New Faculty Member Q&A: Shannon Murray
Shannon Murray, an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies, is an experienced writer, storyteller and educator focused on interdisciplinary storytelling, the history of ideas and creating meaningful classroom experiences. In addition to teaching, she has worked as a curriculum writer, a teacher-trainer, and as a freelance writer and editor for various websites and apps, mostly centered on design and education. She holds an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities from Arizona State University, where she focused on critical literary theory and intellectual history as they intersect with the fine arts. Murray previously taught in the department as an adjunct faculty member.
Tell us about the classes you’ll be teaching this year.
This fall I'm excited to teach two sections of Intro to Narrative and one section of Critical Theory for Content. I absolutely love teaching these classes. Intro to Narrative is a broad examination of how to achieve storytelling ends, as well as an opportunity for students to build a writing practice. Critical Theory for Content is a survey of key schools of thought in media theory and history, aimed at fostering deeper, more thoughtful work. In the spring, I will teach Intro to Narrative again and the Pro-seminar for the Honors Thesis, which prepares students to complete their honors thesis the following academic year. I love teaching the Pro-Seminar because it's small, and I get to really explore and help improve the students' ideas.
What attracted you to the Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies and The University of Texas at Austin?
What first attracted me to AET was its interdisciplinarity. The AET program provides a place for a wide array of students-it's not unusual to have a class populated with musicians and composers, animators and artists, coders and developers, and spatial and digital storytellers-to come together to create experiences. I find this world of possibilities really inspiring.
How did your professional pathway lead to your current research focus?
My academic background is in the Interdisciplinary Humanities. My undergraduate studies emphasized the history of ideas. As such, I developed a deep curiosity about how the world in which we live, the cities we design, the art and music we make, the stories we tell, and the institutions we build reflect our values. I always had broad interests, studying music, art, literature, religion and philosophy, but the interdisciplinary lens stoked something within me, so when I won a scholarship, I dove deeper. Little did I know that the Teaching Assistantship part of my scholarship would set me on the path that led me here. After graduate school, I worked at my university as a program coordinator, where I learned a lot, but I missed the classroom. Eventually, I was recruited to teach high school, which I did for about 11 years. During that time, I took a leadership role in recruiting and training teachers, as well as began writing speeches, training curriculum, advertising copy and branding language for the district. Eventually, I transitioned to teaching at the college-level, and that presented additional opportunities to write for some start-ups and apps, and here we are.
What’s something that students and colleagues should know about you?
I think my colleagues and students already know this, but I am a teacher's teacher! I love to strategize for the classroom. AET deals in interactivity. I want my classes to be engaging and meaningful to students, so I do things like "tickets out," in which students ask or answer a question upon dismissal. I use their feedback to open our next class. People might be surprised to know that I am a first-generation college graduate who is a bit shy, and I sometimes get nervous before lectures, but I always love working with my talented colleagues and students.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not teaching or working?
When I'm not working, I love to travel, garden, and spend time with my husband (Associate Professor John Fremgen in the Butler School of Music), my three adult children, and my dopey, recalcitrant dog, Ringo.