Dr. Avni Vyas
Instructor of Writing
Instructor of Writing
Dr. Avni Vyas holds a PhD in English specializing in creative writing (Poetry) and Rhetoric and Composition from Florida State University. At New College, Dr. Vyas has taught courses in Writing Studies (Writing about Writing, Exploring the Essay), Creative Writing (Pathfinding, Imaginative Writing, Extending the Line), and sponsored tutorials supporting students across various disciplines. She has published a full-length poetry collection and several chapbook-length works centered around distinct creative processes, including ambidextrous writing, erasure, and collaborative sonnets.
Dr. Vyas’s research interests include collaborative composition, listening poetry, documentary poetics, humor and poetry, world mythology, popular culture, and how poems can engage the natural world. Dr. Vyas is passionate about developing poetic practices on and off the page and inspiring students to write about their lives with imaginative depth, developing their use of sensory language and voice. As an immigrant and Floridian, she values access to strong public education systems for all students and access to artistic expression to empower communities, especially in underserved communities.
What made you decide to teach at New College?
New College’s narrative evaluation, low student-to-faculty ratio, and flexible academic model have transformed my own teaching and learning practices. Students learn how to learn, focusing on the process and their own growth, allowing them to engage learning as a lifelong endeavor, not a final letter grade.
WHAT MAKES NEW COLLEGE OF
FLORIDA SO UNIQUE?
First, New College of Florida is a public institution offering a unique academic program to ambitious, creative, self-motivated students. The relationships students build, the cross-pollination of disciplines, and the rigorous course offerings prepare students to engage fully–critically and creatively– in their academic lives. The final honors thesis both challenges students, but also demonstrates a synthesis of critical academic practices, unlike any other school in the SUS.
IF YOUR STUDENTS COULD READ ONE BOOK TO PREPARE FOR YOUR CLASS, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard, or The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
Education
Ph.D, English and Creative Writing, Florida State University
M.F.A., Poetry, Florida State University
M.Ed, English Education, University of Florida
B.A., English, University of Florida