Teaching

While opting to work outside of academia, Dr Thomas has extensive experience as an instructor at the university level and her approach to teaching has been highly praised by her students and peers. Dr Thomas considers herself fortunate to have taught at the University of Alberta, Yale, MacEwan University, and Athabasca University, where she found dynamic, engaged, and intellectually curious students. In addition to seeing her teaching experiences as ones that help her develop as an instructor, she believes they also help refine her research skills as she works closely with students on their projects and assists them in their scholarly inquiries. Additionally, her experience as a private tutor has further enhanced her breadth as an educator.

When teaching, Dr Thomas strove to demonstrate to students how important an understanding of history is in order to be an educated citizen of the world, and emphasized the relevancy of historical knowledge. She utilized a pedagogical approach that encourages student participation, accomplished primarily through short presentations and research round tables (where possible). To facilitate discussion, Dr Thomas often incorporated primary source excerpts from an array of materials. Using materials such as these (not only modern, published editions materials but also copies of original primary documents) exposes students to fascinating glimpses of past societies and also encourages them to think like historians in terms of source criticism. It imparts to them the human element of the past and encourages them to view the study of history, and the interplay of continuity and change associated with it, as the study of themselves in time. Dr Thomas has used this technique in all of the classes that she has taught and it has always served to provoke conversation and heighten the interest of students. Likewise, it serves to provide a focal point which then helps structure the ensuing discussion of larger issues related to a topic (for example, using a copy of a petition for poor relief as a way of introducing students to the larger subject of early modern poor relief legislation and its links to the expansion of centralized government and the effect it had on the lives of the poverty stricken in the period).