Coco James, Phd Email & Phone Number

Salt Lake City, Ut, Us

Salt Lake City, Ut, Us

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

University Of Utah

The LEAP program at the University of Utah is a pedagogically-focused program offering small classes, embedded librarians, peer advising, and the purposeful development of learning communities for incoming U of U students. Students take two classes that focus on the same topic with the same professor and peer group. The fall semester course emphasizes social science, while the spring semester the emphasizes humanities and diversity. These two classes fulfill three attributes in General Education and Bachelor's Degree requirements, and offer optional others (e.g. community engaged learning and sustainability emphasis). Most importantly, the pedagogy of these courses emphasizes team building, critical thinking, and information literacy. Emphasis on campus involvement and institutional fluency are also built into the program. LEAP students have a higher graduation rate and are more likely to graduate on time than students who do not seek a learning community-oriented program.

As part of an ongoing attempt to make Salt Lake County a better place to do business, this summer research fellowship centers on understanding the voices of employees who work in Salt Lake County. Employee retention and job satisfaction are important to corporate health and longevity, and this portion of the project provides insight into the work values of employees, generational differences in approaches to work, and motivations for staying in a current position or searching for new employment. More than those things, this project speaks truth to power and considers employee wellbeing alongside the bottom line.

I teach SOC/GNDR 3337, Gender and Sexuality, every summer. During the regular school year, I am the internship coordinator for the sociology department and teach SOC 3393, Diversity Internship, and SOC 3993, Sociology Internship. Each of these has both a regular academic and an honors section.

University Of Utah

During the 2017-2018 regular school year, I was selected as one of fifteen graduate students university wide for a University Teaching Assistantship. I will spend the year developing and implementing a degree-length learning e-portfolio for the Health, Society, and Policy program and co-teaching the HSP capstone course during spring semester. My development of curricula surrounding the e-portfolio is informed by specific pedagogical choices and best practices recommended by current educational research. The e-portfolio is intended as an active, reflexive tool of meta-cognition for the students; thus the emphasis in my curriculum is on process rather than product.

Greater Salt Lake City Area

I teach SOC 2370, Gender In U.S. Society. It is an interesting juxtaposition to teach similar material in an upper-division class at an R1 university and in a lower-division class at a teaching focused community college. I reviewed pedagogical social science about the qualitative differences between university and community college students, campus environments, expectations at research versus teaching institutions etc., but did not fully appreciate those differences until I taught at both. There are things about each that I appreciate, and ways I wish each were more like the other. It's a wonderful opportunity for a teacher to have both experiences.

As the Literacy Specialist at Hillcrest Junior High, my job was solely focused on addressing the literacy needs of our students. This included running the school Book Club, giving book talks in classrooms, and developing a long-running vocabulary program that is still implemented today. However, my favorite part of the job was teaching special topics related to core literature in both regular and honors curricula. I taught iambic pentameter using rap music when students read Shakespeare, oversaw a wildly creative altered book project when students read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and hosted poetry slams complete with bongos and candles. Teaching in a junior high is the most fun I've ever had while getting paid.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Sociology

Activities and Societies: My dissertation, "A New Approach to the Study of Sexual Violence: The Development and Psychometric Properties.

Master'S Degree, Sociology, Emphasis Population Studies And Public Health

Activities and Societies: Currently pursuing a Ph.D in sociology, emphasis gender and sexuality. Expected graduation May 2019.

Bachelor'S Degree, Sociology

Associate Of Science, Sociology