Blog

In academia, we generally have a common understanding about what is the primary goal of faculty development which is typically defined as the process of providing opportunities to improve specific skills from the areas of teaching to development of grant writing and research skills.  But oftentimes the term “opportunities” is often narrowly defined as workshops,…Read More

The Western Political Science Association celebrated its 75th Anniversary this year.  Comprised of more than 1,250 political scientists and based in Portland State University, the WPSA promotes research and teaching of government, politics, policy, and public affairs. This is a welcoming space where political scientists can join together as a community and share cutting-edge research…Read More

After being canceled in 2020, and being held online in 2021, the Society for Pentecostal Studies annual conference was finally able to meet in person once again in March of 2022.  It was held at Vanguard during the week of spring break with about four hundred people attending from all over the world. This year’s…Read More

2022 Annual Conference of California Association for the Education of Young Children The theme of the conference was Visions for the Future. Considering many changes and much public interest in early childhood education, this conference hoped to identify and shape the visions of the field of early childhood education in California. It was the first…Read More

I recently attended the annual 2-day conference of the National Association of Schools of Theatre in Baltimore.  This conference consists of presentations and roundtables. The keynote address spoke to resiliency and relevance.  Dr. Phylica Rashad was the speaker.  Among the points she made were: Theatre is a place of diversity and inclusion, not only in…Read More

Inclusion, belonging, and wellbeing as the focus of Industrial-Organizational Psychology This year, I was participating in Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP) conference presenting as SIOP’s 2022 Ensuring Inclusive Environments and Cultures Champion. No pressure, huh? The field of I/O traditionally catered to those privileged – when I was in graduate school, circa 2000, this was…Read More

When the pandemic “officially” hit in March 2020, the administration worked quickly in an attempt to negotiate how best to navigate the last six weeks of the semester. Faculty received a series of notifications during the last week before Spring Break, one of which informed us that we’d be extending the break by one week,…Read More

For instructors who have been reluctant to try Hyflex teaching, sometimes taking “baby steps” and simply seeing a real-life example from an actual class can be the key to trying something new in one’s teaching. Perhaps, after taking a peek at how a standard discussion-based in-person class meeting can be converted into an asynchronous assignment,…Read More

Not Another Online Weekly Dreaded: Respond to a Question and Reply to Three Peers… Well, at least that was my feeling towards the weekly required online discussion boards when I was going to school fully online for my graduate degree nearly 10 years ago. I mean, I get it; we need some type of weekly…Read More

During the summer of 2020, I redesigned four of my courses as Hyflex courses. While there’s no denying that this was a gargantuan undertaking, I did it because Hyflex seemed like it was an approach that could be highly beneficial for students and professors alike during a pandemic that would potentially span multiple semesters. What…Read More

As was the case for many professional conferences in the past year, the Society for Pentecostal Studies met online for its annual event.  A few participants did make the trip to The King’s University in Southlake, Texas, but the vast majority of attendees participated virtually from the comfort and security of their own offices or…Read More

The trip to St. Petersburg, Florida for the 18th Annual International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), was one that I will remember for the years to come. As a new professor, this opportunity to be amidst the brightest minds in the realm of Sports Nutrition with relevant topical lectures represented a metaphorical “buffet for the…Read More