![\"Donna](\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-cas\/uploads\/sites\/3225\/2023\/10\/Focus-on-Teaching-Donna-Potts.jpg\")
Bookshelves line the room in Donna Potts\u2019s office in Avery Hall. Mementos from former students are within an arm\u2019s reach, and photos from a research project-in-progress sit stacked on a filing cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Potts is a professor and the chair of the English department, yet she still finds time to dive into her own creative projects, her favorite of which is a book of poetry she wrote called Waking Dreams<\/em>. \u201cI think through the process of writing it, I was coming to terms with my dad\u2019s suicide,\u201d Potts said. \u201cI think that kind of creative writing allowed me to process it in a way that none of my scholarly writing has.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Potts focuses on Irish literature and poetry in her scholarly writing, sometimes with an environmental emphasis. Her love of Ireland developed when she read William Butler Yeats as an undergraduate. She lived in Ireland twice: once as a research fellow and a second time as a visiting lecturer. \u201cI love the Palouse,\u201d Potts said. \u201cI\u2019m reminded of Ireland when I look out on the hills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Potts and her husband were professors at Kansas State University for 23 years before they moved their family to Washington state in 2013. Her husband is also a department chair at WSU\u2014in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to her role as chair, Potts said her favorite thing is advocating for her faculty and staff. Potts said she thinks she brings a personal touch to teaching. \u201cI can\u2019t help but do this,\u201d she said. \u201cI do tend to think of [my students] as my children. I find myself sharing stories that they can relate to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sara Quenzer, a WSU senior double-majoring in creative writing and journalism and media production, has taken three classes with Potts and works with her at WSU\u2019s literary journal LandEscapes<\/em>. Quenzer said Potts\u2019s teaching style reminds her of professors in old movies: jumping right in and usually not using any visual aids. Even though it took getting used to, she said Potts is an involved and caring professor. \u201cShe\u2019s been super helpful in terms of being a professor who actually cares about their students\u2019 mental health and well-being,\u201d Quenzer said. \u201cShe\u2019s always been willing to share her own experiences so I feel comfortable sharing my own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Potts remembers students more for their positive contributions to her class than what grade they had. \u201cThat part doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d she said, \u201cit\u2019s if they have passion about learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n