I CAN OFFER COURSES IN:
U.S. History
World History
The Liberal Arts
American Intellectual History
Southern History
Liturgy in America
Religion & American Higher Education
Higher Education in the U.S. South
The First Amendment and Religious Liberty
SELECTED COURSES TAUGHT:
Seminar on John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University in the Baylor University Honors College, Spring 2018
This colloquium session explored numerous themes about the university, the liberal arts, and communal knowledge and learning. Below you will find some queries touched upon in the colloquium:
Foundations 101 & 102, The Blount Scholars Program, The University of Alabama, Fall 2020-Spring 2021 (Junior Fellow)
These liberal arts courses were seminar style with 15 students or less. 101 focused on foundational texts of Western Civilization and 102 on key works of American Civilization. Some of those include, Plato's Republic and Apology; St. Augustine's Confessions, Smith's Wealth of Nations, Marx's Communist Manifesto, Camus's The Stranger, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, Ruth Benedict's Patterns of Culture, and E.O. Wilson's In Search of Nature.
Junior Fellows read, grade, and provide feedback on weekly students short essays on the assigned texts for one of the discussion sections. They also co-lead or lead class discussion with the Senior Fellow/Professor-of-Record for the course.
Student review, Fall 2020:
"Mr. Hiserman was very good about providing concrete advice and comments for weekly essay materials."
Fall 2020 Professor/Senior Fellow reviews:
"Very often, Jacob would play the Devil's advocate to help with class discussions when the students were not questioning the text, or when arguments had reached an impasse."
"At first, Jacob's feedback was difficult for students to find and understand, however, once alerted to any problems the students had, he made himself available and changed his means of feedback, so as to be more easily comprehended."
"...is very organized, easy going, and he has a great rapport with the students."
"...is kind, enthusiastic and a joy to work with. He is interested in the material and it shows. He is fair in his grading."
"...met with students whenever they requested it, or if he thought it was necessary, he met with them via Zoom."
Spring 2021 Professor/Senior Fellow reviews:
"Jacob provided excellent content for the online teaching resource folder as well as leading several discussions during faculty colloquium."
"Jacob was a new junior fellow this year and so he had to learn how to be a junior fellow during one of the worst years possible. He never got the benefit of seeing how we normally run our classes, and yet was expected to run an online discussion by himself while the professor of record was teaching half the class in-person. He rose to the challenge incredibly well and deserved an enormous amount of credit for the work that he put in."
"Jacob was great at getting the students to engage in the discussion. He would often ask students specific questions to get them to analyze their views in response to the text."
"He is especially good at discussing contentious topics with the class while getting all students to participate and maintain a respectful atmosphere in the classroom."
U.S. History to 1865, The University of Alabama, Summer 2019 (Online Instructor)
Student reviews:
"Great communicator and wrote great feedback on my assignments."
"He did an incredible job teaching this course. He was a very effective and respectful communicator. He was very organized and diligent. Would definitely take this instructor again..."
"Prof. Hiserman was very helpful and went above and beyond to let students know he was always available as a resource. He was very personable and respectful when I reached out and offered support when he didn't have to."
U.S. History to 1865, The University of Alabama, Spring 2020 (Teaching Assistant)
Student reviews:
"I love your enthusiasm and the ways you make labs [discussion sections] entertaining and engaging..."
"Excellent, knowledgable TA"
"...a really good TA and tried to help us as much as he could."
"He was available for after class questions and even after the quarantine for email and zoom sections."
"He was an effective communicator and friendly to all the students and tried to build a personal friendship with all students equally."
History of Western Civilization to 1648, The University of Alabama, Summer 2021 (Online Instructor)
Student reviews:
"Mr. Hiserman did an excellent job. He provided feedback on all the assignments and where I could improve. Overall did a fantastic job guiding me through the material."
"He was a great teacher overall. I had some disagreements with his grading, but overall he challenged me and certainly bettered my historical knowledge."
News piece: online.ua.edu/student-stories/alumni-special-adam-linn/
U.S. History
World History
The Liberal Arts
American Intellectual History
Southern History
Liturgy in America
Religion & American Higher Education
Higher Education in the U.S. South
The First Amendment and Religious Liberty
SELECTED COURSES TAUGHT:
Seminar on John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University in the Baylor University Honors College, Spring 2018
This colloquium session explored numerous themes about the university, the liberal arts, and communal knowledge and learning. Below you will find some queries touched upon in the colloquium:
- How does Newman define universal knowledge and what subjects are included in it? What subjects should be taught as universal knowledge?
