Classes without Quizzes: Mini-Sessions for Alumni

Classes without Quizzes: Mini-Sessions for Alumni
Oct. 21, 2:15-3 p.m., various classrooms across campus

These sessions will provide alumni the opportunity to pick from the following selected topics and professors, without fear of homework or exams!

What matters most in college?
Professor of History and Executive Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning and Center for Engaged Learning Peter Felten
College students face a lot of choices. What course should I take? Should I major in this or that? Which clubs should I join? How should I find (and keep!) friends? What should I do about an internship, study abroad and undergraduate research? And, perhaps the biggest of all—What will I do after I graduate? Drawing on research from a recent book (co-authored by President Leo M. Lambert and others), we will explore what matters most in college, and what you can do to help the college students in your life to get the most out of the undergraduate experience.

There’s a TV in My Pocket!
Assistant Professor of Communications Gerald Gibson
With 4K, ultra-high definition and a 70-inch TV in your living room, why are you watching shows on your phone? The truth is, you’re not the only one: it’s the fastest-growing segment on the TV landscape.

Making sense of the 2016 presidential election
Assistant Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies Jason Husser
The 2016 presidential election has shaped into a historically unusual and important contest. This session will consist of interactive discussion about the 2016 general election from the lens of political science scholarship on campaigns and elections. We will cover how cutting-edge social science research answers age-old questions about American political behavior, especially in regards to the Trump and Clinton candidacies. 

It’s always the little things that seem to count the most: The importance of the microbiome
Associate Professor of Biology Antonio Izzo
You’re taking a solo walk through the forest, but even then you’re hardly alone, you are carrying an impressive collection of bacteria, fungi and other microbial life forms. How did they get there? What are they doing? How do they affect you? How do you affect them?

Leadership, Leaders and Followers: Improving our leadership by understanding why followers seek leaders
Frank S. Holt, Jr. Professor of Business Leadership Rob Moorman
Leadership is a process that includes the contributions of both leaders and followers, yet we often focus only on the leader and assume followers will just, well, follow. However, effective leaders succeed because they adjust their leadership efforts to fit follower expectations and needs. In this Class without a Quiz, we will use a discussion of the purposes of leadership and the characteristics followers seek to develop our understanding of how we can become leaders followers choose to follow.

Oh, baby! The anthropology of tiny humans
Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Aunchalee Palmquist
Can babies teach us what it means to be human? In this session we will examine how human infants differ from other mammals and other non-human primates. We will also explore what evolutionary perspectives on human pregnancy, birth, and infant feeding tell us about the history of human cooperation and mutual understanding. 

Why is reading so easy for my friends but so difficult for me?
Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Center for Access & Success Jean Rattigan-Rohr

Can We Talk? Religion, Politics and the Role of Empathy
Senior Lecturer of Religious Studies L.D. Russell
Do you ever wonder why the world, our nation and our local communities are so divided along political, religious, racial and gender lines?  Do you ever wish we could find our way beyond such divisions, even as you fear we might be doomed to live always in estrangement?  How do we build the conversation, perhaps even the very vocabulary, needed to move forward together?