Lecturer · Coach · Scholar
In teaching writing and communication at UC Berkeley's College of Engineering, I draw on an unusual combination of experiences: a PhD in English, a BA in abstract mathematics, and years of experience as a quantitative analyst at Bank of America. That range enables me to guide engineers as they translate tough ideas into stories that move people.
My teaching, coaching, and scholarship all rely on my conviction that clear writing and speech about complex topics are skills that can be taught. As a Continuing Lecturer at the Fung Institute and a yearly collaborator with the Haas MFE program, I work with masters students preparing for demanding careers where ideas — and how they are articulated — matter.
Teaching
Recent breakthroughs in AI have put how we write — and how we conceptualize writing — into flux. This writing-intensive course surveys and analyzes accounts of AI-generated writing, while reflecting on the ramifications of AI for human writing practices. How do we write about — as well as with — writing machines? How are emergent AI writing technologies reshaping human writing cultures in STEM fields and beyond?
Students track and research sub-topics of their choosing through a cumulative series of summaries, essays, and opinion pieces, while chronicling their developing writerly identities in a course journal. At semester's end, they revise and present a writing portfolio reflecting their strongest work. Cross-listed as Engineering 184; satisfies Arts & Literature and Philosophy & Values breadth requirements.
Students have won the Art of Writing Essay Contest in consecutive years. Selected published pieces below:
What students say
"I think this is perhaps one of the most interesting classes I have taken at Cal, and it has shaped my thinking around AI as well as given me a framework to continue exploring and learning on my own."
— ENGIN 184, Spring 2025
"Her expertise of coming from both a technical and humanities background allows conversations to not only be illustrative and philosophical about the potentials of AI but also getting an understanding of the technicalities."
— ENGIN 184, Spring 2025
"I admire the intersection of knowledge the professor embodies — a blend of literature and writing with technical and mathematical insight. It's an alchemy that fosters nuanced, imaginative conversations grounded in reality."
— ENGIN 184, Spring 2025
"BEST LECTURER EVER. It is an amazing skill to break down the tough concepts in this class to digestible, nuanced chunks and she does this remarkably well. Best lecturing I've had at Cal."
— ENGLISH 166, Spring 2025
"This course was genuinely PERFECT. It's the only course I've ever taken where I was excited to read every single word assigned. The most ADHD/disability-friendly class I've ever had at Berkeley."
— ENGLISH 166, Spring 2025
Two writing courses for Masters of Engineering students preparing to lead in technical fields. The curriculum integrates structured peer mentoring, evidence-based feedback practice, and cumulative writing development across the semester. Students self-identify as highly skilled writers; they leave as confident ones.
I teach two writing courses within the Fung Institute's MEng program. My approach integrates mentorship directly into the curriculum: advanced students learn to support their peers, and in doing so discover that the clearest path to becoming a better writer is learning to read like an editor.
I am currently a Lecturer Teaching Fellow, a program that supports Berkeley instructors developing innovative pedagogies — in my case, individualized, observation-based mentor training inspired by the model of instructional rounds in K–12 education.
Signature Program
In 2022, I co-launched a peer mentoring program within UC Berkeley's Masters in Engineering program to make individualized writing support accessible for every student — regardless of their prior experience or linguistic background. The program pairs advanced writing students ("mentors") with less experienced writers ("partners") for structured, facilitated sessions woven into the fabric of the course itself.
The program is built on a core conviction: that mentoring is a skill, one that can be taught, observed, and refined. Mentors receive explicit training in evidence-based facilitation techniques, including open-ended questioning, active listening, and collaborative revision strategies.
Program impact at a glance
What the research shows
Students who had previously felt reluctant to seek writing feedback reported that the peer relationship — close in age, personal, low-stakes — created a sense of safety they hadn't found elsewhere.
Mentors consistently described the experience as one of the most impactful of their engineering education. The words "phenomenal," "transformative," and "love" appeared unprompted across student surveys.
As mentors gain concrete frameworks — open-ended questioning, structural editing, close reading — they internalize those tools for their own writing. Confidence as a facilitator transfers directly to the page.
