Doctoral Students Honored with University Innovation Award

East Texas A&M University students Emily Littlejohn (PhD student in English/Children's Literature) and Gouda Taha (PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics) were selected for the 2025 Graduate Assistant Teacher of Record (GAToR) Innovations in Writing Pedagogy Award.

Established in 2024 by the Writing Program and Department of Literature and Languages, the Innovations in Writing Pedagogy Award recognizes GAToR labor and excellence in the first-year writing classroom. The award affirms a shared commitment to East Texas A&M's pedagogical mission to transform lives by providing an accessible education in an environment where faculty and staff care and are dedicated to the success of all our students throughout their academic career.

The Writing Program is nationally recognized for its innovative curriculum, and the GAToRs who serve as instructors of record strive to make English 100, English 1301, and English 1302 deeply impactful for every student.

Littlejohn’s and Taha's applications thoroughly impressed the panel of judges. Comments from the panel offered high praise.

“Emily's passion and commitment to fostering student growth is impressive,” wrote the judging panel. “It is clear that she not only wants to help students pass a course but wants them to grow both as writers and individuals, and she goes above and beyond to accomplish this. She is not only well qualified for this award but is well-deserving of it!”

“Gouda is exploring diverse ways of teaching to polish his teaching and identity as a teacher,” the judging panel commented. “I commend him for using a dialogic process for assessment and teaching and incorporating AI literacy.”

Dr. Gavin Johnson, Director of Writing, echoed these sentiments, saying: “As these comments emphasize, Emily and Gouda's respective pedagogical work is exceptionally innovative and inspiring. The Writing Program serves every student at East Texas A&M, meaning their work has an expansive impact on our campus. As Director of Writing, I am very proud to have both Emily and Gouda teaching in and continuously improving our curriculum.”