Dr. Charlotte Thralls is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and has a background in rhetoric and writing. She has dedicated the past twenty years of her career to issues of pedagogy and cross-disciplinary communication. She has taught at least 16 different courses, mentored undergraduate and graduate students, presented and published numerous workshops/papers on learning and communication, received honors for both her teaching and research efforts, and served as a Visiting Professor to the University of Tampere, Finland. Last year she received an ISU Miller Research Grant to study learning communities, with special focus on writing as a means of linking the curriculum for first-year students.

As a CTE Faculty Fellow, she hopes to extend her investigation into the concept of learning communities - their potential as well as the challenges for promoting improved teaching and learning at Research I Institutions - and share this information with ISU faculty through forums and workshops. Professor Thralls has already begun to participate in such activities. In February of 1998, she conducted a learning community workshop at the invitation of the Office of Training and Development. In addition, she is an active member of the ISU Learning Community Workgroup, which is planning a May workshop for learning community coordinators.