Eunji Jo Receives Dietrich College Graduate Student Teaching Award

Eunji Jo, a Ph.D. candidate in literary and cultural studies in the Department of English, has received the 2025 Dietrich College Graduate Student Teaching Award, which recognizes outstanding expertise in all areas of curriculum development, including classroom teaching and student mentoring.

“Eunji is approachable, welcoming and clearly liked and respected by her students. She has mastered the art of creating a safe, inclusive space for learning and discussion — a space where all students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, opinions and experiences,” said Jeremy Rosselot-Merritt, a senior lecturer in the English Department. 

Inclusivity and Engagement

Since coming to Carnegie Mellon University, Jo has taught close to 300 students in 17 course sections. Her self-designed spring 2025 Interpretation and Argument course “Hello World: Text & Tech,” explores inclusiveness and belonging at CMU and the larger digital world. Using a variety of tools — including Zotero shared folders, Tableau data analytics, and knowledge sharing platforms such as Grammarly, Chatbots, GitHUB and Latex — Jo led students to critically examine the ways in which digitalization can shape the writing process, knowledge building, accessibility and collaboration.

“What I am immediately struck by in Ms. Jo’s courses is how her pedagogical method is driven by introducing students to the familiar and leading them through the interpretive and argumentative process, by which we turn the familiar into something more complicated,” said Richard Purcell, Hubert H. McAlexander Chair and associate professor of English at the University of Mississippi and former professor in CMU’s Department of English.

Jo’s talent for finding complexity and depth in the familiar is matched by her ability to create a space in which students feel excited by the subject matter and comfortable speaking up. This is centered in her understanding that classroom dynamics often reflect broader social forces.

“My teaching philosophy centers on inclusivity and critical engagement, grounded in the understanding that educational spaces can reflect broader societal inequalities,” Jo said.

Beyond the Classroom

Jo’s pedagogical methods can appear deceptively simple — asking students to write down their thoughts on notecards before discussions; playing soft background music to avert tense silences; and providing highly organized assignment schedules — but Jo’s fellow instructors and her students say these seemingly small things require careful thought and planning and have a massive impact on the student experience.

Stephen Wittek, an assistant professor in the English Department who sat in on one of Jo’s classes, noted, “I was extremely impressed, not only by the concept and overall organization of Eunji’s course, but by her preparedness, teaching skill, and gentle, caring rapport with students.”

Jo’s students agree. Zoe White, a senior in biomedical and electrical and computer engineering, said, “The impact of her teaching goes beyond the classroom. I left each session feeling inspired and eager to learn more, often finding myself researching topics we discussed. Her ability to create such a welcoming and engaging environment made me, a student from a completely different discipline, feel like I truly belonged. It is no exaggeration to say that [this is] a course I will remember for the rest of my life, not only for its content but for the transformative way Eunji Jo delivered it.”