About Jay:
Jay Olinger is a queer, neurodivergent, interdisciplinary artist-scholar. They teach art + comic studies at Portland Community College and Portland State University, dedicated to promoting quality, universal online education. Along with teaching, Jay presents their research at international conferences, curates group exhibitions, and creates short comics.
Jay regularly participates in professional development workshops with Quality Matters and the Online Learning Consortium to be up-to-date on the best practices in online learning. With an interest in interdisciplinary and multimodal education, Jay participates in the Collaborative Teaching Faculty Learning Committee, the Modalities Committee within the Art Department, and the Accessible Technology Committee at PCC. This is informed by their experience as a queer, disabled student, and translates these experiences and learnings into the classroom.
In my classes, I focus on the intersection of the Fine Arts and Pop Culture — where you can see artworks and structures in YOUR everyday life, from driving around the Pacific Northwest, your next vacation, or on the latest streaming TV series or videogame. This makes my classes widely accessible to those focusing on Art or Architecture as well as Non-Art majors, as Fine “A”rt can be found outside of the gallery.
As an instructor, I consider myself what Zaretta Hammond calls a “warm demander,” one who “communicates personal warmth toward students while at the same time demands they work toward high standards.” What this means is that I provide assignments where the student can explore and build upon their strengths within a structured framework, focusing on quality work in a timely manner. My due dates are firm, and I open my online and remote courses at least 1-week prior to the start of a new term so students can review the calendar and syllabus in order to make informed enrollment decisions.
In all of my classes, I provide resources and optional information along with grading rubrics for transparency with all assignments, and students can expect timely feedback to really grasp the course content. I communicate consistently throughout courses through weekly emails and announcement board posts on the D2L page, send course progress notifications twice a term, and apprise the class of key institutional dates by referencing the Academic Calendar.
Questions? Feel free to contact me via email at jay.olinger@pcc.edu