Dr. Monique Woodard recently joined Wilkes as assistant professor of game and emergent technology.
Woodard is a Wilkes graduate, and explained that the time was right to return.
“I felt as if it was time to move from my past job to a new one, and the fact that Eric (Ruggiero) had been reaching out to me a couple of times to apply for this position. So, I was like alright, this is it,” she said.
Woodard graduated from Wilkes in 2015 with degrees in integrative media and theater. She then received a masters in digital media, and later a doctorate in education with a STEM concentration from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa. in both 2018 and 2023, respectively.
“I was a student here from 2011-2015,” said Woodard. “My time here was pretty fun to be honest with you. I do not have any complaints outside of the usual ones. I like my professors and I made really good friends here in the IMAD department and also with my other major of theater when I was here.”
Over the past three years, Woodard has been working on a project to help Black girls get involved in the world of STEM through coding.
While Woodard was completing her graduate degree at Drexel University, as part of her job as research assistant she went on to create Black Girls STEAMing through Dance.
“As a part of my degree, my research was in supporting black girls’ creativity as they learn to code in virtual environments,” said Woodard. “I ended up teaching around 17 girls through the concepts of coding beginning in block coding and then transitioning them over to Python in order to have full understanding of the functions.”
Woodard wanted the program to help prepare them for high school and college with coding skills. She hoped the opportunity would not to just help them survive in coding, but thrive in coding.
As part of her job, Woodard teaches three classes this semester along with an independent study. She also has three students working closely with her for a research project.
While Woodard settles into her new job, returning to Wilkes after eight years, she hopes to inspire students to want to code and go into the path of media development. She also hopes to bring a program for black girls to Wilkes as she had at Drexel.