Dr. Jane O’Dea believes strongly in meeting students on their own ground. This principle solidified the day she paired classic literature and art with contemporary equivalents and watched student understanding blossom. It germinated earlier, however, on literal ground, when she arrived in 1990 at the University of Lethbridge and encountered Dr. John Woods, eminent scholar and president emeritus, sitting on the floor in animated conversation with first-year students.
“I knew then that this university was a very different place,” she says.
The way Woods engaged with students on a personal level had a seminal influence on O’Dea. Other influences have been Blackfoot Elders who model respect for all viewpoints, and world-class scholars who consider it an obligation to share their knowledge. O’Dea’s own experience transitioning from Ireland to Canada and between Fine Arts and Philosophy honed her empathy with students, whom she recognizes as also having to negotiate diverse worlds.
“Our responsibility in helping them do that is important,” she says. “In this digital age, students are constantly bombarded with information. They desperately need help making sense of it. We have the unique opportunity to make that happen.”
Throughout her teaching O’Dea uses current music, movies and literature as entry points into traditional academic readings. She also encourages learning through self-expression, guiding students into formal writing by first having them express their ideas through informal means, such as rants and blogs. By establishing rules of civility and respect she creates and mediates safe classroom environments in which no topic is taboo.
“Teaching isn’t about instilling information – it is setting in motion the process of learning. Enhancing the life of the mind is a sacred responsibility, one of which I’m proud to be a part.”