Our local library had a booksale fundraiser a couple of weekends ago. You could fill a brown bag for $5 or a paper box for $10. Boy, I sure cleaned up. For practically nothing, I was able to stock my (new, and slightly empty) bookshelves with such gems as:
"On Death and Dying" by Kubler-Ross
"Voyage of the Beagle" by Darwin
A pocket-size DSM-IV (outdated, but useful in its own right)
An 8-volume Encyclopedia of Psychology (must have been just before Wikipedia completely blew up)
"Sex and Temperament" and "Culture and Commitment" by Margaret Mead
"Go ask Alice"
"Searching for Memory" by Daniel Schacter
as well as a few young-adult and popular books on the topics of animal rights, genetics, technology and social psychology, general audience counseling books.
Now, my bookshelves look a lot more interesting.
Speaking of technology and social psychology, I'm thinking about offering a special-topics course in the next year or so on this very topic. I read Sherry Turkle's book "Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other" and thought it was a really great starting point for getting students to think about how heavily we rely on batteries that run on devices. If you're interested in Turkle's work, may I recommend her TED talk:
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Brain art
Was browsing The Beautiful Brain for some art to save as my computer's desktop and found some lovelies:
It was hard to choose, but I started with the top one, since it has so much orange in it. I love orange.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Psychoanalysis and cucumbers...
My brain just took a left turn on that one, but anyway. There's no escaping the ever-present stereotype of Freudian Psychoanalysis. Not even on my kids' DVDs.
Larry the Cucumber explores his love for his lips with the asparagus-therapist.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Inside a Toddler's Brain
A friend posted this on my FB page, though I have no idea about the original source. I giggled at "crayola oblongata". :)
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Got the t-shirt...
A friend of mine posted a link to this T-shirt on facebook. I love the quote:
We love you for your brains, only not the way zombies love brains.
Click here to buy on Thinkgeek.com
We love you for your brains, only not the way zombies love brains.
Click here to buy on Thinkgeek.com
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Mentoring in pro football quarterbacks
As we were watching "Outside the Lines" this morning on ESPN, I realized this video dovetails nicely with the idea of Erikson's "Generativity vs. Stagnation" stage. Experienced quarterbacks, maybe even "aging" quarterbacks, as far as pro football goes, have a love/hate relationship with the idea of training up the next generation of quarterbacks - the players who will eventually replace them.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
APS convention is coming, and I've been busy!
A month has gone by with many boxes being collected for our big move, and lots of planning with my future coworkers and bosses for the upcoming semester's course offerings. Is it too nerdy to say that it's so *fun* to do those things? :) Choosing textbooks (and getting sample copies for free!) is a singular joy of being a professor.
Anyway, I noticed that the APS convention is coming up in May (which I haven't been to in nearly a decade when it was in New Orleans!), but since it's a) in Chicago, and b) soon before our move, it wasn't even on my radar until recently. When I was on their webpage checking out the contents, I came across a series of interviews called "Inside the Psychologist's Studio" - probably a spoof on "Inside the Actors' Studio" - where they are interviewing heavyweights like Elizabeth Loftus and Paul Ekman. This year's convention will feature an interview with Brenda Milner, the psychologist who was famous for publishing the account of H.M.
Cool idea, APS!
Last for today, here's my newest "modern-art" (can I call it that?) find for office decor. Good grief, Etsy. So much cool stuff to be seen.
Anyway, I noticed that the APS convention is coming up in May (which I haven't been to in nearly a decade when it was in New Orleans!), but since it's a) in Chicago, and b) soon before our move, it wasn't even on my radar until recently. When I was on their webpage checking out the contents, I came across a series of interviews called "Inside the Psychologist's Studio" - probably a spoof on "Inside the Actors' Studio" - where they are interviewing heavyweights like Elizabeth Loftus and Paul Ekman. This year's convention will feature an interview with Brenda Milner, the psychologist who was famous for publishing the account of H.M.
Cool idea, APS!
Last for today, here's my newest "modern-art" (can I call it that?) find for office decor. Good grief, Etsy. So much cool stuff to be seen.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Geeking out
I got a job offer and I accepted it! Beginning in the fall, I'll be an Assistant Professor of Psychology - no "adjunct" there!
Among the complexities of relocating to a new state, I get to get all nerdy about things like:
-Decorating my OWN office
-Framing my PhD diploma (which currently resides in the giant envelope in which it was mailed to me 3 years ago)
-Planning course offerings
-Designing courses that have never been offered at this college
-Getting to teach something besides "Intro to Psych" and "Human Growth and Development" -- topics in my area of specialty!
-Thinking about all the *neat* things I can do with a student population which is largely on-campus residential and of traditional college age, and who all have regular and reliable access to the internet (Group projects! Online discussion groups! Special Topics courses!)
I so totally cannot wait. The next three months are going to be like the longest Christmas Eve, ever. Until then, I'm reading "Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other" by Sherry Turkle. Ironically, I am reading it on my Kindle ... but I like this book so far and what it has to say about robotics and their status as somewhere between alive-and-not alive. The mental shift for people and how they deal with robots has a lot of implications at a philosophical and spiritual level. So far, I'm only in the first section - I was totally hooked in the Introduction - but I can see this being used as one "textbook" for a Special Topics kind of course on the Psychology of Technology or something like that. Even more intriguing, this book seems to be one of several that this author has written about the psychology of technology; she seems to be something of an expert and I am looking forward to reading those next.
