Hi!
My name is Will Boechler and welcome to my Teaching Portfolio.

Scroll down to find content for classes I’ve created, like my online class about Toni Morrison, my Curriculum Vitae, Teaching Statements, and more.

The Life Of Toni Morrison (Online)

Course Description

Toni Morrison is one of the most influential writers of the last century. Her works, such as The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and Sula, are a cornerstone for Black literature and for understanding the complexities and dynamics of racism in modern day America, while also deepening the world’s view of inner Black life. This class seeks to explore just what made Toni Morrison the writer she was, and how her works can teach us more about ourselves and the way we look at the world.

Course Learning Outcomes

— Students will be able to summarize key biographical details and facts about Toni Morrison’s life to give better context to her work.

— Students will analyze Morrison’s literary philosophy and life experience in the writing world by citing examples from her novels and essays, documentaries, and media portrayals and articulate how these reflect her identity as a Black writer.

— Students will be able to compose an original creative writing piece that either incorporates or intentionally diverges from Morrison’s literary philosophies and explain why these philosophies wove their way into their work (or not).

Assignments

Landscape Photo Narrative (Online Independent Study)

Course Description

Landscape photography is one of the greatest ways to explore the world around us. It keeps our eyes refreshed, our heads clear from blue light screens, and helps us embrace the land that will be here long after we’re gone. This self taught, independent study course seeks to explore the land of North Dakota, and its vast storytelling capabilities through non-fiction and research writing and mixed styles of photography.

Course Learning Outcomes

— Familiarize myself with the landscape of North Dakota through photography.

— Study and create reports on several photographers around the world who impact my photography in complex ways.

— Create a body of photographic and written work that can be shown in my portfolio.

— Create a physical media form of the results of this independent study.

— Have the option to showcase this photographic work in a local gallery/school funded gallery.

Produced Coursework

Henry David Thoreau

Course Description

Henry David Thoreau is one of the most influential transcendentalists of our time. His texts, particularly Walden, have fascinated readers for years with his flowing, poetic prose where he ponders his and humanity’s relationship to Nature. This class seeks to explore just what made Thoreau the writer he became, and how his relationship with Nature can teach us how to get closer to the world around us.

Course Learning Outcomes

— Students will analyze Thoreau’s ideologies as a writer, human, and transcendentalist by reading selections from Walden and other works discussing his personal life and writing journey.

— Students will be able to use their knowledge gained about Thoreau’s life and philosophy to develop a new relationship to nature in your own writing or, if not a writer, with nature itself through a series of Nature Writing assignments.

— Students will be able to construct a small creative work/reflective essay combination at the end of the term discussing what you enjoyed (or didn’t) about Thoreau and his work while examining observations gathered throughout the term spending time outside or in nature.

Assignments