New faculty member has passion for encouraging students
Ever since she was a child, Teaonna “Tea” Watson has enjoyed sharing interesting information with people, and now that she is a faculty member at Texas A&M University-Victoria, she gets to share her knowledge with the next generation of learners and leaders.
Watson joined A&M-Victoria’s faculty as an assistant professor of psychology before the beginning of the fall semester. She will be teaching undergraduate and graduate psychology courses while delving into her research on victimology. She also will serve as the graduate advisor for the forensic psychology program and the advisor for the Psi Chi psychology honor society.
“My main hope is that students will have a positive experience with me in my classes,” Watson said. “Boring classes are such a disservice to students, especially in today’s world where it’s so easy for students to get distracted with their phones or other devices. I’m excited to be here, and I hope my students will be excited to be in my class.”
Watson’s research focuses on the psychological aspects of victimology, both for the victims themselves and those who are close to the victims. Before moving into academia, Watson spent time in Alabama as a first responder for homicides, which she described as being “like Law & Order on steroids.”
“I worked with homicide victims’ families from start to finish, from when the incident happens to after the trial,” she said. “TV makes it seem like everything wraps up after the trial ends, but most of the time, there’s a lot more that comes after, including appeals, parole hearings and more. I worked with police departments and nonprofits to help families navigate all these things and get the support they needed.”
She was first inspired to research victimology after seeing experiences in her own family and community, especially when seeing how associated issues could impact future generations beyond those immediately impacted. Her research has grown to also include wrongful convictions and how marginalized groups navigate the criminal justice system.
“Dr. Watson is an amazing addition to our faculty,” said Dolores Guerrero, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences. “She brings both expertise and experience to the classroom. She is engaging and passionate about her discipline and committed to working with our students both in and out of the classroom. We are excited to have her join our Jaguar family.”
Before coming to A&M-Victoria, Watson served as dissertation chair and a research committee member at her previous institution, where she loved encouraging students to pursue their own research.
“One of my favorite moments when working with students was telling them they had successfully defended their dissertation,” she said. “I loved seeing the smiles on their faces when I called them ‘doctor’ for the first time.”
When she’s not teaching, Watson loves traveling and sampling different foods and cultures. She also enjoys reading historical fiction and nonfiction books, as well as a few thrillers, and she is a longtime member of a book club. With the semester in full swing, her main focus is on making sure her students are getting what they need from her classes.
“I’m excited to be here. I was teaching online at my previous school, and I missed having personal interactions with my students,” she said. “I hope my students will have a great, inspiring school year, and I’m happy to be part of their academic journey.”
Texas A&M University-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the colleges of Business, Education & Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Natural & Applied Science. A&M-Victoria provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as online classes that students can take from anywhere. The university supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.