07
View from the Valley
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
AUTHOR: MAGGEE BLEYER
Drew McMurray is the Assistant Professor of History and Government at Wabash Valley College (WVC). He teaches many forms of history, political science, economics, and ethics. This year marks Drew’s tenth year at WVC. Drew grew up in Lawrenceburg, IN and attended Oakland City University. Drew went on to Indiana State University where received his Ph.D. Throughout his university years, he taught at several high schools in Indiana and found himself teaching at Oakland City University. In 2013, however, he began working at WVC. Drew always knew he had a strong passion to teach. He began teaching high school students but found himself limited in what he could teach--especially pertaining to government and social studies. Based on his experiences, Drew decided to give college teaching a try. In K-12- schools, students had to be in the classes they were assigned. With college, students are given the freedom to choose whichever classes they like. Drew found this rewarding, as this process of choosing classes ultimately surrounded him with students who wanted to learn history. “History is stories; history is people,” Drew stated when asked about his love for history. In high school, he didn’t like the way his teachers taught history; he liked exploring history outside of textbooks. By doing this, he discovered more about the subject than what the teachers were saying. “It’s important to discern both between the actual history and what people report to be the ‘popular’ history,” Drew expressed. “I try to depict the past to be real and accurate. ‘Popular’ history is sometimes not accurate--but real history is.” Drew's teaching style consists of verbal interaction, such as asking questions in class and branching into other topics.
Drew says that, in history, a direct question can yield different responses or avenues for other questions--so, he stresses time for discussions. With economics, he presents the subject in a way where students can relay the information they are learning to the present time. Drew has his students write often in his classes. He thinks his students should brush up on their writing skills before they transfer to a four-year university. Drew’s goal is to make his students feel confident about jumping into their next classes, transferring to another college/university, and or about their role in the world. He wants his students to be accustomed to writing and technology. He also wants his students to organize themselves in a way that will help them succeed in all of their classes. Besides being the Assistant Professor of History and Government, Drew is a Faculty Rep on the IECC Higher Learning Commissioner Accreditation Committee. He is also on the Distant Learning Committee and Curriculum Committee. Drew says his music taste is ‘eclectic.’ He’s a big Pink Floyd fan. He also enjoys old classic hip hop, dad rock, and older music. He likes artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, War on Drugs, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and many others. Outside of teaching, Drew describes himself as a professional uber driver for his kids who play sports. He likes working in the yard, riding his bike, and playing with his dogs. He is a Bengals Football fan. Regarding his love for biking, Drew has ridden his bike across the entire state of Missouri on the Katy Trail. He plans to do it again this summer with his oldest daughter.
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