Jennifer Royston has a way of deflecting praise, as if her accomplishments could have been achieved by anyone. But that is not true. After class, one day in mid-April, a student approaches her and says that through Royston’s class she has come to love Shakespeare’s history plays. Royston laughs, says she is glad, and slides the compliment towards the source material, as if Shakespeare were the underappreciated party.

Now in her sixth year at Michigan State, Royston has taught a variety of courses ranging from broad Humanities surveys for the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities, to first year writing through WRAC. But as she tells it “my favorite course so far has been English 210. The students just meshed well with each other and with me and so class discussions were really open and fruitful; the students challenged each other in a collegial way and I truly learned a lot from them. Funny enough, they really carried the class themselves, I interjected when needed, but they worked through passages and issues with each other and it was really inspiring to witness them discover the significance of texts.” To sit back and let the students take control may sound like the easiest possible way to teach to someone who has never taught before. In actuality, however, it can only be done by someone who has achieved a mastery of preparation, and Royston is a master.

If one were to read her teaching philosophy and then some of her student evaluations, one would find a pronounced harmony between Royston’s own emphasis on course organization (curating and scaffolding are the technical terms she uses to describe how she organizes the course and plans assignments) and the appreciation students have for the clarity that this structure provides. “I have never had a more organized teacher,” one evaluation says. “The material was challenging but made complete sense” another says, and goes on to note that this sense came from a clear progression of assignments over the course of the semester that made the whole process manageable. This harmony is not lost on Royston. “I take my job as an educator very seriously” she says, “because I remember the impact that my professors had on me as an undergraduate student. The highlight of my day is being with my students--who we must recognize are people with lives beyond our own class! I recognize the power that we have as educators to encourage students to succeed in our class, at MSU, and in life beyond academia. Teaching really is my passion and I am so proud to be able to teach at MSU.”