Woods Snags Teaching Fellowship

WPDU assistant coach Carly Woods was awarded a teaching fellowship from the University of Pittsburgh's Women's Studies Program.

The prestigious award frees Carly from her regular teaching duties to work full-time with women's studies during the 2007-08 academic year. She will be designing and teaching two sections of Introduction to Women's Studies, the interdisciplinary gateway course for Pitt undergraduates entering that program.

Carly's credentials for the fellowship were strengthened by her creative efforts in designing a section of CommRC 0510 Debate that focuses on "cooperative argumentation." The course, which was cross-listed as an offering in the Women's Studies Program, explored the dynamics of feminist argumentation theory and provided students with opportunities to practice diverse approaches to the process of debate.

Carly's fellowship win marks the end of her three-year stint as a WPDU assistant coach. Myriad Pitt debaters benefited from Carly's keen argument insight and team leadership, and her absence will be felt far beyond the Pitt community, because Carly was one of the most preferred judges in National Debate Tournament District VII competition. However, the good news is that a portion of Carly's research program will help her keep one foot in debate activity, as she pursues historical documentation and analysis of women's debating societies.