and do not take this opportunity for granted. Yet, beyond my intrinsic motivation to perform well, the environment at the college fosters success as it is such a welcoming place with great faculty and staff.

 

 

Advice for students or others:

 

Working hard is one obvious path to success. However, there are others. Believe in yourself. Take actual advantage of the wonderful resources at SLCC to help you in your academic journey, such as the SLCC Library and the Writing Center. These resources will help you more than you know. Although cliché, this statement is true for us all: failure is unavoidably part of the learning process and a chance for real growth. So, expect it and embrace it.

 

Future plans:

 

Professionally, I will move down the path toward tenure and, as a relatively new full-time faculty member, hope to become more familiar with our institution. I want to improve my teaching and look forward to learning even more from colleagues along the way. More generally, I hope to broaden my horizons through travel, reading as well as through friendships new and old. Finally, I strive to find a healthy life/work balance that makes life and work better.

 

Hobbies:

 

I love sports of many kinds, but tennis is my favorite. It is a sport that never ceases to humble as one tries to improve. I also enjoy hiking in the mountains as well as camping in the summer. I try to travel when I can. I lived and traveled overseas for quite a few years and the “bug” will not go away!