UC San Diego Professor On Empowering Student Voice Through Writing
San Diego, Calif. — In the midst of political division in the US, Professor Jennifer Metten Pantoja, Associate Director of the CAT (Culture, Art, and Technology) Writing Program at UC San Diego’s Sixth College, uses writing pedagogy as a way to help students from different backgrounds find their own voice on a college campus. Tirelessly striving to explore complex aspects of the world’s cultures and languages, Pantoja brings the enthusiasm she has for learning into every classroom, inspiring generations of student writers to seek exposure to self-expression and intellectual risks.
Pantoja was born in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her parents were physician-scientists who relocated regularly for work. When she was 10, her mother was offered a temporary research position in India by the World Health Organization (WHO). Pantoja moved to India with her parents and was homeschooled there for the following six years. At 11, she developed a passion for reading and analyzing classic novels and news articles. The independent and self-motivated homeschooler was particularly interested in learning English and Hindi grammar, seeing it as a way to bridge the two cultures she grew up in.
Pantoja came back to the United States at 17 and graduated from high school in New York. She went to the UC Los Angeles for college, where she majored in History and English. During her time there, she also spent a full year in Jerusalem to study Quran and Hebrew Literature, which eventually led her to a post-graduation career in religious studies. Her professional work includes research and teaching in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Literature at UC Los Angeles and UC San Diego.
When asked about her decision to become a Writing Professor, Pantoja traced the motivation back to her private lessons with a tutor in India:
“I had a writing tutor in India who sparked my interest in learning about how people can navigate through their cultural identities through written language. So now I want to explore the similar dynamics teaching writing to students from diverse upbringings on this campus”
At UC San Diego, each of the six undergraduate colleges has its own mandatory writing program with differing numbers of units and learning outcomes. As a part of the university’s general education requirements, all undergraduate students must complete different writing sequences based on their college, regardless of major, class standing, and country of origin. According to Amanda Solomon, Pantoja’s colleague and Director of the DOC (Dimensions Of Culture) Writing Program at UC San Diego’s Thurgood Marshall College, the writing curriculum creates an enriched learning environment by bringing together students from a wide range of academic disciplines and cultural backgrounds.
“Students at an American university pursue different interests and aspirations, and oftentimes do not get to meet colleagues from fields other than their own,” Solomon said. “Mandatory college writing courses give students the exposure to viewpoints outside of their professional and social networks, which I think is essential to their intellectual growth”
In the Trump era, immigration issues are among the most important causes of political division. While the current rise of racism and pressures toward cultural assimilation across the United States put a strain on the lives of minority and foreign students, Pantoja seeks to foster diversity and inclusion in writing pedagogy. To her, getting to work with students from all over the United States and the world has always been the most rewarding part of her job. Because of her international experience, she values the interactions she has with multilingual student writers, identifying strongly with their struggles adapting to the mainstream American culture.
“I reverse to my younger inquisitive self when I chat with students whose native language is not English. Most of them are not confident with writing in English because of their lack of experience with the language, but they always fascinate me with the unusual breadth of experiences they bring into the classrooms,” Pantoja said. “I want to help these students realize that they can grow into phenomenal writers because they have seen more of the world”
ZY Lin, a first-year student from China, testified to the Professor’s genuine effort in facilitating cultural awareness and empowerment in student writing:
“I am not familiar with the argumentative and analytical communication style that is expected at an American university, so I usually get low grades on my essays,” Lin said. “But Jennifer tries her best to help non-native English speakers like me. She encourages us to work on our writing skills so that we can convey our unique ideas and stories more effectively in the US higher education environment”
Driven to improve student writing confidence, Pantoja also seeks to demystify the craft of writing. In her view, writing allows people to explore greater depths of knowledge through a deliberate process of reflection and revision. She thoroughly enjoys the fact that learning writing can guide individuals into new realms of thinking, making them feel “out of place” and “eager to ask big questions”.
Catherine Crowder, a graduate teaching assistant for Sixth College’s CAT Writing Program, shared a few words on Pantoja’s teaching philosophy:
“While typical students tend to get attached to the idea that there are good writers and there are bad writers, Pantoja makes clear that writing is not a natural gift but a skill, just like driving, cooking or swimming,” Crowder said. “The more time we spend on perfecting the craft, the better we are at it. In fact, the most brilliant writers go through the most practice”
However, Pantoja also recognizes that not many students at UC San Diego understand that the importance of improving their writing skills. With 53.2% of the current undergraduate population majoring in STEM, the popular myth within the general student body is that mandatory college writing courses can be severe GPA droppers. Despite her position as a writing professor at a university known more for their reputation in science rather than humanities, Pantoja retains a positive outlook on the university’s writing curriculum. She believes that good writing skills are necessary in all aspects of an individual’s professional development, no matter what fields of study they are in.
“Employers in all modern industries look for candidates with strong critical thinking and communication skills. I firmly believe that writing can train you to become a great thinker and communicator. Being able to write well shows that you have ideas, questions, criticisms, and desires to change things for the better”
When asked about her vision for student writers in higher education, Pantoja confidently highlighted the practicality of writing in the current political context.
“As the American society has been flooded with fake news, irrational fears, and unreasonable hatred between different racial and social groups, I think it is crucial that college students understand the life-changing aspects of writing, which involves venturing out of a certain comfort zone, wrestling with rigorous concepts, and learning to see contemporary issues in a new light”, she said. “Through teaching writing, I hope to nurture more critical minds and compassionate hearts for the future”
