Campus Directory

Division Social Sciences Division
Student Affairs and Success

Department/College/Unit Teaching & Learning Center (TLC)
Sociology Department

Title Instructional Designer
Continuing Lecturer

Affiliation Faculty

Other UCSC Campus Affiliation Teaching & Learning Center (TLC)

Faculty Type Lecturer

Areas of Expertise Sociology
Sexuality
Class
Discrimination and Inequality
Labor and Social Movements
Race
Sexism and Gender Bias
Affect Studies

Primary Office Location McHenry Library
1364

Additional Location(s) Rachel Carson College 310

Office Hours for Students/ Office Hours Current office hours signups: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nv97YDF60ZK8bNmKdG5-5NrJdg9VDjRsWH68dAEiU1E/edit#gid=0

Mail Stop Teaching & Learning Center

Biography, Education and Training

Megan McNamara (any pronouns) is an instructional designer with expertise in large lecture course development, online and in-person pedagogies, equitable and accessible design, academic integrity, and flipped classroom/active learning techniques. She particularly enjoys partnering with faculty who are seeking to enhance belonging and engagement in their courses.

In addition to her work with the TLC, Megan serves as a Continuing Lecturer delivering a variety of popular courses in the Sociology major at UCSC. She holds a a Ph.D. in Sociology and Masters degrees in Sociology and in Cultural Anthropology. In her off time, she hikes prodigiously and runs a cat and kitten sanctuary.

Summary of Expertise

Areas of Pedagogical Interest/Expertise

·       Inclusive teaching with humor and kindness

·       Equity in higher education (especially in online/remote settings)

·       Universal Design for Learning

·       Engagement in large lecture courses

·       Humanized course design practices

·       Flipped/hybrid classroom approaches

·       Technology and accessibility in education

·       Trauma-informed teaching

·       Anti-racist pedagogies

Instructional Design Experience

·       Instructional Design Consultant (UC Santa Cruz Online Education, September 2020-present)

·       Co-creator and facilitator: Integrated Course Design for Hybrid Instruction (UC Santa Cruz Online Education, 2021)

·       Lead Facilitator: Teaching for Equity Graduate Certificate (UC Santa Cruz Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, 2021)

·       Faculty Fellow, Online Education US Santa Cruz (Summer 2020)

·       Co-Instructor: Teaching for Equity Graduate Certificate (UC Santa Cruz Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, 2020)

·       2018-2019 Faculty Fellow, UC Santa Cruz Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Teaching Interests

Sociology of:

• Emotions
• Sexuality and Gender
• Social Inequality
• Deviance/Conformity
• Labor/Work/Occupations
• Race/Ethnicity

And...

• Introduction to Sociology
• Classical Sociological Theory
• Social Psychology

Awards, Honors and Grants

UCSC Committee on Teaching: Excellence in Teaching Award (2019-2020)

UCSC Disability Resource Center: Disability Champion Award (2020-2021)

UCSC Online Education Course Development Grants (2019, 2021)

Selected Publications

"My Students Started a Discord -- Now What?" (Inside Higher Education, April 21, 2021)

"It's Not Them, It's You: How to Write Small Group Activity Prompts that Actually Work" (Teaching Professor Newsletter, September 19, 2022)

Selected Recordings

Megan McNamara’s Fall 2020 Welcome

Courses Socy 1 (Introduction to Sociology)
Socy 15 (World Society)
Socy 105a (Classical Social Theory)
Socy 130 (Sociology of Food)
Socy 136 (Social Psychology)
Socy 137 (Deviance and Conformity)
Socy 149 (Sex and Gender)
Socy 153 (Sociology of Emotions)
Socy 154 (Sociology of Anti-Fat Bias)
Socy 169 (Social Inequality)