Debbie Wing-Chi Lee – Adjunct Professor of Humanities

Biography

Debbie W. Lee draws on her experiences living and studying across Asia, the UK, and the US in her teaching. She earned her graduate degree in Classics from The University of Texas at Austin, and her academic training spans Ancient Greek and Latin languages and literature, Latin pedagogy, and Linguistics.

Professor Lee’s teaching centers on how literature and art across cultures help us understand ourselves and one another. Questions of identity, belonging, and what it means to be human first drew her to works such as The Odyssey, The Iliad, The Aeneid, and The Epic of Gilgamesh. In class, she enjoys helping students connect with these stories and with one another. Teaching Western classics has also helped her see familiar themes in her own East Asian traditions and appreciate her roots in new ways.

Teaching Philosophy

As a Humanities instructor, Professor Lee’s goal is to introduce students to critical inquiry about the literary sources and material cultures of different eras and cultural traditions. Her classes combine lectures, discussions, collaborative activities, and games. Students are encouraged to ask questions, try out ideas, and listen openly to different perspectives. She also guides them in using AI tools thoughtfully and responsibly to support their learning while keeping their own thinking at the heart of the process. She hopes students discover something that stays with them beyond the course: a story they return to, a question they keep asking, or the confidence to share their own perspective.

Areas of Interest

Epic Poetry
Greco-Roman Culture and Literature
Comparative Approaches to Teaching World Cultures
Latin Pedagogy

Courses Taught at ACC

Great Questions Seminar
HUMA 1301: Prehistory to Renaissance
HUMA 1302: Renaissance to Present