There’s a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one, And they’re all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same. (Would it be heavy-handed to quote the next verse?) I haven’t blogged for a while because the new job (director of instructional design and […]
[Continue reading...]Mass firing in the History department at Boise State
March 8, 2015 By
This past week, the History department chair sent out an e-mail with the subject line “Grim News.” In the e-mail, she detailed extensive cuts to the History department’s funding, apparently emerging from the Provost’s office. Among the cuts are: The Public History faculty line I recently vacated 2/3 of the funds we use to support graduate assistants […]
[Continue reading...]Two quick updates, perhaps burying the lede
March 1, 2015 By
Just a couple of things: I’ve been in the new job a month. I’m loving it. It’s a great blend of intellectual work, collaboration, and practical application of all kinds of things I’m thinking about. (Bonus: We’re no longer living hand-to-mouth. I can pay bills without breaking into a cold sweat. That’s a good feeling.) […]
[Continue reading...]Ch-ch-ch-changes
January 23, 2015 By
In my last post, I quoted Frederick Buechner’s thoughts on calling—that it’s “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” And then I asked, “At what point do we acknowledge that the world’s deep hunger has met our deep gladness in a way that is unsustainable, that exhausts us?” As I said, I’ve been […]
[Continue reading...]Listening
December 14, 2014 By
I. I inhabit a lot of different social and cultural worlds, and sometimes the adjacency of posts on Facebook is stunning. I can’t share tonight’s example because a lot of people might misunderstand my motivation for highlighting it. I will say this: as someone with a diverse circle of Facebook friends, I have the privilege […]
[Continue reading...]Humanities = employability
October 20, 2014 By
I found myself in a meeting on Friday with several science faculty, and I had the opportunity to share with them what I’m doing in my Digital History course this semester. When I mentioned in particular that my students were mapping the neighborhood’s irrigation ditches, an engineering professor asked me how they were doing that. […]
[Continue reading...]On instructional design
October 14, 2014 By
On Wednesday morning, I’m interviewing for a director-level position that bridges academic technology, instructional design, and faculty development. As a result, I’ve been even more reflective than usual about the choices I’ve made regarding teaching and technology. I. This semester, in addition to continuing to build or maintain a slate of existing projects, I’ve tackled […]
[Continue reading...]All I have are bullets (many of them literal)
September 7, 2014 By
You may recall I fought very, very hard to keep guns off of Idaho’s college campuses. On day 6 of the semester, a gun went off in the middle of a class at a public university classroom on the other side of the state; a professor was negligent with his concealed firearm. Honestly, my money […]
[Continue reading...]Nope
August 14, 2014 By
Today, a friend and colleague asked me if I was energized for the fall semester. “Nope!” I texted to her. I meant for it to be funny, but in the context of the conversation we were having, my response came across as angry and sad. Why was I sad? I enjoy teaching. I like students. It’s […]
[Continue reading...]On fear at 39
June 2, 2014 By
Years ago, when I was working in academic technology and faculty development, I teamed up with a group of extraordinary women—Laura Blankenship, Barbara Sawhill, Barbara Ganley, and Martha Burtis—to present in various ed tech venues about a phenomenon we termed Fear 2.0, the constellation of fear-mongering around the use of social media in higher education, […]
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