Limed: Teaching with a Twist – Episode 1

Dr. Lucy Arnold from the University of North Carolina Charlotte shares with the show her plans for having students write letters with incarcerated people. Panelists Vanessa Drew-Branch, Phillip Motley, and Sophie Miller discuss their experiences and ideas to prepare students for a transformative experience, practices to protect both students and partners, and how they have experienced great service learning.

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

Dr. Lucy Arnold is the Director of Educational Partnerships at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she also teaches in the College of Education, Honors College, and English Department. She published her first book, Transformative Critical Service-Learning: Theory and Practice for Engaging Community College and University Learners in Building an Activist Mindset (co-authored with Heather Coffey, Myers Education Press, 2022), in February and is working on two new social justice education-oriented projects now. She is also a runner, yoga practitioner, podcast fanatic, poet, and general purpose nerd in Charlotte, NC. Visit her blog.

About the Panel

Vanessa Drew-Branch. A member of Elon’s faculty since 2018, Dr. Drew-Branch is an Associate Professor of Human Services Studies and African and African American Studies and the Director of Poverty and Social Justice Studies program. Dr. Drew-Branch regularly incorporates a variety of innovative, inclusive, and equity-minded teaching and learning strategies into her courses, including culturally responsive teaching, alternative modes of assessing knowledge, and community-engaged courses. Learn more about Dr. Drew-Branch and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Phillip Motley. Phillip Motley is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Design at Elon University, where he teaches visual communication and interactive media courses to undergraduate and graduate students and is Elon’s fourth Faculty Fellow for Service Learning and Community Engagement. His research interests include design and studio-based learning, community-engaged practices, and immersive pedagogies. He is a co-author of An Introduction to Visual Theory and Practice in the Digital Age, a co-editor of Redesigning Liberal Education: Innovative Design for a Twenty-First-Century Undergraduate Education, and has published his scholarship in peer-reviewed journals including Communication Teacher, Teaching and Learning Inquiry, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, and Journalism and Mass Communication Educator.

Sophie Miller. Sophie Miller is a third-year student at Elon University studying Psychology with minors in Early Childhood Education as well as Adventure Based Learning. As a CEL Student Scholar with the Center for Engaged Learning, she provides a student perspective on a three-year research seminar on Re-Examining Conditions for Meaningful Learning Experiences. Additionally, she has recently begun her undergraduate research as a Lumen Scholar; she is examining How Children and Teachers Co-Facilitate Inquiry and Reflection Outdoors.

Resources Related to this Episode

• Center for Engaged Learning Concise Guide to Service-Learning [Open Access]
• Prison Abolition & Prisoner Support (PAPS)
• Donahue, David M., Star Plaxton-Moore, Tania Mitchell, and Chris Nayve. 2018. The Student Companion to Community-Engaged Learning: What You Need to Know for Transformative Learning and Real Social Change. Stylus.

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