February 2021

IAS faculty member Karam Dana was a guest on the “Learning Matters: A Bridge to Practice” podcast hosted by Scott Macklin from Trinity Western University in British Colombia. In the podcast episode addressing global connections, Dana describes his research, and its power in transforming our understanding with regard to studying Palestine and Palestinians, and with regard to the study of American Muslims ...

Students recall lifelong inspiration from the Discovery Core course Music and Philosophy taught by IAS faculty member David Nixon since 2008. Over the 13 years, Nixon’s course has undergone many changes, but it has always been about assisting students in personal growth by teaching skills rather than facts. Alumni Sarah Park and Kyle Piper discuss the course’s impact on their lives...

IAS faculty member Becca Price and her colleague Clark Coffman (Iowa State) have published another set of annotations that introduce scholars to biology education research. The original paper (by Sana et al.) tests the effect of presenting learning objectives to students before they begin to study new material. The annotations ...

Graduates of the Master of Arts in Cultural Studies (MACS) program lead cultural change — a skill more organizations are seeking after witnessing widespread protests against racial injustice. Many employers are now looking for diversity officers to lead that change, and hiring for such positions increased more than 90% since 2019, LinkedIn reported.

“What’s strong about the Cultural Studies preparation is that it understands this is long term social and cultural change — changing the way people work and do things,” Bartha said. “The curriculum of the Cultural Studies program thinks about the dynamics of organizational change as well as community accountability and helps people know that ground.”

Along with the position of diversity officer, MACS graduates carry out similar work as artists, educators and activists.

IAS faculty member David Goldstein is headed to Japan. Goldstein received one of eight Fulbright awards given to U.S. scholars to teach U.S. studies in Japan for the 2021-22 academic year. He will teach four American studies courses in fall semester and ...