Volume 3 7- Issue 3 Page 3 r'lJ
Excellence in Education; A Spot Light On The Achievements of Dr* Lisa Muir
By Michael Triplett
Dr. Lisa Muir was born in Detroit. Her mother
has a Masters in EngUsh, and her father is
a physician. She started her studies to be a
physician, following in her father s footsteps,
at Michigan State University; however, by the
second semester she had unofficially become an
English major. Literature was something that
she had always loved, and the decision to change
majors was easily made, especially since she was
never fond of needles or blood.
Dr. Ernest Schilinger, Muir’s father, has always
been an influential figure in her life. Muir believes
him to be the smartest person she knows and says,
“He’s level headed, makes wonderful decisions,
and I still ask his advice. He’s also a very generous
person and intelligent too.’’ Muir would, instead,
end up following in her mother’s footsteps, and go
into the teaching profession.
Muir left Michigan State University in 1979 and
moved to Florida with her husband, Ken, now
a professor of sociology at ASU. For two years
Muir worked for a bank. She describes this as an
eye-opening experience; Muir saw that she needed
to finish her degree. In 1982 she graduated from
Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelor of
Arts in English. This degree, along with her love
of literature, led to a Master of Arts in English
from Virginia Tech, and, eventually, a Ph.D. in
English from West Virginia University.
During her educational career she has won several
awards including the Outstanding Part-Time
Teaching Award for non-tenured faculty, from
Appalachian State University; “Teaching At Its
Best,” from University of Wisconsin at Green
Bay; and The Richard L. Hoffinan Award for
Outstanding Teaching as Graduate Teaching
Assistant, from Virginia Tech.
Lisa Muir started teaching at the high school
level, but moved to the college level to gain
more autonomy in the classroom, thus enabling
her to make more of a difference. Since then
she has taught at Virginia Tech, West Virginia
University, University of Wisconsin at Green
Bay, Appalachian State University, and, currently
Wilkes Community College.
Before arriving at Wilkes Community College,
her teaching experience had been at the university
level; however, after a conversation with Blair
Hancock, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Muir
thought, “This could be a very good thing,” and
came to Wilkes Community College to teach. It
turned out, that the move was a good one. She is
very happy here and enjoys teaching her students,
as well as learning from them. Muir feels that her
students still can offer new perspectives on works
of literature she had not previously considered.
For those students who want to follow in Dr.
Muir’s footsteps, she believes that an English
instructor has to be a listener, above all, no matter
his/her level of education. She captures her
students’ attention from the first class, in order
to get them to understade the importance of the
class from the very first day.
When not teaching, Muir works on her research
with ethnic literature; in addition, she reads
scholarly articles submitted to "College Literature”
for pubhcation, mainly works on ethnic literature.
She is given six weeks to read an article and make
the all-important decision whether the article
should be published, be returned for revision, or
denied publication. Muir also adds that "Being
an academic is not exactly lucrative.” All her
work with the journals is non-paid; it is done
solely for service. Muir also has a biographical
piece forthcoming on Haitian American author
Edwidge Danticat to be published in Harvard
University Press"‘African American National
Biography," edited by Henry Louis Gates, the
foremost scholar of African American Studies
in the United States, and Evelyn Brooks
Higginbotham. Her novel" Water Pressure” is in
the final stages of completion. This work is set in
the area around US Highway 421 and involves
a small community college and a university in
the mountains. Muir shared that her students
can be the inspiration for her characters. So, this
book, upon publication, may become a Wilkes
Community College best seller.
When asked what one book Muir wanted all
of her students to read, she responded, “I’m
biased but I suppose that it would be something
autobiographical and immigrant orientated, just
so people could get an idea of where we’ve come
as a country...It would only be one person’s
experience since people came from all over the
place, but at least people would get an idea of
what life used to be like and the struggles people
went through in order to make what we call‘life’
today.”
In addition to being an exceptional educator, Muir
is also deeply involved with her students through
one-on-one conferences and with the college
itself She currently serves on the Faculty Senate,
Professional Development Committee for the
Quality Enhancement Plan, the Lecture Series
Committee, and as an editor for the “Cougar Cry”.
Current student Robyn Pickering, who has Muir
for English 111, says,“Dr. Muir’s classes are
challenging.” She also adds that she enjoys the
class. Jessica McCard, also a student of Muir’s,
really enjoys the research involved with the class
and thinks it is extremely beneficial for her fiiture
career. As a previous student of Muir’s myself,
I found the time she spent with her students
in one-on-one conferences essential to the
development of my papers and understanding of
literature.
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