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Language Brain(s)

Submitted by mvicentecrespo on Sun, 05/12/2013 - 10:59am

It has been long since I realized that, when I try to speak any foreign language, English words keep coming to my mouth without much control. I am not talking here about the contamination that happens when I speak my mother tongue, Spanish, and terms come to my brain in English because it is the language in which I use them more often. I am talking about interference: out of control unconscious short circuits in which the words come out in the wrong language.

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A rapid student transformation

Submitted by kelseywinsor on Mon, 09/03/2012 - 5:12pm

I’m normally intimidated by people who I suspect dislike me.  In classroom settings, I become intimidated by students who clearly dislike the material they’re supposed to be learning, or who appear to simply not want to be in class.  I don’t want to force them to have interactions with their instructor when that may only result in them becoming more resentful- kind of like a parent asking too many questions of a surly teenager.  Granted, most of my teaching experiences have been in informal K-12 settings where both I and the students have the freedom to decide how much intera Read More »

National Public Radio: How Stereotypes Can Drive Women To Quit Science

Submitted by dldaniel on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 12:47pm

Check out this recent National Public Radio piece.

 

How Stereotypes Can Drive Women To Quit Science

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Learning through Diversity Resources: Let’s see what we have going on here

Submitted by kschug on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 9:54pm

I have decided that if I am going to post some blogs on diversity then I should educate myself a bit more.  I think a good place to start would be the Diversity Resources offered on the CIRTL website. Read More »

How Should We Define Diversity?

Submitted by kschug on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 10:25pm

As a Caucasian natural-born U.S. citizen, I have grappled in the past with the notion of being someone who tries to write with authority on diversity.  This conflict began as I started my independent career as an Assistant Professor in search of funding from the National Science Foundation. Read More »

You have a beautiful accent

Submitted by mvicentecrespo on Wed, 05/16/2012 - 4:02pm

I have to admit that I hated English Language in middle school. My teacher was awful and I just couldn't see why I had to study a language that didn't make any sense to me when the closest people who spoke such language were living in an island that was by all means out of reach. Somehow I managed to have good enough grades. I improved in high-school, mostly thanks to a much better teacher and the fact that by that time I was obsessed with having good grades and couldn't let a weird language screw up my marks. Read More »

From Latina to white in a couple of flights

Submitted by mvicentecrespo on Thu, 05/03/2012 - 1:47pm

I am a Spanish researcher, born, grown and educated in Spain thanks to a great public education system that makes made higher education available to most of the people at a cost much lower than the real expense (now that we are in crisis they say students pay less than 15% of the real cost). I left Spain even before I finished my PhD, mostly for personal reasons but helped by the scarce possibilities of developing a scientific career in my country, and joined the University of Cambridge in the UK. Read More »

Learning through Diversity Course: Student Final Action Plans

Submitted by Chris Pfund on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 1:02pm

This Spring, Matt Ouellett from University of Massachusetts-Amherst and I had the priviledge of working with ten students from across the CIRTL Network as part of CIRTL's Diversity in the College Classroom course.  During the second half of the course, the students were asked to take what they had learned about diversity and apply it through the developmentof an action plan.  These “Action Plans” may consist of instructional materials, course proposals or syllabi, grant proposals, instructional videos, web Read More »

Roundtable Event Focuses on the Achievement Gap

Submitted by velez on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 2:20pm

On Wednesday, March 21, 2012, the Delta Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison hosted a roundtable dinner focused on the achievement gap in higher education. While the Delta Program hosts these monthly discussion groups throughout the academic year, the achievement gap roundtable drew a record-breaking crowd of more than 120 faculty, staff, postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students, and community members. Read More »

CIRTLcast: Fostering Inclusive Classroom Practices

Submitted by samantha.kuray on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 2:55pm

Thanks to everyone who joined today’s CIRTLcast, Fostering Inclusive Classroom Practices, and a big thank you to Dr. Angela Byars-Winston for presenting.

The articles Dr. Byars-Winston mentioned during the CIRTLcast can be found on the Learning Communities Website under "Recently Posted Resources."

For more discussions on today's CIRTLcast topic, visit the Learning Through Diversity Forum, where the responses from the questions posed during the CIRTLcast have been posted.