Course Construction: Bridging the Academy

by Matt Wittstein

February 20, 2023

Limed: Teaching with a Twist – Episode 6

Dr. Katherine Fox is a medical anthropologist from Southern Oregon University. As her university is adopting a new general education requirement, she is working on developing a new course that centers creativity and innovation and could be taught by different faculty members. Yuzu Do, Jeff Grabill, and Danielle Lake share their insights on course development that bridge the academy and community and help students translate their experiences into professional skills.

This episode of Limed: Teaching with a Twist is hosted by Matt Wittstein and produced by Dhvani Toprani and Matt Wittstein in collaboration with the Center for Engaged Learning.

View a transcript of this episode.

About the Guest

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Katherine Fox is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR, where she teaches for the Sociology & Anthropology, Healthcare Administration, and Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies programs.  Prior to moving to Oregon, she taught anthropology and global health classes at Texas Christian University and Baylor University.  Her research explores the cultural and social influences on health decision-making, as well as the ways that gender, ethnicity, and immigration intersect with health behavior.  Her most recent work includes help-seeking among LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, COVID-19 health decision-making, and a community health assessment for local public health entities in Oregon.  Because so much of her own work is interdisciplinary, she uses her classes to cultivate students’ analytical and communication skills in ways that are applicable in a variety of settings.

About the Panel

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Yuzu Do is an Elon University student pursuing both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of Outreach and Collaboration at Elon Volunteers!, an on-campus resource to support students participating in volunteer and service work in the community. Yuzu has had a wide range of academic and professional experiences including internships with The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), working in the Academic Advising Center, and studying abroad in Singapore at Nanyang Technological University.

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Jeff Grabill is Deputy Vice Chancellor for Student Education at the University of Leeds. Prior to joining the University of Leeds, Grabill was at Michigan State University for nearly 20 years. He served Michigan State University as the Associate Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Technology. In that role, he was responsible for facilitating innovation in learning and educator professional development via his role as Director of the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology. Grabill’s research focuses on how digital writing is associated with citizenship and learning. That work has been located in community contexts, in museums, and in classrooms at both the K-12 and university levels. Grabill is also a co-founder of Drawbridge, an educational technology company that developed Eli Review.

A woman stands by a high top table with her arm resting on a nearby bar-height chair. On the wall behind her, a poster reads, "The Director."

Danielle Lake. Danielle Lake is the Director of Design Thinking and Associate Professor at Elon University. Her scholarship, teaching, and service explore the potential and the challenges of relational, place-based design projects for addressing wicked problems, building capacities, and transforming systems.

Learn more about Danielle, the Center for Design Thinking at Elon University, and Power and Place Collaborative.

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