Write On, With Professor Peter Dearing
- 15 hours ago
- 5 min read
By Raina Roller
Clicking keyboards and the sound of students brainstorming ideas emanate from a small room in the basement of the library. Revising papers, building writing skills, and generating efficient study habits are all primary goals of the Learning Center. But who is in charge of these operations and the tutoring services for students?
Peter Dearing has been with the Purchase community since the fall of 2015. He started out as a graduate student in the Teaching Good Prose program, which was taught by Aviva Taubenfeld, the director of Humanities.
“What stood out to me when he was my student was that he came from an unusual background. So he had done a lot of work with people who had not finished their high school degrees and were pursuing a GED,” said Taubenfeld. “He had a real sensitivity towards students coming from different backgrounds who were really trying to advance themselves, and succeed despite whatever hardships they may have faced.”
He was then hired as an adjunct professor that fall. Ever since, he has taught a section of college writing, the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) writing lab, and in 2022 became the head of the Learning Center.
Taubenfeld believes that Dearing is a good representation of the Humanities department. Whose goal is to get students to read the world critically based on the text or what they are hearing and seeing. And really be able to formulate their own ideas about those things, and help students reach their full potential to do that. “And I feel that’s what he’s about,” said Taubenfeld.
Rather than becoming a full-time writer, Dearing found a different way to share his talent. “I guess I would say my career is teaching over writing,” said Dearing. “I started teaching young, and I taught all through college.”
Dearing earned his first degree in creative writing from Hunter College in 2010. “I really liked Hunter, I had a good experience there,” said Dearing. He then did a year of special education graduate school, which he ultimately decided not to finish. However, he later applied and went to Sarah Lawrence College for his MFA in nonfiction, which he explained he very much enjoyed.
A native New Yorker, Dearing, unsure of what he wanted to do, started his teaching career at Community Impact at Columbia University, an adult education center.
“I was halfway through college. I was doing creative writing, but the idea of being a writer seemed like a very difficult road to follow,” said Dearing. He added, “My parents were like, ‘Maybe you would like teaching. Then you can at least do writing in the classroom and teach writing and think about writing, but in a teaching format.’”
This semester, Dearing teaches one section of college writing.
“I definitely feel like he's helped me improve my writing,” said Lennon Babicz, a freshman college writing student in Dearing’s class. “I feel like I've always been a good writer, but his feedback has helped me figure out how to restructure essays so they read cleaner, things like that.” He adds that Dearing makes an effort to help students academically, but also prioritizes having good relationships with them. Babicz said, “I feel like he tries to connect with his students, which I really appreciate.”
“He has this real ability to make people comfortable, to give them the skills they need and give them the confidence to believe that they can achieve,” said Taubenfeld. “I think his role as the director of the Learning Center is sort of a way for him to take that talent that he has and bring it to the larger campus community, not just the students he teaches in the classroom.”
Dearing’s reputation as a professor is not only known inside the classroom, but also outside.
“Professor Dearing’s classes always fill up quickly because his reputation precedes him,” said Emily Sausen, the director of college writing. She added that students in his class make a lot of progress during his class due to his dedication to teaching. “Professor Dearing’s teaching leaves a lasting impact on students, and they recommend his class to their friends.”
Another student in Dearing’s class notes that he teaches other helpful skills aside from writing, such as communication with one another, and that his teaching style helps her stay engaged.
“He encourages discussions and keeps us on our toes during class,” said Deanna Wallace, a freshman in Dearing’s class.
After seven years of teaching college writing courses, Dearing became the head of the Learning Center.
“Teaching has been my passion,” said Dearing. He added, "Although I would say that through this new position as director of the Learning Center, I’ve learned some administrative tasks: Running a group of tutors and managing things, doing the pay sheets and the timesheets, staying organized and all that kind of stuff.”
One of those tutors is Kaelin Viera, a sophomore with a double major in journalism and theater and performance.
“My experience with Professor Dearing has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Viera. “I’ve worked at the Learning Center for two years now. I feel fulfilled by the work I do with students because I am following his great example.” Viera also notes that Dearing is willing to give his tutors extensions if they are feeling overwhelmed. “He understands that his tutors are students too.”
To the Purchase community, Dearing has a very recognizable personality.
“He’s always wearing a bowtie,” said Viera. “He’s just as friendly as he appears and has a genuine passion for helping students succeed because of his own experience as a student struggling in college.”
Dearing has plans for the Learning Center to expand outside of just the Purchase College campus. He explained how this spring he debuted a worksheet called the Learning Center Launchpad. His goals include going into high schools in the Purchase area and teaching students effective time management and study skills. “
The goal is to prepare students to do well at the college level and assist in their time management and study skill patterns to make sure they’re doing things that are going to have them be successful,” said Dearing.
While Dearing spends most of his time on campus and inside the classroom, he notes that when his students have papers due, he spends an average of 15 hours a week grading. Some of his hobbies in his personal downtime include playing the guitar and singing, as well as playing video games such as Super Mario and Mario Kart.
Sometimes, Dearing, a big dog lover, likes to take a piece of home with him to work. He sometimes brings his dog, Maisie, a 5-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog and poodle mix, with him to interact with the community and keep him company in his office. However, she is not ready to come into his classes yet.
“I’m hoping that she will learn to be a good companion at work, and I'll be able to bring her, and students will enjoy her,” said Dearing.
Dearing acknowledges that students are often held to a high expectation by their professors. However, he has a different approach.
“I grew up with a lot of people saying, ‘You should know this by now,’ and my response is, ‘No, you shouldn't. I’m going to teach you.’”
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