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Confessions of a Storyteller: Hunting for Truth in History
My blog post is a couple of days late this week. It’s been a whirlwind. I’m writing from the airport at one of those weird tables with outlets and chairs with no backs. I guess it’s so you don’t get too comfortable! Rather than writing my paper, which I will present in two days, I’m… →
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How I Mentor
Mentorship is one of the most meaningful parts of my work as a university instructor. I’ve spent years teaching, advising, and guiding students through academic choices and as they try to figure out what they want to do. For today’s post, I had the grand idea of reviewing Bridging Difference for Better Mentoring: Lean Forward,… →
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My Summer Creative Teaching Experience:
Mind-Mapping in the Classroom This past summer (2026), I was asked whether I wanted to teach my Readings in Espionage course. I happily said yes. Then I realized it was an 8-week session, which meant I needed to create a whole new experience. For context, I teach in the honors college at my university, where… →
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What I Do with Student Feedback
(And What I Don’t) Teaching is a conversation. And that includes student feedback. This week, I looked at my summer evaluation reports. One student said, The mind map got a little confusing, and the homework could be more interactive. I felt that the course could be more fun with different assignments. It wasn’t harsh or… →
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How to Find a Good Mentor
What Good Mentorship Actually Looks Like Everyone needs a good mentor at some point in their lives; undergraduates often find themselves in the mentee role, seeking guidance from a professor, advisor, alum, or upper-level undergrads. A good mentor offers sound guidance, support, access, and help. Mentors are not task managers or problem solvers. It’s important… →
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What I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before I Taught My First University Class
The internet is full of “What I wish I knew before starting college,” but almost nothing about what I wish I knew before teaching college. Teaching isn’t an easy craft, unless maybe you majored in education and took courses on how to teach. Most of us walk in with content expertise, but not the teaching… →
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Dressing for Academic Approachability or Authority
Earlier this month, I wrote about how academic style is political and about the differences in academic attire. Today, I want to examine how clothing choices in academia shape perceptions and professional interactions, and I will share additional resources I found. As in any walk of life, what you wear matters. In academia, it is… →
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Academic Style is Political
yes, even today what you wear matters Everything feels political these days, even what we wear. I’m not talking about elections or national debates. I mean the everyday politics of the workplace. All those power plays, social signals, and silent judgments that affect how we interact. What you wear matters, actually. I’ve seen it (and… →
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Teaching While Learning
Reality often means teaching before you are ready. We get emails about Teaching Assistantships and feel that is maybe what we should do alongside classwork or writing. I was never a TA, but I had experience teaching for the Honors College at my University as an employee. I get wanting to be a TA, and… →
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Why Workshops Matter
Welcome to July! This month’s theme is Teaching Innovation (Workshops, Creativity, Pedagogy). I’ll cover why you should do workshops, how to design them, teaching while you are still learning, and creative teaching techniques. As you can tell, I’m a planner. When I first started this blog post, I called it ‘Why Do Workshops.’ Then I… →
