AKA Review– April 1, 2022

From Harvard Magazine:
An Expansive Vision for the Future of Teaching and Learning
By John S. Rosenberg
Harvard’s Future of Teaching and Learning Task Force (FTL) was organized to assess what the University had learned from its pandemic-induced shift to virtual learning, and which benefits it could translate to in-person learning. The FTL focused on three elements: blended learning (in classrooms with online elements and online with in-person elements); short-form digital content (differing from traditional, semester-long courses but useful for both campus-based classes and online formats); and global reach (becoming a global educator that would employ faculty expertise, pedagogies, and technology to engage the world’s population.) Read this article

From Inside Higher Education:
What Universities can do about Cancel Culture
By Jim Ryan and Ian Baucom
The President and Executive Vice President of the University of Virginia analyzed cancel culture and free speech on their campus and methods the University has put in place to make students feel more comfortable speaking out and listening. They emphasize the importance of teaching students to "dismantle arguments, not people" and have launched a new general education curriculum that includes courses designed to help students thoughtfully engage differences of background, history, and perspective. Read this article

From FiveThirtyEight:
Universities Say They Want More Diverse Faculties. So Why Is Academia Still So White?
By J. Nathan Matias, Neil Lewis Jr. & Elan Hope
Many universities boast faculty diversification initiatives, but the number of faculty of color with tenure remains low and shows no significant upward trend. Even when institutions have been successful in attracting young faculty of color, many leave before obtaining tenure. Certainly, some depart for faculty positions at other universities, but often they point to feeling unwelcome or undervalued as the reason for leaving. Because the norms of academia were not created with their perspectives in mind, it is harder for them to break in. Read this article

From Literary Hub:
Why We Need More Writers Practicing Medicine (and Vice Versa)
By Xi Chen
The traditional biomedical model of illness has allowed doctors to operate removed from their patients, but some argue that taking a more personal rather than a mechanical approach would benefit both the patients and physicians. The field of medical humanities seeks to humanize medicine by emphasizing the subjective components of illness like food insecurity, colonialism, race, and identity. The author suggests that physician-writers are important because they bear the skills taught both in medicine and literature. Read this article