In teaching, unaddressed countertransference has profound implications for educators and students alike. Consider the story of my past student who experienced heart-wrenching life circumstances during the semester: He lost both parents and became the primary caregiver for his younger siblings. Naturally, his GPA fell significantly
Just ahead of the spring semester’s start, I received an email from a colleague who had been on a yearlong sabbatical, and the subject read, “Returning, somewhat trembling, to that brave new world.” The body of the email went on to acknowledge the growth of
It seems like the most basic of course tasks: reading the syllabus. Yet, so often, student don’t do it. If you’re as tired as I am of responding to emails that could be easily answered by consulting the syllabus, you know we need some fresh
During my third year of college, another student that many of my friends interacted with, who tutored some of us, died. While I wouldn’t call him a close friend, he was an acquaintance, and his loss was felt deeply. I remember wanting to cry, but
One of the courses I am teaching this semester is a senior-level course titled Autonomic Nervous System Regulation. In this class, we examine the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is the part of our nervous system that governs involuntary physiological processes, such as our heart
Lately, social media videos have been flooded with discourse and arguments as to what constitutes a man and a woman and whether biology dictates gender. Many are being recorded on college campuses and in community forums. It is unclear which came first, but in 2023,
For over a decade, I taught a course titled biomedical ethics, a subject teeming with complex moral dilemmas and deeply held convictions. The course provided an introduction to decision making within the realms of public health, medicine, and healthcare, focusing specifically on bioethical concerns. It
In May 2024, Annalise Nisly graduated from Goshen College with an environmental and marine science major with a concentration in marine biology as a member of the “Covid class” of students who had started college during the height of the pandemic. Lamar Nisly has since
In Rasselas, Samuel Johnson’s philosopher Imlac offers the following bleak assessment of life: “Human life is every where [sic] a state in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed” ([1759] 1999, 31). Having been a teacher for more than 30 years,
There are a myriad of answers to this seemingly simple question. Grading probably comes to mind for many faculty, but there is certainly more to the challenge of teaching than that. Some teachers blame students they deem ill-prepared, unmotivated, ungrateful, uncooperative, and entitled. Others might
