Monica Anne Festa

Monica Anne Festa is a Ph. D candidate in Languages, Literatures, Cultures, and their Applications from the University of Salento, Italy. She holds a Master’s in the Science of Instruction from Drexel University, a Bachelor’s in Drama from the University of Washington, and a Diploma of English Language Teaching to Adults, from Cambridge English. Before joining AUI in Fall 2018, she taught Academic Reading and Writing I and II, Academic Spoken Communication, Basic Methods of Scientific Research and Design, Life and Study Skills, and Workplace Preparedness in the UAE from 2006 to 2018. She is currently teaching English Composition and Creative Writing. Her research interests include learner engagement, technology-assisted learning, reducing teaching and learning bias in English rhetoric, gamification, and curriculum design. Her current projects include launching AUI’s first creative writing journal, Trove, both online and in print. Under her supervision, service-learning students succeeded in producing trove.aui.ma, which collects and collates literary and visual art from both AUI and ASI students and faculty. The inaugural first volume of Trove will be available in print Fall 2021. Other projects include serving as the faculty trainer for online education and general pedagogy under the supervision of ATLAS. Monica earned her Professional Certificate in Online Education through the University of Wisconsin, Madison in June 2021, and has completed further certified training in the fundamentals of increasing interaction and engagement, designing gamified learning environments, and creating an interactive syllabus through the Online Learning Consortium.