Desiree Leistiko –

Adjunct Professor of Humanities

 

Biography

Hi, and thank you for reading! When I was 7 years old, my family moved to Austin, so I grew up around UT, back when the city was much smaller. I got my BS in Radio-TV-Film at UT, Austin in 1996. After traveling and living life, I went to UT Dallas to work on an MA in Humanities with a Creative Writing focus, and a PhD in Humanities with an emphasis in Literary Studies. I’ve been teaching college classes since 2006, starting as a TA, and then as an adjunct at Dallas County Community College and here at ACC.

Teaching Philosophy

What does it mean to be human? I have my own ideas, and I expect students have theirs. What I want to do is to guide my students to strengthen their ideas about who we are by looking at art and cultural history or art and culture in today’s world (depending on the course). Often, I introduce a new activity or discussion topic to see how well it helps us make connections between the course material and our lives. We’ll engage in activities ranging from discussions, journaling, some tests, and some fun activities to lead us into more in-depth exploration. It’s a fun and exciting question to investigate.

Areas of Interest

Prehistory – Present
Medieval History
Literary Studies
Creative Writing
Chicano/a Studies
Popular Culture
Feminist Studies
Gender Studies

Courses Taught at ACC

HUMA-1301: Prehistory to Renaissance
HUMA-1302: Renaissance to Modern Day
HUMA-1315: Popular Culture
HUMA-1311: Mexican American Fine Arts
Composition 1
Composition 2
Creative Writing
American Literature