New Century College

 

Lesley Smith

Lesley Smith is Associate Professor in New Century College, and an affiliate faculty member of the Higher Education Program at George Mason University. She studied History at the universities of St. Andrews and Oxford, where she gained her Ph. D. in modern history. After ten years as a journalist in UK broadcast television, and two years as a freelance video producer & writer, she gained an MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University. She joined New Century College in 1998 and, in 2004, won a George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award.

She divides her time between the critical, cultural, and creative exploration of digital environments, for which she has received several grants from the Technology Across the Curriculum program at George Mason, and the enhancing of teaching and learning in higher education. Anything that happens on a screen – computer, tv or movie – intrigues her, and she regularly reviews film, dvd and television for popmatters.com, the journal of global culture. In addition, she had edited six volumes of historical essays, and written, researched or produced more than thirty single-issue documentaries and five, 12-part historical documentary series for broadcast television. She is co-editor of a forthcoming book on educational innovations at New Century College, edits inventio, a national electronic journal of creative thinking about teaching and learning, and sits on the Advisory Committee of the Center for Teaching Excellence.

EDUCATION

• MA Honours in Modern History, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland (1976)
• Ph.D. in Modern History, University of Oxford, Oxford, England (1980)
• MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry), George Mason University (1998)

RECENT COURSES TAUGHT

• NCLC 110: Community of Learners
• NCLC 130: The Social World
• NCLC 203: Inquiry Into Action
• NCLC 249: Internet Literacy
• NCLC 348: Information in the Digital Age
• NCLC 349: Writing for Multimedia
• NCLC 391: Introduction to Integrative Studies
• NCLC 491: Senior Capstone Seminar
• CTCH 602: College Teaching

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS/ASSOCIATIONS

• National Council of Teachers of English
• American Association of Colleges and Universities
• Association of Integrative Studies
• International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

MOST ACTIVE PROJECTS

• The relaunch of inventio, an online journal of creative thinking about learning and teaching
• The maximizing of the potential of electronic portfolios as aids to, and expressions of, student learning and achievement
• The exploration of the experiences of transfer students at George Mason University

WORK EXPERIENCE PRIOR TO NCC

• Researcher & Writer, Assistant Producer, Producer and Director (of documentaries and features series), Departments of Current Affairs and Features, London Weekend Television, London, England Freelance
• Video Producer for US and UK companies