2014/15 TRAVEL GRANT RECIPIENTS & BLOGS
Debra Busman
The Child's Got Her Own: The Girl Narrator Comes of Age Diverse writers discussed multi-genre work as documentarians and cartographers, as ceremonial archaeologists digging the bones of our histories, returning them to sacred. Panelists brought to the topic a unique and critical cross-section of historical and cultural backgrounds and multiple craft forms; their contributions will broaden perspectives on the body and how creative work serves as a site of investigation for underrepresented narratives.
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Conference: Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference Conference Description: The mission of The Association of Writers & Writing Programsis to foster literary achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing. This year, AWP held its Annual Conference & Bookfair in Minneapolis, MN,featuring over 550 presentations: readings, lectures, panel discussions, and forums plus hundreds of book signings, receptions, dances, and informal gatherings. The 2015conference attracted over 12,000 attendees and more than 800 presses, journals, and literary organizations from around the world. It’s one of the biggest and liveliest literary gatherings in North America. “Race, History and the Body: Social Acts of Writing” – Panelists Debra Busman, RainaLeon, Faith Adiele, Aimee Suzara, Matthew Shenoda Event Description: The body has been both metaphor and literal site of contestation: the gazed upon, exhibited, racialized, gendered other. How do writers make social acts of resistance, mapping the histories of our bodies? How do we respond to the epidermalization of inferiority (Fanon) instilled by wars, colonization and conquest? Diverse writers discuss multi-genre work as documentarians and cartographers, as ceremonial archaeologists digging the bones of our histories, returning them to sacred.Panelists bring to the topic a unique and critical cross-section of historical and cultural backgrounds and multiple craft forms; their contributions will broaden perspectives on the body and how creative work serves as a site of investigation for underrepresented narratives. “The Child’s Got Her Own: The Girl Narrator Comes of Age” – panel/reading withDebra Busman, Faith Adiele, Elmaz Abinader, and M. Evelina Galang Event Description: Brown girl superhero, queer white L.A. street kid, Nigerian-Nordic mini-Obama, Filipina Angel de la Luna, Arab girl in all-white Appalachia... What happens when girls take charge and narrate their own worlds? In this diverse, cross-genre panel, novelists,poets, memoirists, and playwrights share from their work, discuss craft and context, and explore the gifts and challenges inherent in voice, agency, and narration when authors decide to 'write like a girl.' “Five-Fingered Discount Reading and Reception” – off-site reading with selected authors from five major presses. I was one of two selected to represent Dzanc Books. Feedback and insights: The Creative Writing and Social Action Program at CSUMB has presented at AWP for the past 15 years, building national recognition for our unique and groundbreaking program and further establishing social action writing as a vibrant, critical genre. This year, as in the past, our panel presentation was received with great excitement,engagement and acclaim, with several audience members in the standing-room-only crowd stating that this was the best event they have experienced at the conference. Clearly folks were hungry to hear how writers and writing programs can integrate creativity with social/historical/cultural awareness and expression.This year’s AWP conference was a bit different from the past in that my novel ‘like a woman’ had just been released by Dzanc Books and so, in addition to the traditional panel presentation, I had a panel/reading, a book signing event, and an off-site reading in the community highlighting my book. The audience reception to my book was passionate,enthusiastic, and engaged, and so overwhelming that the press sold out of my books after my first reading and had to turn away ‘hoards’ of folks after each subsequent reading. Ic ould not have asked for a better book-launching event for my novel. The response to our‘The Girl Narrator’ panel was so great that we were asked to submit a proposal to next year’s AWP conference to further the conversation.
Jennifer Dyer-Seymour
The Flipped Classroom Compared to Team Based Learning How do students learn? This is the question that keeps many professors up at night. The combination of factors that are a part of this human equation are dizzying. For example, the classroom environment, the personal connections between the teacher and her students, student motivation, student preparedness, teacher training, and teaching strategies are just a few of the many factors at play. The results from my study revealed that for half the class the flipped classroom materials seemed to be better learned as evidenced by exam scores... For the results of the other half of the class read my travel report.
Jill Yamashita
A Comparison between Letter writing and Paper writing on Learning Letter-writing assignments have been found to enrich student learning (Dunn, 200; Junn, 1989). The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between letter and paper writing assignments on learning.Conclusion: The type of assignment did not affect students' scores. This means the learning measured by quizzes was relatively the same for both letter and paper versions of the assignment. This is counter to what previous research has shown (Dunn, 2000; Junn 1989).
