Rebecca Black
rblack@alum.swarthmore.edu
EDUCATION_________________________________________________________________
University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD
Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics, expected May 2017
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics, May 2011
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Linguistics, June 2008
HONORS AND AWARDS_______________________________________________________
University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD:
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Flagship Fellowship
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY:
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APPLE Award for Master’s thesis “Dementia and epistemic authority: A conversation
analytic case study.”
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA:
 High Honors in Mathematics and Linguistics
 Member of Sigma Xi and Phi Beta Kappa
 Swarthmore Linguistics Prize in Linguistic Theory for thesis “The acquisition of syntax:
An overview and case study of L2 Japanese.”
 Fedak Scholarship
 Morris Monsky Prize in Mathematics
TEACHING EXPERIENCE_____________________________________________________
University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Mathematics, College Park, MD
Graduate Teaching Assistant, September 2011 – Present
 Lead discussion sections for undergraduate classes in calculus (fall 2011) and
multivariable calculus (spring 2012), including creating, administering, and grading
quizzes and worksheets, as well as presenting examples to supplement lectures, and
answering student questions
 Taught two sections of introductory statistics (fall 2012), which involved preparing and
giving lectures, writing and grading quizzes and exams, running weekly office hours, and
creating review materials and practice problems prior to exams
Community English Program, Teachers College, New York, NY
English as a Second Language Instructor, February - April 2011
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Taught two-hour intermediate-level English classes three nights a week to adults
Worked both independently and with a co-instructor to prepare grammar explanation,
practice activities, creative writing assignments, presentations, and games
Designed, administered, and scored midterm and final assessments, as well as providing
constant formative feedback through weekly journals, workbook assignments, and
presentations
Adapted lessons and syllabus to be responsive to the specific needs and questions raised
by students; polled students weekly about their feelings about the class and their own
learning in order to best meet their needs
Kami-cho Board of Education, Kami-cho, Mikata-gun, Hyogo, Japan
Assistant Language Teacher (through the JET Program)
August 2008 – August 2009
 Designed games, lessons, and activities for students from kindergarten through ninth
grade to make classes fun and stimulating
 Engaged students both in and out of class in English conversation and correspondence in
order to spark their interest in language as a communicative tool
 Created and maintained an English Bulletin Board to expose students to American culture,
English word puzzles, and major holidays, sports, and political events
 Participated in school and community festivals and local International Associations in
order to promote cultural exchange and bond with the community
Swarthmore College Department of Mathematics, Swarthmore, PA
Math clinician and grader
September 2005 – May 2008
 Graded weekly homework assignments for calculus, multivariable calculus, linear
algebra, and real analysis classes, providing comments and corrections to students (for
four semesters)
 Helped students in any Swarthmore math class one night a week in the math clinic,
working through material together with them to ensure that they developed a deep
understanding of the concepts (for two semesters)
Swarthmore College Department of Linguistics, Swarthmore, PA
Semantics grader and clinician
September – December 2007
 Provided feedback on weekly written assignments to help students understand the
material and clarify their writing style
 Worked with students one-on-one in a weekly clinic to answer their specific questions
and fill any gaps in understanding
OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE__________________________________________________
Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ
TOEFL Writing test item developer
July – August 2010, 2012
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Worked with a team of five other interns and ETS staff to create drafts of test items for
the writing section of the TOEFL English language test; items consist of a 300 word
reading passage on an academic subject and a 300 word lecture offering counterpoint.
Researched topics and sources on which to base the content of items, synthesizing
information into the proper logical format
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Wrote and edited over thirty item drafts (2010)
Worked specifically as a topic and source finder, providing source material and logical
outlines to facilitate the writing process for other interns (2012)
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
Research Assistant to Dr. Hansun Waring
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September 2009 –
December 2010
Prepare bibliographies in APA style
Track down journal articles and book chapters through libraries and online databases
Screen raw video data, record overall structure and identify sequences that merit more
detailed attention, tailored to Dr. Waring’s research interests within conversation analysis
Transcribe videos in detailed conversation analysis style for analysis
Swarthmore College Department of Mathematics, Swarthmore, PA
Math Image Project developer
June – August 2008
 Collaborated with a professor and a team of students to design and create a wiki site for
mathematical images
 Created educational content for the site using a database of images and researching the
mathematics behind them, synthesizing the information into an accessible format using
wiki code
Expand Your Horizons, Swarthmore, PA
Volunteer committee member and group leader
March – April 2007, 2008
 Communicated by email with all area middle schools to recruit middle school girls for a
one-day conference on women in math and science, fielding any questions or concerns
 Facilitated social bonding between the girls through introductory games and activities
during breaks in the math/science workshops
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, Chester, PA
Volunteer tax preparer
February – April 2008
 Prepared tax returns for low-income families using TaxWise software in order to help
them receive the maximum possible tax refund
University of Akron Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates, Akron, OH
Undergraduate researcher
June – July 2006
 Worked under a team of mathematics professors to investigate self-similar tilings of the
Heisenberg Group and to prove a specific case of a broader theorem involving tilings.
 Collaborated with three other students to write up our work as a formal mathematical
paper, “Self-Similar Tilings of Nilpotent Lie Groups,” which we presented as both a talk
(using Powerpoint) and a poster at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans in
January, 2007.
PUBLICATIONS
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Linguistics
Waring, H. Z., S. Creider, T. Tarpey, & R. Black (2012). A search for specificity in
understanding CA and context. Discourse Studies, 14(4), 477-492.
Black, R. (2011). Dementia and epistemic authority: A conversation analytic case study.
Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics, 11(2),
65-93.
Fiction
Black, R. (2013). Tetrapod. In R. North, M. Bennardo, & D. Malki ! (Eds.), This is How You
Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death. New York, NY: Grand
Central Publishing. (Forthcoming)
COMPUTER AND LANGUAGE SKILLS_________________________________________
 Conversationally fluent and partially literate in Japanese
 Some knowledge of Spanish and American Sign Language
 Proficient in Microsoft Office
 Experience using LaTeX
 Experience working with blogs, wikis, and forums to create interactive online content
 Some knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP, and SQL