The Academic Minute for 2019.04.01-04.05

The Academic Minute from 04.01 – 04.05

Monday, April 1st
Michele Gilman – University of Baltimore School of Law
Gender Pay Gap
Michele Gilman is the Venable Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law. Professor Gilman directs the Civil Advocacy Clinic, where she supervises students representing low-income individuals and community groups in a wide range of litigation, legislation, and law reform matters. She also teaches evidence, federal administrative law, and poverty law. Professor Gilman writes extensively about social welfare issues, and her articles have appeared in journals including the California Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review, and the Brooklyn Law Review. In addition, she is a co-director of the Center on Applied Feminism, which works to apply the insights of feminist legal theory to legal practice and policy. Professor Gilman is the immediate past President of the Board of the Public Justice Center, a member of the Committee on Litigation and Legal Priorities of the ACLU of Maryland, a member of the Judicial Selection committee of the Women’s Law Center, and received the 2010 University of Maryland Board of Regents Award for Public Service. She received her B.A. from Duke University, and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

Tuesday, April 2nd
Lauren Scharff – United States Air Force Academy
The Science of Learning
Dr. Lauren Scharff is the Director for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Program and Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where she has worked since 2008. Prior to that she was a professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Stephen F. Austin State University where she worked beginning in 1993. She completed her Ph.D. in Human Experimental Psychology in December, 1992 from the University of Texas at Austin. Courses she has taught include introductory psychology, leadership, research methods, biopsychology, and perception, and she has won several teaching awards. Her current research focuses on a variety of topics within SoTL, although she sometimes still collaborates on research projects in the human factors or visual perception areas. Dr. Scharff is a past president of the Southwestern Psychological Association and is currently serving as the United States Regional Vice President for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. She is co-creator of the award-winning Improve with Metacognition website.

Wednesday, April 3rd
Karen Gaffney  – Raritan Valley Community College
Race As A Social Construct
Dr. Karen Gaffney is an English Professor at Raritan Valley Community College in NJ. She recently published Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox (Routledge, 2018), an accessible introduction to race and racism with tools for action that elaborates on the ideas presented in this Academic Minute.

Thursday, April 4th
Samantha Pettey – Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Women In Political Office
I happily joined the History, Political Science and Public Policy department in the Fall of 2016. I grew up in southeastern Massachusetts and am grateful to be back in such a beautiful part of the state.

My interest in politics began at a young age, so studying politics was a natural fit for me. I love teaching students how our political system impacts their lives, but also how they can make a difference. To that extent, I teach a range of courses on American government but my true passion lies in teaching (and researching) Congress, state and local politics, and women in politics.

Aside from teaching, I have completed a couple of internships and am happy to share my experiences with students on the importance of internships, and getting involved in local communities. I worked on a campaign for a local election as the volunteer coordinator, and interned for a Parks and Recreation department in Texas.

Friday, April 5th
Lauren Copeland – Baldwin Wallace University
Political Consumerism
Dr. Lauren Copeland is an assistant professor of political science and associate director of the Community Research Institute (CRI) at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio https://www.bw.edu/academics/bios/copeland-lauren Copeland previously served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Nanotechnology in Society, University of California Santa Barbara in California.

She is a self-described “politics and data science nerd,” with research activities that lie at the intersection of political communication, political behavior and public opinion, and a current focus on the relationship between digital media use and political participation.