UT English Roundtable on Careers in Education
University of Tennessee English alumni Karyn Adams, John Luke Bell, and Skikila Arniece Smith joined Dr. Erin Elizabeth Smith for a roundtable discussion on how their English degrees helped them in their future careers in education, including in areas of teaching, curriculum development, and higher ed strategies and consulting. This online discussion took place on Wednesday, February 19th from 5:00-6:00 PM EST on Zoom.
Karyn Adams directs the creative and strategic efforts of HA ThirtyOne, a woman-owned higher-ed focused strategy, marketing, and communications firm. Together with the HA ThirtyOne team, Karyn helps institutions solve problems, reach goals, and exceed their expectations through innovative approaches to communications, enrollment marketing, and institutional initiatives. Throughout nearly two decades of experience in higher education, Karyn has served inside the academy in numerous leadership roles and as a consultant and strategist for institutions across the United States. Her specialties include all aspects of communications and marketing: integrated marketing and institutional branding, enrollment initiatives, capital campaigns, website redesigns, public-private partnerships, and crisis communications. In addition to her work in higher ed, Karyn serves as a Planning Commissioner on the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission and is currently a candidate for City Council, District 1, which represents South Knoxville and Fort Sanders.
Committed to a lifetime of literacy problem-solving, John Luke Bell is excited to engage teachers, leaders, and policymakers in conversations about the future of equitable and excellent education. As Director of Curriculum, Dr. Bell is focused on developing high-quality instructional materials that help all kids grow as fluent readers, effective writers, and critical thinkers. Luke has served as an English teacher, instructional coach, curriculum coordinator, and design leader across organizations supporting instructional change at scale. He also contributes to the field with ongoing evaluation and inspection consultation to improve instructional materials, professional learning, and educator preparation programs. Dr. Bell shares Inquiry By Design’s belief that complexity is for everyone and knows when students learn to read they can learn to love reading. He is a proud graduate of the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University.
Skikila Arniece Smith, is a native Knoxvillian who for the past seven years has taught English at her high school alma mater Austin-East Magnet High School from which she graduated from in 1995. Growing up in one of Knoxville’s inner city, federally funded, housing projects, Sky (as she is affectionately known), is a first generation high school graduate, one who also became a first generation college graduate in her family, after successfully completing undergraduate course work at the University of Tennessee, 2018. The following year she went on to earn a Master degree in Secondary English Education, right here at the University of Tennessee. After overcoming many obstacles Sky is working hard towards earning a Phd in Educational Philosophy, concentrating on Social Justice Education, and yes you may have guessed it, right here at the University Tennessee, Knoxville. Sky’s ultimate goal is to cultivate students who hope to become educators themselves; she also dreams of opening a Cultural and Language Institute within the Knoxville community.
This event is sponsored by the English Department’s Career Development program. Find out more about how our department supports its students and grads with career support at https://english.utk.edu/careers/.