Hannah Manshel

English

With a teaching philosophy “focused on encouraging students to pursue learning as a project of inquiry,” Hannah Manshel, Professor of English at UH Mānoa, fosters curiosity through community and connection in her classes. Taking Kyla Wazana Tompkins’s “We Aren’t Here to Learn What We Already Know” as her motto, Manshel sustains her students’ curiosity through implementing a rich mix of teaching and assessment strategies such as whole class discussions, student presentations, Slack message boards, and portfolios with meta-cognitive reflection components. Prioritizing deep engagement with course content along with attention to contemporary events, Prof. Manshel notes that “the connections students make between historical material, current events, and their everyday lives create an opportunity for them to cultivate community both within the classroom and beyond.” Her students confess being “intellectually challenged”; “allowed… so much creative freedom”; fully cared for and supported in all her classes which evidences Manshel’s kindness as well as her mastery as a teacher.