Social media’s evolution from a groundbreaking phenomenon to an everyday staple has generated widespread discourse on its role and influence in modern life. Notwithstanding the calls for its abolition by some critics, its ubiquity suggests that it is here to stay, necessitating a thoughtful approach to its application. Particularly interesting is the notable increase in social media interaction among everyone, including undergraduate students, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as documented in a March 2021 Vox article. This surge, driven by the need to bridge the gap of physical isolation, h ..read more

When the February 2023 New Yorker article by Nathan Heller declared the end of the English major, I shared this news with my students.  I also shared Jorie Graham’s Twitter post encouraging individuals to use the hashtag #iwasanenglishmajor, a feed that quickly filled with scores of English majors extolling the various career paths, and the key skills and experiences that they directly attributed to majoring in English.  As these debates were occurring nationally, I was teaching Anne Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down in an upper-level English class on illness na ..read more

When the February 2023 New Yorker article by Nathan Heller declared the end of the English major, I shared this news with my students.  I also shared Jorie Graham’s Twitter post encouraging individuals to use the hashtag #iwasanenglishmajor, a feed that quickly filled with scores of English majors extolling the various career paths, and the key skills and experiences that they directly attributed to majoring in English.  As these debates were occurring nationally, I was teaching Anne Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down in an upper-level English class on illness na ..read more

Reflecting on my first year as a full-time clinical assistant professor, I feel that I have experienced significant growth in my teaching. Previously, as an adjunct, I often had to create course content without much guidance or formal training; however, now, as a dedicated full-time faculty member, I have had the opportunity to attend several informative university-provided training sessions during my first year. Additionally, I frequently explore websites and social media platforms related to higher education, which have been invaluable sources of insight and ideas. I am also grateful for the ..read more

Reflecting on my first year as a full-time clinical assistant professor, I feel that I have experienced significant growth in my teaching. Previously, as an adjunct, I often had to create course content without much guidance or formal training; however, now, as a dedicated full-time faculty member, I have had the opportunity to attend several informative university-provided training sessions during my first year. Additionally, I frequently explore websites and social media platforms related to higher education, which have been invaluable sources of insight and ideas. I am also grateful for the ..read more

We make sense of the world around us by using a variety of internal lenses. Our learning may be more abstract than concrete, more right-brain than left-brain, more visual processing than auditory or kinesthetic, etc. We may lean towards one political party or ideological cause over another. And depending on whether we are night owls or early risers, we may be half asleep or raring to go when the alarm clock rings each morning. With so many perspectives, how can instructors meaningfully address them in college or university classrooms? A systems approach offers a bimodal solution.  Systems ..read more

We make sense of the world around us by using a variety of internal lenses. Our learning may be more abstract than concrete, more right-brain than left-brain, more visual processing than auditory or kinesthetic, etc. We may lean towards one political party or ideological cause over another. And depending on whether we are night owls or early risers, we may be half asleep or raring to go when the alarm clock rings each morning. With so many perspectives, how can instructors meaningfully address them in college or university classrooms? A systems approach offers a bimodal solution.  Systems ..read more

It is no secret that there has been a sharp rise in rates of depression among college students (Alamo et al., 2020), which may be caused by a reported increase in anxiety and stress (Sahin Baltaci, 2021). Islam et al. (2022) found that among first year university students, 69.5% had extremely severe levels of depression and 61% had high levels of anxiety.   In response, universities have found success in decreasing anxiety through intervention programs to provide support for students who may struggle. Additionally, programs to increase student engagement on campuses are equally impor ..read more

It is no secret that there has been a sharp rise in rates of depression among college students (Alamo et al., 2020), which may be caused by a reported increase in anxiety and stress (Sahin Baltaci, 2021). Islam et al. (2022) found that among first year university students, 69.5% had extremely severe levels of depression and 61% had high levels of anxiety.   In response, universities have found success in decreasing anxiety through intervention programs to provide support for students who may struggle. Additionally, programs to increase student engagement on campuses are equally impor ..read more

While ChatGPT seems to have sprung up overnight to dominate current headlines, legislative discussions, and professional debates—ranging from doomsday predictions to practical celebrations related to improved efficiency with menial labor tasks—the introduction of this online Artificial Intelligence (AI) program can be traced back to 2018. And while it is just the latest in a seven decades-old history of AI and Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) that can generate content like text, images, music, etc., in response to user prompts, there is no ignoring the flurry of both concerns and hopes ..read more