Murat Yazan: English Instructor
By Meredith Smith
A Turkish immigrant
To adequately appreciate Murat Yazan, it is important to
understand his heritage. Yazan is a Turkish immigrant and
is the first of his family to graduate college. He has an
Associate of Arts (A.A.) from Asheville-Buncombe Technical
Community College and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in literature
from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He received
his Master of Arts (M.A.) in English from WCU and his master's
degree in Library Sciences from the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro. His last name “Yazan” actually
translates to “author,” which may have signaled
an auspicious beginning to his career as a writer and English
educator.
First-year instructor
Although Yazan has an extensive education and could easily
teach any level of English, it is the first-year composition
classes that interest him the most. When asked why he doesn’t
teach any upper level classes, he gave two reasons. First,
he enjoys shaping new minds and piqueing students' interest
in becoming English majors; and second, first-year composition
gives him the opportunity to share ideas with his students
in a way that inspires them to learn.
Methodology
Yazan has a simple yet effective way of introducing the required
course work and expanding his students' minds. He prints out
copies of the creation stories from the Bible, Torah, Quran,
and the shashtras. He then removes the title of the book the
story comes from and asks the students to pick out the King
James Bible version. He said that he has yet to have anyone
get it right. This is because the stories are so similar that
it is difficult to determine which is which. This excellent
introduction to other cultures and religions also emphasizes
what they have in common.
Publications
Yazan moved to western North Carolina in his youth and has
been here ever since. He is an accomplished poet, published
in both the “Coloring Book: An Eclectic Anthology of
Fiction and Poetry by Multicultural Writers,” and also
in “The MAG Muse — Apprentice Guide.” He
wants to continue his educational goals by obtaining a Ph.D.
WCU is extraordinarily fortunate to have Yazan, not only as
an alumnus but as an instructor as well.
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