Carlie Herrick is Instructor of English.

What’s your area of expertise? What do you primarily research and/or teach? And what drew you to this field?

My area of expertise is TESL and linguistics. I am a word nerd. I teach the general education writing/communication classes. I started college as a music major and realized that though I enjoy music, I was not that enthused about teaching it. In my junior year, I changed schools and switched from music to English. I love studying how language changes and how meaning flows with the cultural river and all its tributaries. 

What’s one of your favorite courses, topics, or specific texts to teach? Why?

I don’t know that I necessarily have a favorite class that I teach or a favorite text; however, my favorite aspect of teaching is watching what happens in students from Composition 101 to junior or senior year. I like seeing the growth that can occur.

What’s something you’ve done that you’re really proud of?

When March 2020 happened and everything shut down, I looked for ways that I could connect with my kids. Life felt stressful and unpredictable, and I had read about the importance of attunement with parent/child relationships. My daughter was taking violin at the time, so I decided that music could be a way to bond together. After about 15 years of not playing music, I decided to learn how to play the violin. The violin is an unforgiving instrument, but when things click, the violin can be incredibly rewarding. My daughter has since switched to guitar and voice, and now my son plays cello. We play together when we have time.

Tell us about a book you’ve read recently, a movie you’ve seen recently, or another work of art or media you’ve engaged with recently that you really enjoyed and would like to recommend.

In the past two years, I have taken a deep dive into theology, partly out of curiosity and partly because I am the kind of person who is perpetually asking lots of questions about life and meaning. In the deep dive, I discovered a Jewish Rabbi named Abraham Joshua Heschel and have read almost all of his books. His writing is profound. He marched with Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Era, demonstrating for freedom and equality. Otherwise, I read a lot of poetry and have really liked Ada Limón’s book Bright Dead Things. Currently, I am reading Stephen King’s book Fairy Tale.

Tell us something about yourself outside of work. What do you enjoy doing? What’s a detail about you that your students might not already know?

Outside of work, I like to go mountain biking with my dog Ruby. She is my sidekick. I also like to garden and spend time with my husband and kids. My goal by the end of the year is to bike 1000 miles, and I have about two hundred to go!