Priscilla Patten, assistant professor of developmental English, is the 2020 SCICU Excellence in Teaching award recipient for Morris College. Patten holds an M.A. in educational studies from The Ohio State University and is working towards a Ph.D. in English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She earned a B.A. in English at fellow SCICU member institution Voorhees College.

As a seven-year veteran of the Morris College faculty, Patten teaches a wide variety of courses, including developmental English I and II, fundamentals of composition, African American literature, and an organizational management course – Humanities: A Holistic Approach.

Patten’s enthusiasm for English and writing are evident in her mentoring of Morris students. She works tirelessly to keep students actively engaged in campus-based poetry readings and book clubs. Patten also encourages student volunteers to read to children in Sumter-area Head Start programs.

Co-chairing Morris College’s cultural arts committee is an important part of Patten’s campus involvement. She is the lead advisor of Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society and is co-advisor of the Morris College Literary Society. Patten holds professional memberships in the Modern Language Association (MLA), National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages International Association (TESOL).

Patten’s research interests are varied. She researches the teaching of literacy narratives using multimodal approaches in first-year composition (FYC). Patten also explores the effectiveness of poetic inquiry in relation to the resistant writer. Patten’s first volume of lyrical poetry, Teachable Moments: Musings in an American Classroom, chronicling her 23-year journey as an educator, will be published in 2021.