Regis professor receives grant for vocational discernment through creative writing

This spring, chair and associate professor Alyse Knorr, Ph.D., of the Regis English department was awarded the Grant to Individuals for Vocational Exploration from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE).

NetVUE is a program from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) which networks more than 350 colleges internationally to oversee leadership and vocational opportunities for students, educators and staff in higher education.

Through this grant, Knorr will create a teaching article for use in multidisciplinary pedagogy through the framework of creative writing. Knorr’s work seeks to fill in the gaps of scholarly discussions and the use of vocational discernment throughout all disciplines.

“My hope is that by offering this disciplinary set of language, exercises, activities, metaphors, paradigms, to instructors of all disciplines, they can all benefit from it, which means the students benefit from it, right?” Knorr continued, “students will feel the impact of that in their vocational learning.”

According to Knorr, the creative writing process she teaches encompasses much more than the actual writing itself. Blending creativity with an intentional space carved for failure creates a uniquely discerning and introspective framework for both her current students and the intended audience of her teaching article.

“Really, what we learn in creative writing is how to try and fail and persist, how to embrace uncertainty, how to intentionally make messes, to explore and play and discover,” said Knorr. “Because those are the things we seek to teach, those are the things that I think lead to living a good life and having a sense of one's calling and one's ways of making meaning in the world.”

Having taught at Regis since 2016, typically in the upper-level courses, Knorr has worked with her fair share of advanced and dedicated student writers. This year, however, a creative writing course has been offered for first-year students for the first time.

As part of the Regis College Core, the course is intended to shape the newest students to the expectations of the Regis education experience, making it the perfect place to introduce concepts of discernment.

“That is my favorite kind of class to teach, because I get to show them why that can help them in life,” said Knorr. “I tell them from day one, ‘this isn't a class about how to write well, it's a class about how to live well,’ and we're going to do that through the practice of creative writing.”

In a world of growing automation, creative writing courses are not only teaching students how to write, but also how to read. For Knorr, she doesn't shy away from acknowledging the temptation to use artificial intelligence for students, but notes that it’s antithetical to the most important part of writing: the process. 

In practicing discernment through the writing process, students gain the skills to engage in the modern world through modern media.

“We live in an attention economy; don't you want to have agency? Don't you want to belong to yourself?” said Knorr. “This is a tool of empowerment and focusing your attention, and so it's a tool of liberation for the self.”

Despite being the only Regis faculty to receive the Grant to Individuals for Vocational Exploration, Knorr emphasized the hard work of other faculty and staff around Regis across different departments.

From biology to peace and justice, guiding students in their vocational discernment is possible through all disciplines, which Knorr highlights through her grant work.

“Every single department is trying new ways to really think about professionalizing students.” Knorr continued, “I'm really proud to work at a place where colleagues care so much.”