Middle & Upper School Teacher
History
John Conway
MA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
BA, Indiana University
International Humanities Teaching Certificate, The College of New Jersey
Certificate of Russian Language, St. Petersburg State University
John Conway was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana. After receiving his BA in Ancient and Medieval History from Indiana University, in Bloomington, he attended intensive language courses at the Center of Russian Language and Culture, a department of St. Petersburg State University, in Russia. After receiving his Masters in Russian Military History and Propaganda, he returned to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he worked for more than 20 years at the Anglo-American School of St. Petersburg, an international school supported by the American, British, and Canadian Embassies. John built Anglo-American’s Upper School Humanities program, teaching a wide variety of courses such as Philosophy, Film, and Advanced Placement History and Human Geography. Amidst growing political tensions, the Anglo-American School of St. Petersburg was shut down by the Russian Government and John was involved in the opening of a new international school for the St. Petersburg ex-pat community. After successfully opening a new school in St. Petersburg, John and his family decided the time had come to leave Russia; John then worked for four years at United World College, Changshu, China, teaching IB Philosophy and creating and launching the College’s IB Film Studies program.
John’s teaching philosophy is focused on fostering critical thinking, curiosity, and argumentative skills. He always hopes to focus on engaging his student’s interests and empathy for the people and circumstances of the times they study, and he enjoys finding ways for students to apply what they have learned to the world and circumstances around them.
John’s hobbies are writing fiction, watching horror films, and playing computer games. His wife is a Russian Language Philologist, and their son is a Project Manager for Google.