Among the complexities of relocating to a new state, I get to get all nerdy about things like:
-Decorating my OWN office
-Framing my PhD diploma (which currently resides in the giant envelope in which it was mailed to me 3 years ago)
-Planning course offerings
-Designing courses that have never been offered at this college
-Getting to teach something besides "Intro to Psych" and "Human Growth and Development" -- topics in my area of specialty!
-Thinking about all the *neat* things I can do with a student population which is largely on-campus residential and of traditional college age, and who all have regular and reliable access to the internet (Group projects! Online discussion groups! Special Topics courses!)
I so totally cannot wait. The next three months are going to be like the longest Christmas Eve, ever. Until then, I'm reading "Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other" by Sherry Turkle. Ironically, I am reading it on my Kindle ... but I like this book so far and what it has to say about robotics and their status as somewhere between alive-and-not alive. The mental shift for people and how they deal with robots has a lot of implications at a philosophical and spiritual level. So far, I'm only in the first section - I was totally hooked in the Introduction - but I can see this being used as one "textbook" for a Special Topics kind of course on the Psychology of Technology or something like that. Even more intriguing, this book seems to be one of several that this author has written about the psychology of technology; she seems to be something of an expert and I am looking forward to reading those next.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Pavlov's mints
Now that you can custom edit clips on Hulu, I can cut out Jim's swearing at the very beginning of the following clip:
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
I could get totally excited about this
For anyone who doesn't have major dealings in Austin, SXSW = South by Southwest, a conference that (I thought) has its roots in the "up and coming" music scene, with record label people and indie musicians taking over downtown trying to get promoted and/or signed. Then, it expanded to include a film fest, then the "interactive" with all the new and upcoming technology. Every year there's a big to-do about super secret shows by big names and pre-pre screenings of the next "big" movie with superstars wandering the downtown Austin scene.
I'll say it: I'm a nerd and I hate traffic. Even having a musician for a husband, he played SXSW once and it took forever just to wait on the curb for him to go and get his performers' wristband.
Well, this year there is something new added to the SXSW lineup. I got an email today from a colleague inviting us to SXSWedu, which is a 3-day series of speakers related to "modernizing teaching and learning". I'm totally interested in this (But not in the $300 price tag!), so hopefully my department has some funds left for professional development and conference attendance. I'm all about increasing my knowledge and using that to be a better educator!
I'll say it: I'm a nerd and I hate traffic. Even having a musician for a husband, he played SXSW once and it took forever just to wait on the curb for him to go and get his performers' wristband.
Well, this year there is something new added to the SXSW lineup. I got an email today from a colleague inviting us to SXSWedu, which is a 3-day series of speakers related to "modernizing teaching and learning". I'm totally interested in this (But not in the $300 price tag!), so hopefully my department has some funds left for professional development and conference attendance. I'm all about increasing my knowledge and using that to be a better educator!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Brainy things
I'm in a shopping mood today... must be the hormones.
First stop: Etsy. Search "Brains". Weed out references to zombies.
Some potentially cool wall art:
This style of painting is neat:
And who could resist a jumbo magnet:
Serotonin molecule wall art:
First stop: Etsy. Search "Brains". Weed out references to zombies.
Some potentially cool wall art:
This style of painting is neat:
And who could resist a jumbo magnet:
Serotonin molecule wall art:
It's good to know the internet is still funny.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The light at the end of the tenure track...
I was reading a book this past week about faculty, tenure, and academic freedom (makes sense, since this is the type of job I'm trying to get). This cartoon was used with permission in the book, and it was a perfect illustration. The firing squad are the other academics...
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Back in Business
The new semester started this week, and as usual, I am excited to get this show on the road. Currently, I've got two classroom sections of "Human Growth and Development" and one online section of "Adolescent Psychology".
I had an Honors Intro to Psych class scheduled for this semester, with an emphasis on brain research - I was going to have guest speakers from the local community who were involved in different kinds of psychology/neuroscience research - but it didn't make (only 4 of 15 possible slots). To be fair, I was up against two other Honors Psych classes for this semester. I will definitely try again for the Fall. I love the idea of getting to work with smaller class sizes and focus a little more on the research aspect of psychology.
Yesterday, I got my course evaluations back from the Fall semester and was rewarded for my effort with an average rating of "Excellent". I understand why the delayed feedback, but this was perfect timing to give me the extra boost for my new classes.
So, here we go again!
I had an Honors Intro to Psych class scheduled for this semester, with an emphasis on brain research - I was going to have guest speakers from the local community who were involved in different kinds of psychology/neuroscience research - but it didn't make (only 4 of 15 possible slots). To be fair, I was up against two other Honors Psych classes for this semester. I will definitely try again for the Fall. I love the idea of getting to work with smaller class sizes and focus a little more on the research aspect of psychology.
Yesterday, I got my course evaluations back from the Fall semester and was rewarded for my effort with an average rating of "Excellent". I understand why the delayed feedback, but this was perfect timing to give me the extra boost for my new classes.
So, here we go again!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Syllabus Time!
I just got done editing and revising the syllabi and online content for my two online courses (Adolescent Psychology, and Human Growth and Development). I'm still getting used to the Moodle setup (we use Blackboard everywhere I've ever been), but so far, it's reasonably easy to use.
It feels good to get the ball rolling for the Spring semester. 6 more days until school starts! Are YOUR syllabi ready to go?
It feels good to get the ball rolling for the Spring semester. 6 more days until school starts! Are YOUR syllabi ready to go?
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