Christian Purvis Aldrich is College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Faculty of Distinction for February.
Purvis Aldrich grew up in the Treasure Valley and attended the University of Idaho, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. She then attended University of Colorado (CU) Boulder. After finishing her master’s in English Literature at CU, Purvis Aldrich began teaching in the Bay Area at De Anza College where she earned tenure. She has been teaching for over twenty years and continues to be inspired by her students every day.
She was nominated by three separate faculty members who appreciated her leadership in the English department. They cited her development of the Global Perspectives curriculum, her kindness to both students and faculty, her mentoring of new instructors, and her ability to gracefully and productively lead tough conversations where there is much opportunity for dissent. Purvis Aldrich says one of her favorite projects at CWI is developing the English placement website. She also gets excited about humanities. This summer she visited London and the highlight was a treasure hunt in The British Museum to find all the artifacts discussed in her HUMA 101 textbook.
Outside of her work at CWI, Christian enjoys time with her family, dancing tango, studying yoga, and gardening. Having spent four years as the head coach of Santa Clara University’s women’s rowing program, she is looking forward to celebrating their tradition of Black Velvet; the first row of the year after the ice melts.
Please join in congratulating Christian on this well-deserved recognition.