How do you picture a professor?
The Book
Picture a Professor: Interrupting Biases about Faculty and Increasing Student Learning is a brand new multidisciplinary collection of evidence-based insights and intersectional teaching strategies crafted by and for college instructors who inspire transformative student learning while challenging stereotypes about what a professor “looks like.”
Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction. Jessamyn Neuhaus, “Embodied Identity, Empowered Pedagogy, and Transformative Learning”
The First Day: Strategies for Starting Strong
Chapter 1. Sheri Wells-Jensen, Emily K. Michael, and Mona Minkara, “How Blind Professors Win the First Day: Setting Ourselves Up for Success”
Chapter 2. Jesica Siham Fernandez, “Critical Reflexivity as a Tool for Deconstructing Student Biases about What a Professor Embodies”
Chapter 3. Kelly E. Theisen, “Commonalities and Research: A One-Two Punch to Combat STEM Fears and Biases on the First Day of Class”
Chapter 4. Reba Wissner, “Where’s the Professor? First-Day Active Learning for Navigating Students’ Perceptions of Young Professors”
Making Connections: Strategies for Building Trust and Rapport with Students
Chapter 5. Breanna Boppre, “Using Experiential Learning to Humanize Course Content and Connect with Students”
Chapter 6. Fen Kennedy, “Collaborative Rubric Creation as a Queer, Transgender Professor’s Tactic for Building Trust in the Classroom”
Chapter 7. Melissa Eblen-Zayas, “Reflect to Deflect: Using Metacognitive Activities to Address Student Perceptions of Instructor Competence and Caring”
Chapter 8. Rebecca Scott, “Reframing Academic Expertise Through Vulnerability and Metacognition”
Chapter 9. Erik Simmons, “Black Man in a Strange Land: Using Principles of Psychology and Behavior Science to Thrive in the Classroom”
Anti-Racist Pedagogies: Strategies for Increasing Equity
Chapter 10. M Gabriela Torres, “Beyond Making Statements: The Reflective Practice of Becoming an Anti-Racist Educator”
Chapter 11. Chanelle Wilson and Alison Cook-Sather, “Rippling the Patterns of Power: Enacting Anti-Racist Pedagogy with Students as Co-Teachers”
Chapter 12. Jacinta Yanders and Ashley Joetta, “Beyond ‘Good Writing:’ Enacting Antiracist Policies in Academic Writing”
Teaching with Our Whole Selves: Strategies for Instructional Authenticity and Pedagogical / Professional Success
Chapter 13. Donna Mejia, “The Superpowers of Visual Ambiguity: Transfiguring My Experience of Colorism and Multi-Heritage Identity for Educational Good”
Chapter 14. Sarah Mayes-Tang, “Sharing Our Stories to Build Community, Highlight Bias, and Address Challenges to Authority”
Chapter 15. Celeste Atkins, “Teaching Up: Bringing My Blackness into the Classroom”
Chapter 16. Chavella Pittman, “Strategizing for Success: Women Faculty of Color Navigating Teaching Inequities in Higher Ed”
The Bonus Material
By Jessamyn Neuhaus
The Authors
Dr. Breanna Boppre
Senior Research Associate at Urban Institute, Adjunct Professor, Portland State University
Find Breanna Boppre on LinkedIn.
Dr. Ashley JoEtta
Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington-Bothell
Fine Ashley JoEtta’s on LinkedIn.
Dr. Fen Kennedy
Assistant Professor of Dance, University of Alabama
Visit Fen Kennedy’s website.
Dr. Sarah Mayes-Tang
Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of Toronto
Find Sarah Mayes-Tang online.
Donna Mejia
Chancellor’s Scholar in Residence, Renee Crown Wellness Institute, and Associate Professor of Theatre & Dance, University of Colorado Boulder
Visit Donna Mejia’s website.
Poet, Writing Instructor, and Poetry Editor at Wordgathering: A Journal of DIsability Poetry and Literature
Dr. Erik Simmons
Program Evaluator and Designer, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences and University, and Founder and Head Coach, Fighter Focus
Find Erik Simmons on LinkedIn.
Dr. Rebecca Scott
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Harper College
Find Rebecca Scott on the Harper College website.
Dr. Kelly E. Theisen
Associate Professor of Biochemistry, SUNY Plattsburgh
Find Kelly Theisen on the SUNY Plattsburgh website.
Dr. M. Gabriela Torres
Professor of Anthropology and Vice Provost, Rhode Island College
Find M. Gabriela Torres on LinkedIn.
Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen
Professor, Linguistics/TESOL Bowling Green State University, and Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology, Exploration, and Scientific Innovation
Find Sheri Wells-Jensen on LinkedIn
Dr. Reba Wissner
Associate Professor of Music and Interim Associate Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies, Columbus State University
Find Reba Wisner on LinkedIn
Assistant Professor of Education, Bryn Mawr/Haverford College Education Program, Director of Africana Studies at Bryn Mawr College
Visit Chanelle Wilson’s website.
Professor of English, College of Dupage
Visit Jacinta Yanders’s website