Suzy Worcester
Long-term ecological monitoring projects develop science process, analysis and writing skills in all students In this talk I described how I have been having students collect long-term ecological monitoring data in introductory biology and upper division courses that is both valuable to local resource managers while teaching students how to do and write about real science.
David Reichard
Moving beyond Contributory Queer Histories: Enhancing Critical Historical Thinking in an LGBTQ History CourseThe presentation explored how instructors in the LGBTQ history courses could engage students in analysis of LGBTQ histories as a way to enhance critical historical thinking skills.
Rebecca Kersnar
Connecting and Sharing in Mobile-assisted Language Learning Environments The purpose of the panel was to share our experiences using Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL), connect our ideas to research findings, and share best practices for implementation. My part of the panel focused most directly on MALL applications that emerged through my collaboration with Professor Dan Shapiro within a 2013 CSUMB innovation grant to create a cross-course electronic portfolio and other innovations to benefit Environmental Studies majors.
Paoze Thao
Trends Influencing Curriculum and Instruction of Multicultural Education Course Offerings at The California State University (CSU) System Dr. Linda Bynoe and I put together a peer reviewed article to be presented at the First Multicultural Education and Special Education International Conference organized by the Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand (See the paper attached). Dr. Linda Bynoe was not able to travel to present at the conference, so I presented alone at the conference (See the PowerPoint Presentation and the research paper attached for reference.
Paul Wright
Struggles and Strategies of Faculty of Color Teaching Diversity and Culture Courses Faculty of Color (FOC) experience many challenges during their time in the academy, including in the classroom. These struggles are particularly stark when teaching diversity and culture courses. The presentation discussed the numerous challenges encountered and strategies to improve the experiences of FOC in the classroom.
Amy Bullas
The Role of Field Education in Promoting Resiliency in Students This presentation explored the role of Field Education in promoting resiliency in students, both in their social work field placements and later in the workforce. After a brief presentation on a developing Field Education model that supports resiliency and self-care, participants took an active part in sharing ideas with colleagues and brainstorming further opportunities to support student resiliency within Field Education.
Pat Tinsley
Sustaining Transformative Learning in Blended Capstone Experiences Marrying the science of learning and the science of motivation provides a process framework to support transformative learning in any blended format course. This study explored transformative experiences in capstone among students who participated in the California State University, Monterey Bay, College of Business capstone program in one professor’s classes from Fall 2005 through Spring 2012. The voices of alumni from those years were collected through surveys, in-depth interviews, and a private Facebook group. Elements of transformative learning that were examined were determined through an extensive review of the literature on transformative learning, personal transformation, the science of learning, and the science of motivation.
Mrinal Sinha
Anzaldúa, Asset Based Pedagogies, and Activism at Cal State Monterey Bay This presentation discusses parallels between Gloria Anzaldúa's notion of mestiza consciousness and the Vision Statement of California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). CSUMB is a "Hispanic" serving institution in northern California located on a historical landmark, the former Fort Ord. The Vision Statement functions as an organizing document designed to drive all of the universities' activities. Situated on the border of the cities of Seaside and Marina, the identity of the university is "framed by substantive commitment to multilingual, multicultural, gender-equitable learning" and "will be a collaborative, intellectual community distinguished by partnerships with existing institutions which enable students, faculty, and staff to cross institutional boundaries for innovative instruction, broadly defined scholarly and creative activity, and coordinated community service" (CSUMB Vision Statement, 1994).
Kevin Grobman
Formal Operations& Grit: Two Paths to Success in Class New students begin their college experience in introductory classes of more than 100 students without the individualized attention of high school, and with fast-paced exposure to new concepts. What do students bring to the classroom to foster their success? Historically, IQ has been the most prominent predictor of academic and career success (e.g., Cronbach & Snow, 1977; Duncan et al.,1972). Yet IQ does not fully account for performance: other individual differences matter (e.g., Sternberg 1997;2000). Need for Cognition and Formal Operations are two psychological constructs similar to IQ. Students high in Need for Cognition like to think things through. They enjoy reasoning and put effort into problem solving when others might use heuristics instead (e.g., Cacioppo & Petty, 1982). Entering adolescence, children may achieve Piaget’s most sophisticated stage of reasoning – Formal Operations. Formal operational thinkers make analytical deductions in even purely hypothetical situations, and systematically test solutions to problems (e.g., Inhelder & Piaget, 1958).