The Academic Minute for 2017.11.13-11.17

Academic Minute from 11.13 – 11.17

Monday, November 13th
Adam Gaffey – Winona State University
Rhetorical Agency
I joined the faculty at Winona State University in fall 2016. Professional and educational prospects led me to New York, Texas, and South Dakota, but I’m very glad to once again call Minnesota home. When not teaching classes or writing, I enjoy taking in the scenery afforded by living in Bluff Country, trying my hand at amateur photography, and strumming a ukulele to my family’s amusement. Though the organization has disbanded, I remain a card-carrying member of the Corduroy Appreciation Club.

Tuesday, November 14th
Jennifer Sheridan Moss  – Wayne State University
Senior College Students
Jennifer Sheridan Moss is an Associate Professor of Classics at Wayne State University in Detroit MI.  There she teaches beginning to graduate level classes in Latin language and ancient history.  She is the winner of numerous teaching awards, including that of the Society for Classical Studies.

Moss’ research focuses on the history of Roman Egypt in the 4^th century CE. She is especially interested in this history of taxation, and on the role and status of women in this dynamic province of the Roman Empire.  Moss also conducts research in Classics and Latin pedagogy.

Wednesday, November 15th
Jennifer Lieberman – University of North Florida
STEM and the Humanities
Jennifer L. Lieberman is an assistant professor of English at the University of North Florida (UNF), and author of Power Lines: Electricity in American Life and Letters, 1882-1952, which is now available from MIT Press and Amazon ($30 for a hard copy | $21 for an ebook). If you are interested to hear about the book before you buy it or check it out from your library, you can listen to this Cultures of Energy podcast, where Dominic Boyer and Cymene Howe interview Jennifer about the book.

At the University of North Florida, Jenni was a 2016-2017 Community Scholar in the Center for Community Based Learning, she is the 2017 Fellow for the Florida Blue Center for Ethics, and she earned UNF’s Presidential Diversity and Inclusion Award in 2017 for her exceptional work in the classroom and community. The student honor society, Sigma Tau Delta, also presented her with an award for excellence in teaching in 2015.

Thursday, November 16th
Ioakim Boutakidis – California State University Fullerton
Growth Mindset over Grit
Dr. Boutakidis is an Associate Professor, having received his Ph.D. in psychology from University of California, Riverside. His research has focused on cultural processes, such as ethnic identity and acculturation, and their associations to adolescent adjustment outcomes. More recently, his work has examined the role of engagement, motivation, and theory of mind in academic achievement outcomes for historically under-represented youth. His current work extends this line to college students, with a special focus on efforts to reduce achievement gaps, and he continues his on-going involvement in program assessment and High Impact Practices within the university.

Friday, November 17th
Laird Kramer – Florida International University
Interactive Learning
Laird Kramer is an Professor of Physics at Florida International University, a minority serving public research institution in Miami, FL. In 1996 he joined the faculty as a nuclear experimentalist and has in recent years turned to building a transformational education outreach model. Since 2003, he has led the Education Outreach component of CHEPREO, the Center for High Energy Physics Research and Education Outreach. CHEPREO uses its high-energy physics base as fertile ground for an extensive education and outreach effort based in diverse South Florida. CHEPREO-led efforts have transformed the undergraduate physics experience at FIU, creating more and better prepared majors by empowering students through the implementation modeling instruction-based studio physics courses, establishment of student-centric methodologies, and establishment of a high school/university research and learning community. These reforms have led to a rapidly growing PER group, the awarding of a PhysTEC Primary Partner Institute to FIU in 2007, and a recently awarded Noyce Fellowship program that encompasses mathematics, chemistry, earth sciences, and physics programs. The efforts have also served as basis for recent reforms of the secondary education science and mathematics programs at FIU, led by the PER group.