Discussing the Field of Veterans Studies on Veterans Radio

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Recently, I was honored to be a guest on Veterans Radio, a broadcast media platform that has been educating the public on veterans issues for nearly two decades. Dr. Eric Fretz, a Faculty Lecturer at the University of Michigan, discusses the Journal … Continue reading →

Veterans Studies Students Set Sights on Careers in Mental Health

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WEKU’s Corinne Boyer interviewed Veterans Studies students Samuel Lewis, Amber Woolery, and Kendra Watts to learn how our curricular and co-curricular offerings prepare students in fields such as social work and psychology to serve veterans and their families as future mental health practitioners. She … Continue reading →

Veterans Day After Afghanistan

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If my students do not know about the National Roll Call, veteran suicides, or how Vietnam Veterans were treated it is because the generation tasked with teaching them these things failed. Many young people are looking for ways to listen to veterans and help them in meaningful ways. They aren’t looking to distribute platitudes. They are looking to build authentic relationships, and it is our job to provide them with the knowledge and opportunity they need to succeed. Continue reading →

EKU Outstanding First-Year Student Awards

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I’ve said before that seeing our students recognized and meeting their families at the “Outstanding First-Year Student Awards” is probably my favorite part of the job. Well, a pandemic happened and we didn’t get to host our yearly event. But we wanted to do something to recognize their hard work, so we put this virtual awards ceremony together so that they could share their achievements with their families, friends, and loved ones. Continue reading →

Teaching Students Critical Inquiry and Civic Engagement

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In Fall 2020, we will pilot a scaffolded arc assignment taught in English and First-Year Seminar learning communities. It will focus on the campus newspaper, the Eastern Progress, teaching students critical reading skills in a way that encourages campus engagement. Students will learn about media and information literacy, identify campus issues of personal or public importance, and explore the EKU resources and policies designed help students succeed. At the end of the semester, our goal is for students to engage with an issue they care about by producing media suitable for the campus newspaper. Continue reading →

Dr. David Albright on “Building Resilience and Finding Balance”

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Dr. Albright showed how self-awareness and self-care can shape all of life’s major transitions. The lecture helped my students see how the veteran’s transition from warrior to civilian can teach them about transitioning to life in college. It helped them see how these lessons could teach them about the transitions awaiting them after college. Learning to see past stereotypes and recognize veterans as models of human resilience is one reason why I advocate for the growing field of Veterans Studies. Continue reading →

Colonels Create Kicks Off

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The students, mostly freshmen or peer-mentors in our First-Year Leader program, will complete a mural over four sessions that we hope to display in a public space on campus. Our theme this semester is “resilience” and our mission is to “teach first-year students the art of self-care.” Colonels Create is a collaboration between First-Year Courses, the Department of Psychology, the EKU Counseling Center, and the Noel Studio. Continue reading →

Saturday Socials with the Classtronauts

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r of Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society held the first “Saturday Social” of the semester for our freshmen today. It’s not a complicated event to put together – just show up and provide some support for students who need transportation. It helps the students find connectivity and friendships, the sorts of things that reduce alienation and isolation during the first year. Continue reading →

Professional Learning Community: Teaching Disciplinary Ways of Reading

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We discussed student learning “bottlenecks,” or “threshold concepts” students have to grasp in order to move into higher levels of understanding. From an educator’s perspective, it’s all about helping students make “mental moves” that allow them to think like an expert in the field. It’s about remembering that you acquired your expertise in stages and being mindful of that fact as you teach students. Continue reading →