Oh, spring. A time for new life and sunshine, or in this case for college students across the country, it’s when they go into a mad panic getting their classes together for next fall. If I know one thing for sure from my four years of college, it’s that a professor can make or break a class. So, whether you are getting ready to start scheduling courses for the upcoming semester, or if you, like myself, just want to reminisce on the good old times when you actually enjoyed class, here is a list of HC Pitt’s favorite professors.
Communications
“Professor Gorman from the Communications department! I had her last semester, and she still sends me applications for job descriptions and constantly checks in on me which I really do appreciate! She’s just awesome” -Eva A.
“I really love Rachel Friem from the Communications department. She always provides thoughtful feedback and makes me feel encouraged even on my bad days” -Alexis H.
English
“Literal goddess Jennifer Lee, and my king Mark Kramer in the English department. Love them. They helped me grow while also challenging me and are basically my spirit animals/the parents to my writing style.” -Kate R.
“Kimberly Hoover in the English department (composition program)! Encouraged such thoughtful discussions and provided equally thought-provoking readings, and only had us do a few fully formulated and fleshed-out essays with unique concepts rather than making us do constant busy-work writing for the sake of writing.” -Shreya B.
“Ugh it’s so hard it pick just one! Megan Kappel from the English department is one of the sweetest, most understanding and encouraging professors I’ve had. She always lets her students know that she’s available for anything and promotes a comfortable classroom and learning environment.” -Alexis H.
STEM
“Paul Floreancig, organic chemistry. Controversial opinion, but I loved his class because he tried to relate a lot of what we learned to my future career (pharmacy). He really helped solidify my decision to go to pharmacy school and I feel like he made a famously hard class very much possible. I was really worried I would struggle in organic chemistry because everyone says it’s the worst thing ever, but his teaching approach and kindness gave me all the resources I needed.” -Keri C.
“I loved Stefanie Hedayati for biology, she’s amazing at making difficult concepts easy to understand.” -Claire U.
The Arts
“The studio arts department has some of the kindest, most passionate and helpful professors you will ever have in your life. Becky Slemmons teaches painting and she is amazing.” -Emily E.
“Becki Toth is the sweetest professor ever! She’s so encouraging and funny.” -Claire U.
Psychology
“Melinda Ciccocioppo taught my intro to psych class and she was great. She teaches everything clearly and made the class as less stressful as possible during this very stressful time. She was always available to talk and very personable.” -Grace J.
Fellow HC member Eva comments that “Dr. C is literally the MVP!”
Classics
I saved my personal favorite for last, that being the wonderful Dr. Carrie Weaver from the Classics department. I took her class Warfare in the Ancient Mediterranean for a writing course on a limb and literally fell in love with her teaching style. I legitimately took up my minor in Mediterranean Art and Archeology because she is such a phenomenal professor. She makes all of the subject matter so interesting and she is just a wealth of knowledge. I aspire to be as intelligent on a subject matter as she is one day.