I have served as Instructor of Record for courses listed in the Sociology (SOCI), Women’s and Gender Studies (WGSS), and Management (MNGT) departments. My courses have been offered in person, remotely, and in hybrid in-person/remote formats during the academic year and as part of the university’s accelerated Summer Sessions.
I aim to assure all students that they are capable of meaningfully contributing to classroom conversations, that their insight is valid, and that their engagement is critical to furthering our understanding of sociological phenomena. As a proponent of ongoing consideration of researchers’ positionality when assessing the validity and implications of social science research, I incorporate self-reflective assignments and practices into my pedagogy. My courses feature assignments encouraging students to consider how their intersecting identities influence the ways they navigate the social world, how these identities and experiences resonate or contrast with the identities and experiences of others, and the implications of these observations for students as individuals, for different groups of people, and for society as a whole.
Selected Student Feedback
Instructor of Record, SOCI/MNGT 412: Social Stratification
“Katie is a great professor! She provides excellent feedback, assigns interesting readings, and is very understanding if anything arises that would interfere with completing assignments on time. You can tell she really wants you to learn, but most importantly, she wants you to enjoy the process of learning.“
“She was super understanding and provided so many readings from which we could learn from. Also, she de–emphasized grades, taking the stress away from getting a good grade and instead motivating me to engage with the material.”
“A great instructor and always came to class with a positive attitude. She was wonderful to have a class with and was very personable. She is very understanding and cares about the course she teaches. I would love to take a course with her again! She also gives very helpful feedback.“
“Professor Furl made learning possible for me with lecturing that was understandable and well–structured. Further, independent assignments had clear connections to class concepts and learning outcomes. She provides great personalized feedback to questions, and nobody leaves class confused.“
Instructor of Record, SOCI/WGSS 124: Sex and Gender in Society
“One of the most accommodating teachers I’ve ever had! She was willing to create a hybrid format and was very flexible with the ways we participate in class, which I appreciated. The mix of teaching styles lend[s] itself well to really understanding the material while keeping the students engaged.“
“Kept lectures engaging by using discussion points and in–class reflections, thus making the understanding of the topic extend beyond the theory to our daily lives…Being new to UNC, I really appreciated how the syllabus was always up to date (with grading being very clear) and when we had the essays, we reviewed the rubric and what was being asked from the essay. The feedback from the essay was also very helpful going into the second.“
“I loved Katie so much. She was extremely accommodating and really seemed to care about our wellbeing. She gave very detailed feedback on essays and was just generally very socially and culturally aware. She created a really comfortable classroom environment, where I felt like I could participate and not feel judged. Genuinely wish more instructors at Carolina were like her—she’s a gem!“
Teaching Assistant, SOCI/MNGT 412: Social Stratification
“Katie was an amazing TA. Her comments in the Zoom chat kept students’ attention focused in class and made us feel motivated and appreciated. Her feedback on opinions shared in class and on assignments was very helpful. 10/10.“
“She was very helpful and had great feedback to help us understand where we went wrong. She really cared about us too.“
Katherine Furl 