THP 30: Theana Kastens

Program: Doctor of Liberal Studies
Current Position: Professor, Northern Virginia Community College
Hometown: Fairfax Station, VA
LinkedIn: Theana Kastens

What are the three most important skills for someone in your profession and why?
As a professor at Northern Virginia Community College, the second largest community college in the nation with over 78,000 students, my classrooms represent enormous diversity and a wide range of academic skills. Accordingly, I rely on the following three approaches to my work: 1) listen carefully to what my students tell me about themselves 2) build on their pre-existing academic strengths 3) remain flexible in ways to encourage their success.

What has been your most unique learning experience?
My experience in the Doctor of Liberal Studies program at SCS has been without question the most unique learning experience of my life. The interdisciplinary scholarly engagement of SCS Liberal Studies most closely resembles life itself.

What do you like to do in your free time?
Following Voltaire's recipe for life, I cultivate my garden, bringing my summer vegetables to my family table just as I hope each semester to harvest a new crop of students.