Faculty Spotlight: Zackary Gregory

Zackary Gregory is an English composition and general education instructor at USU Blanding campus and is piloting a new course, English 1050 (Link attached here: https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-blanding-launches-engl-1050-to-support-student-success). It’s currently titled Introduction to Academic Writing but will be named Community Engaged Reading and Writing for the Fall 2025 semester. The class introduces students to reading academic-level material and dissecting ongoing conversations in the world of academia.

“There are many ways you could teach the course. I decided to focus on community engaged reading and Indigenous writers,” Zackary says. “One of the most important goals behind my material selections and approach was to allow students to use the knowledge they already had in an academic setting. This built student confidence by showing them that they already possessed the knowledge needed to participate in important conversations.” Zackary chose to focus on Indigenous writers, researchers, and voices because many of his students at the Blanding campus are Indigenous. “I wanted to show my students that there is a place for their perspectives in higher education,” he comments.

In addition to his work done in English 1050, Zackary’s unique approach of incorporating “gameful design” principles in his teaching has strengthened the learning of his students. “I taught an Intro to Science Fiction course with assignments written like a science fiction role-playing game. Students could choose a role to play as we explored the planet of ‘Sci-fi,’” he reflects. “Once students decided on a role to play, they would approach a text from that perspective. This resulted in many exciting student projects. For example, students interested in software and computer science got to think about the plausibility of the A.I. technology in the film Her, while other students interested in linguistics examined how science fiction authors create alien languages, as in Weir's novel Project Hail Mary.”

Zackary originally went to school studying philosophy in order to address his interest in questions on the meaning of life. However, he switched to English because it dealt with the same questions but in writing that was more enjoyable and moving for him. “I chose to study literature because it is the best and most fulfilling way to delve into questions about meaning-making and being human,” he says. He eventually earned his MS in Literature, Culture, and Composition from USU.

For Zackary, USU brought a tight-knit community, especially when sharing writing both as a student and teacher. He underscored the importance of taking advantage of such a helpful and accepting space: “Writing communities that are inviting and constructive can be hard to find outside of college humanities departments.”