Kat

I completed my undergraduate degree in English Literature at Cambridge University in 2014, and my PhD in Renaissance literature at New York University in 2023. I am a specialist in Renaissance/Early Modern English literature, including Shakespeare, but I love, and can teach, literature of all periods. I am passionate about teaching itself, and I give a lot of thought to my students as individuals and what approaches might suit them best.

Tutoring Experience

During my PhD at New York University, I taught humanities courses to undergraduates, meeting weekly for 2.5 hour discussion groups, giving lectures, grading all written work, exams and assessments, and meeting one-on-one for office hours to advise students individually. In this context I have taught a wide variety of texts from intensive courses on Shakespeare's drama to philosophy to modern novels. I currently work as an English and creative writing tutor working one-on-one with school-age students, and I have experience of working with students who have SEND/SEMH profiles.

I also write and publish poetry, and during the last year and a half I have co-run and taught the free Hollingdean Creative Writing workshop in the community centre in Hollingdean, Brighton. During this fortnightly workshop, which is open to people of all ages and abilities, we close-read and discuss two poems from different writers/periods before writing our own.

I have received a huge amount of positive feedback from students throughout my years of teaching. I have included some selected anonymous feedback responses below:

"This has absolutely been a highlight of my four years at NYU and the amount of effort and care that went into creating such a brilliant space for conversation, with so many great materials and readings, was evident throughout the semester. Whether that was in the incredibly well put together syllabus (literally that thing was a work of art, but also very practical!), or the energy and commitment that constantly went into leading discussion, it was visible in every class without fail, and made three days of the week an absolute blast!"

"Kat was really great at creating an open environment where all students could participate and express themselves. […] I also really enjoyed her use of videos (sufism and stigma ) and art exhibitions. Expanded my view on suffering and in the end became an important of my analysis."

"Kat was really good at providing examples and parallels in order for huge ideas to make sense."
"Overall she was fantastic and helping us understand the ideas presented in class."
"Kat's knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject made recitation an enjoyable experience. She effortlessly lead cohesive class discussions and ensured all of her students left with a more concrete understating of the course material. She even went out of her way to create an immensely helpful
exam review activity. Overall an incredible recitation leader."
"Kat Addis is a wonderful instructor; she is passionate, cares deeply about the material, creates a wonderful and safe classroom environment, and is accessible to her students. Best recitation instructor I have ever had at NYU."
"Kat is absolutely brilliant and very open to class discussion. She balanced very well class tangents and course structure. She provided a lot of in-depth comments on essays for students to better succeed."

On Hollingdean Poetry and Creative Writing Course:

“the most accessible poetry group I’ve ever been to, it’s a highlight of my fortnight”

“My experience of the poetry group was amazing! We had fun with language and ideas, shared cake and beautiful poems, and wrote our own too. More of this please!”

Tutoring Approach

I very much believe in student-led learning, and I have substantial experience of working with SEND students and adapting my pedagogy to different learning needs. I aim to show my students that their learning can be motivated by their own interests even as they engage attentively with literary text and language on its own terms. And it can be fun! My approach often involves modelling literary critical techniques to make them accessible and setting creative assignments that generate students own connections with - and confidence in relation to - the text.