- Should those subjects or the liberal arts fit within an intellectual tradition? How do you define an intellectual tradition and the place of the liberal arts within that tradition?
- What is Newman’s notion of intellectual community? In what ways is Newman’s idea of intellectual community possible or impossible to achieve in the contemporary university?
- How does Newman think about theology’s relationship to the university? Why is Newman’s discussion of theology and the university relevant or irrelevant in the context of the contemporary university?
Foundations 101 & 102, The Blount Scholars Program, The University of Alabama, Fall 2020-Spring 2021 (Junior Fellow)
These liberal arts courses were seminar style with 15 students or less. 101 focused on foundational texts of Western Civilization and 102 on key works of American Civilization. Some of those include, Plato's Republic and Apology; St. Augustine's Confessions, Smith's Wealth of Nations, Marx's Communist Manifesto, Camus's The Stranger, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, Ruth Benedict's Patterns of Culture, and E.O. Wilson's In Search of Nature.
Junior Fellows read, grade, and provide feedback on weekly students short essays on the assigned texts for one of the discussion sections. They also co-lead or lead class discussion with the Senior Fellow/Professor-of-Record for the course.
Student review, Fall 2020:
"Mr. Hiserman was very good about providing concrete advice and comments for weekly essay materials."
Fall 2020 Professor/Senior Fellow reviews:
"Very often, Jacob would play the Devil's advocate to help with class discussions when the students were not questioning the text, or when arguments had reached an impasse."
"At first, Jacob's feedback was difficult for students to find and understand, however, once alerted to any problems the students had, he made himself available and changed his means of feedback, so as to be more easily comprehended."
"...is very organized, easy going, and he has a great rapport with the students."
"...is kind, enthusiastic and a joy to work with. He is interested in the material and it shows. He is fair in his grading."
"...met with students whenever they requested it, or if he thought it was necessary, he met with them via Zoom."
Spring 2021 Professor/Senior Fellow reviews:
"Jacob provided excellent content for the online teaching resource folder as well as leading several discussions during faculty colloquium."
"Jacob was a new junior fellow this year and so he had to learn how to be a junior fellow during one of the worst years possible. He never got the benefit of seeing how we normally run our classes, and yet was expected to run an online discussion by himself while the professor of record was teaching half the class in-person. He rose to the challenge incredibly well and deserved an enormous amount of credit for the work that he put in."
"Jacob was great at getting the students to engage in the discussion. He would often ask students specific questions to get them to analyze their views in response to the text."
"He is especially good at discussing contentious topics with the class while getting all students to participate and maintain a respectful atmosphere in the classroom."
U.S. History to 1865, The University of Alabama, Summer 2019 (Online Instructor)
Student reviews:
"Great communicator and wrote great feedback on my assignments."
"He did an incredible job teaching this course. He was a very effective and respectful communicator. He was very organized and diligent. Would definitely take this instructor again..."
"Prof. Hiserman was very helpful and went above and beyond to let students know he was always available as a resource. He was very personable and respectful when I reached out and offered support when he didn't have to."
U.S. History to 1865, The University of Alabama, Spring 2020 (Teaching Assistant)
Student reviews:
"I love your enthusiasm and the ways you make labs [discussion sections] entertaining and engaging..."
"Excellent, knowledgable TA"
"...a really good TA and tried to help us as much as he could."
"He was available for after class questions and even after the quarantine for email and zoom sections."
"He was an effective communicator and friendly to all the students and tried to build a personal friendship with all students equally."
History of Western Civilization to 1648, The University of Alabama, Summer 2021 (Online Instructor)
Student reviews:
"Mr. Hiserman did an excellent job. He provided feedback on all the assignments and where I could improve. Overall did a fantastic job guiding me through the material."
"He was a great teacher overall. I had some disagreements with his grading, but overall he challenged me and certainly bettered my historical knowledge."
News piece: online.ua.edu/student-stories/alumni-special-adam-linn/