Senior English major Max Amend brought his passion for literature back to the classroom this summer as an English teacher at his alma mater, Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California. At Bellarmine, Max taught 8th Grade English and Fundamentals of Grammar. For both courses, he developed the curriculum and syllabus, taught daily, offered individual support to students during class and in office hours, and gave detailed feedback on students’ writing and assignments. Building off his preliminary research in AI and motivation, Max encouraged his class “to critically think about AI and the role of literary scholarship in education” while reading Daniel Herman’s “The End of High-School English.”
In the classroom, Max taught works from authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Gabriel García Márquez, Shirley Jackson, and James Baldwin. As a part of his Senior Thesis for the English Department’s Honors Concentration, Max has continued researching the life and literature of Baldwin. Max, masterfully incorporating his academic interests into his lesson plans, independent research, and on-campus coursework, recommends that fellow English majors “pursue [their] passion in the moment and see where it takes [them], how it makes [one] feel, and be open that through experience, interests may change. Don’t get stuck, in anything really, and use the Notre Dame network and support services as a launching-off pad to pursue the limitless possibilities open to those who think critically, work hard, and fervently pursue questions critical to our time.”
Alongside his English major, Max pursues minors in History and Education, Schooling, and Society (ESS). As part of his capstone in ESS, Max conducted research on AI and what motivates college students to use AI for academic related tasks. Max also works in Dr. Susan Blum's School Story Lab researching reading, how college students approach academic and non-academic reading, their methods of reading, and their mindsets surrounding it.