The ongoing, personal nature of the mentoring relationship — the same pair, week after week — proved essential to the program's effectiveness on both sides.
In students' own words
"For me, the mentorship system has helped a lot. We can establish friendship, which makes me feel safer and more relaxed when communicating."
— MEng student, partner cohort
"I would recommend mentoring especially for those who do not dare to speak up in class. It was a great method for people like me to practice."
— MEng student, partner cohort
"More than my writing, I really feel my editing muscles got a good workout. I've learned to enjoy the process — and I wanted to thank you, because you played a big part in that transformation."
— MEng student, mentor cohort
New Work: Personalized Mentor Development
Building on the program's strong foundation, I am now developing individualized, differentiated training for each mentor — a model inspired by Instructional Rounds in Education (City, Elmore, Fiarman & Teitel, 2009).
Approach 01
Rather than auditing for deficits, I observe what is working — noting concrete moments of skilled connection, good questioning, and effective facilitation.
Approach 02
Mentors engage in written goal-setting at the start of the semester and at mid-point. End-of-semester self-reflection essays invite them to trace their own arc.
Approach 03
Brief in-class debrief conversations create space for mentors to process and articulate what they observed — developing metacognitive awareness of their facilitation choices.
Approach 04
In development: short audio-based listening exercises and skill-progress presentations give mentors structured opportunities to hear themselves and set forward-looking intentions.
This work is supported by the Lecturer Teaching Fellows Program at the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, UC Berkeley.
Coaching
I bring the same approach to all my coaching: careful attention to each person's particular challenges, a belief that communication skills can always be developed, and genuine care.
Haas School of Business · MFE Program · January 2024, 2025 & 2026
A three-hour workshop designed and presented for Masters in Financial Engineering students at the Haas School of Business. The session provides a structured framework for editing one's own and others' work under time pressure — focusing on clarity, precision, and the particular demands of professional financial writing.
Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership · 2021–present
One-on-one coaching for MEng students who need additional support to pass their comprehensive exam. Working with students at a high-stakes moment in their program, I help them develop both the writing skills and the confidence to communicate complex technical and analytical material clearly and persuasively under exam conditions.
What coaching clients say
"Margaret's calm and kind demeanor helped soothe the massive panic of having to retake the comp exam. She gave encouragement and the confidence needed to retake the exam when there felt even more pressure to perform. Her coaching was invaluable to me."
— MEng student, comprehensive exam coaching
"Being able to review my first comp exam recording, go through piece by piece of the STAR framework, and understand when I didn't actually answer the question — even if I was stating all the signposts — was exactly what I needed."
— MEng student, comprehensive exam coaching
"The instruction is very useful and supportive. It provides both knowledge and practical methods to prepare for the exam in an efficient way."
— MEng student, comprehensive exam coaching
Writing
My scholarship explores the intersections of literary and mathematical history — and the ongoing project of understanding how ideas travel between disciplines. My work asks how concepts migrate from one intellectual domain to another, what is gained and lost in translation, and what those migrations reveal about both fields.
Stories We Code: A Cultural Atlas of AI
Trade non-fiction manuscript
"Double Review: Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun and Ted Chiang's Exhalation"
MAKE Literary Magazine
"Double Review: Patricia Lockwood's No One Is Talking About This and Lauren Oyler's Fake Accounts"
MAKE Literary Magazine
"Review: Jack by Marilynne Robinson"
MAKE Literary Magazine
"Review: The Overstory by Richard Powers"
MAKE Literary Magazine
"Review: Cartographies of Time: A History of the Timeline"
MAKE Literary Magazine
"Parts and Wholes, Statistical and Literary"
Invited contribution, Palgrave Macmillan Handbook on Literature and Mathematics
"In Search of Lost Causes: Novel Recoveries of the Past"
Configurations 27.1
"Plot Circles: Hardy's Drunkards and Their Walks"
Victorian Studies 56.4
Contact
Whether you're interested in coaching, a workshop, or something else, I'd love to hear from you. Please fill out a short form to get us started.