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Frederick E. Berry Library and Learning Commons

Salem State University: Faculty Publications 2021

Darlene Crone-Todd

Crone-Todd, D. (2021, October 29). Examples of using pop culture to teach undergraduates. Operants Magazine.

https://community.bfskinner.org/s/article/Examples-of-Using-Pop-Culture-to-Teach-Undergraduates

Introduction

During the past 5 years or so, it has become a tradition in my courses to have at least one lecture devoted to a pop culture exploration of the principles, concepts, or processes being covered in the course. I typically create the lecture as a review of sorts, especially prior to an exam. While some students may at first be unsure about the purpose of such a lecture, as evidenced by their looks of surprise (including some eye rolling), I have consistently had nothing but positive comments from students following such lectures. As if this positive praise were not enough, students’ scores on exams following such a review are much higher than in previous years with a “typical” review covering our usual topics in human and animal behavior. Any psychinfo search will reveal that these observations are entirely consistent with the cognitive literature: humor helps us to both “recall” and “retain” information. As behavior analysts, we might suggest that this finding is due to some verbal behavior coming under better control of the relevant verbal stimuli as a result of additional conditioned and generalized reinforcement. [...]

Crone-Todd, D. (2021, October 29). Zombies and clever ways to avoid them. Operants Magazine.

Crone-Todd, D. (2021, October 29). Spotlight on gaslighting: a behavior analysis of unethical behavior and discussed gaslighting. Operants Magazine.

Joanna Gonsalves

Gonsalves, J. (2021, April). Why should I care about my university’s capital debt? MSCA Perspective. https://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/Schirmer_et_al_.pdf

Schirmer, E., Wozniak, J., Morrison, D., Gonsalves, J., & Levy, R. (2021). Making the invisible visible: Organizing against the instructionally harmful, anti-democratic effects of institutional debt. Journal of Academic Freedom, 12, AAUP. https://www.aaup.org/JAF12/making-invisible-visible-organizing-against-instructionally-harmful-antidemocratic-effects#.YmnASS1h3UI

Abstract

In the absence of adequate public funding, public universities have increasingly turned to debt financing to fund operations and, especially, capital development projects. While debt financing may solve universities’ short-term cash-flow problems, its long-term political implications are unclear. To date, there is little awareness of the impact of universities’ debt financing on organizational priorities, much less educational inequalities. The relative obscurity of debt financing has contributed to its enshrinement as a governance tool of universities.This article examines the role of debt financing in shaping institutional priorities. Not simply a matter of dollars and cents, we argue that debt financing constitutes a power relationship that shapes the institutions we work in, as well as the varieties and quality of the educational experiences that we offer and that students experience. We argue that debt is a critical tool in the ongoing ideological project to change the soul and mission of higher education from a collectively held public good to a private asset with solely economically measurable returns. Effectively challenging creditor-debtor relations will require nothing short of a mass movement, one centered in organizing work. An analysis of credit-debtor relations, done by the affected parties themselves, provides an opening for such work. This analysis seeks to reveal the power relations at the heart of creditor-debtor relations that organizing—and only organizing—will be able to challenge.

 

Schirmer, E., Wozniak, J.T., Morrison, D., Levy, R., & Gonsalves, J., (2021, April 15). American universities Are buried under a mountain of debt: How deep in debt is your university? Find out today on Debt Reveal Day! The Nation.  https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/universities-student-debt-reveal/