Residential Academic Program

Veteran sees Vietnam the country beyond the war

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:30:37 +0000

Veteran sees Vietnam the country beyond the war Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/25/2024 - 11:30

Rachel Sauer

ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder alum and regent emeritus Peter Steinhauer shares Vietnam experiences with students, to be featured in the in-progress documentary Welcome Home Daddy

Peter Steinhauer joined the U.S. Navy because that’s what young men of his generation did.

“I was brought up to finish high school, go to college, join a fraternity, get married, spend two years in the military, then work the rest of my life,” he explains. “Of everybody I went to high school with in Golden, most of the boys went in (the military).”

So, after graduating the University of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder in 1958—where he met his wife, Juli, a voice major—he attended dental school in Missouri, then completed a face and jaw surgical residency, finishing in 1965. And then he joined the Navy.

Peter Steinhauer (left) and Steven Dike (right) after Steinhauer's presentation during the Oct. 18 class of The Vietnam Wars, which Dike teaches.

He had two young daughters and a son on the way, and he learned two weeks after being stationed at Camp Pendleton that he’d be shipping to Vietnam, where he served from 1966-67.

“How many of your grandparents served in Vietnam?” Steinhauer asks the students seated in desks rimming the perimeter of the classroom, and several raise their hands. Steinhauer has given this presentation to this class, The Vietnam Wars, for enough years that it’s now the grandchildren of his fellow veterans with whom he shares his experiences of war.

Even though Steinhauer had given the presentation before, the Oct. 18 session of The Vietnam Wars, for students in the Honors Residential Academic Program (HRAP), was different: It was filmed as part of the in-progress documentary Welcome Home Daddy, which chronicles Steinhauer’s experiences during and after the war and his deep love for the country and people of Vietnam.

“Pete told me once that he dreams about Vietnam all the time, but they’re not nightmares,” says Steven Dike, associate director of the HRAP and assistant teaching professor of history, who teaches The Vietnam Wars. “He’s spent his life as a healer and an educator, and I think one of the values (for students) is hearing how his experiences in the war informed his life after it.”

‘An old guy there’

Steinhauer, a retired oral surgeon and ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ regent emeritus, served a yearlong tour with the 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Medical Battalion in Da Nang, Vietnam. Lt. Cmdr. Steinhauer was a buzz-cut 30-year-old—“an old guy there,” he tells the students—with a Kodak Instamatic camera.

He provided dental care and oral surgery to U.S. servicemen and servicewomen as well as Vietnamese people, and he took pictures—of the rice paddies and jungles, of the people he met, of the nameless details of daily life that were like nothing he’d experienced before.

“This was the crapper,” Steinhauer tells the students, explaining a photo showing a square, metal-sided building with a flat, angled roof. “There were four seats in there and no dividers, so you were just sitting with the guy next to you.”

When the electricity went out, he and his colleagues worked outside. When helicopters came in with the wounded, it was all hands on deck.

Left image: Pvt. Raymond Escalera holds the since-deactivated grenade that Peter Steinhauer (to Escalera's left) removed live from his neck, in a photo that made the front page of The Seattle Times; right image: Peter and Juli Steinhauer (on right) visit Raymond Escalera (white shirt) and his wife in California.

“They’d be brought off the helicopter and taken to the triage area,” Steinhauer says, the photo at the front of the classroom showing the organized chaos of it. “A lot of life-and-death decisions were made there, catheters and IVs were started there. The triage area is a wonderful part of military medicine.”

Steinhauer also documented the casualties, whose starkness the intervening years have done nothing to dim. One of his responsibilities was performing dental identification of bodies, “one of the hardest things I did,” he says.

Then there was Dec. 21, 1966: “A guy came in—it was pouring rain, and we had mass casualties—and he came in with trouble breathing,” Steinhauer recalls. “We discovered he had an unexploded M79 rifle grenade in his neck. We got it out, but a corpsman said, ‘Doc, you better be careful with that, it can go boom.’”

Not only did Marine Pvt. Raymond Escalera survive a live grenade in his neck, but about 12 years ago Steinhauer tracked him down and visited him at his home in Pico Rivera, California. “We call four or five times a year now,” Steinhauer says.

Building relationships

Steinhauer and his colleagues also treated Vietnamese civilians. “One of the most fun parts of my year there was being able to perform 60 or 70 cleft lip surgeries,” Steinhauer tells the students, showing before and after photos.

Peter Steinhauer (left) and medical colleagues in Vietnam, with whom he worked during many of his 26 visits to Vietnam since the end of the war.

He then shows them a photo of the so-called “McNamara Line” between North and South Vietnam—a defoliated slash of brown and gray that looks like a wound that will never heal.

Healing, however, has happened, and continues to. “I was blessed by the ability to go back to a place where so many horrible things happened during the war and make something beautiful of it,” Steinhauer says.

In the years since he returned from war—and met his almost-one-year-old son for the first time—Steinhauer has gone back to Vietnam more than two dozen times. Acknowledging that his experience is not all veterans’ experience, he says he has been blessed to learn about Vietnam as a country and not just a war.

“How veterans dealt with the war, how they’re still coming to terms with it as we’re getting further away from it, are really important issues,” says Mark Gould, director and a producer of Welcome Home Daddy. “It’s not just a war that we quote-unquote lost, but it was the most confusing war the United States has ever fought. We never had closure, but that didn’t stop Dr. Steinhauer from reaching out. Our tagline is ‘Governments wage war, people make peace,’ and that’s what he stands for.”

The idea for the documentary originated with Steinhauer’s daughter, Terrianne, who grew up not only hearing his stories but visiting the country with him and her mom. She and Gould served in the CalArts alumni association together, and several years ago she pitched him the idea for Welcome Home Daddy, which they are making in partnership with producer Rick Hocutt.

Peter Steinhauer with his children upon his return home after serving in the Vietnam War; the "Welcome home daddy" message inspired the title of the documentary currently being made about Steinhauer's experiences during and after the war.

The documentary will weave Steinhauer’s stories with those of other veterans and highlight the relationships that Steinhauer has built over decades—through partnering with medical professionals in Vietnam and volunteering his services there, through supporting Vietnamese students who study in the United States, through facilitating education and in-person visits between U.S. and Vietnamese doctors and nurses. At the same time, Juli Steinhauer has grown relationships with musicians and other artists in Vietnam. Both parents passed a love for Vietnam to their children.

An ugly war, a beautiful country

The stories of Vietnam could fill volumes. In fact, Steinhauer attended a 10-week course called Tell Your Story: A Writing Workshop for Those Who Have Served in the Military in 2008—offered through the Program for Writing and Rhetoric and the Division of Continuing Education—and wrote Remembering Vietnam 1966-67, a collection of his memories and photographs of the war that he published privately and gives to family, friends and colleagues.

ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ 10 years ago, Steinhauer asked to audit The Vietnam Wars—“wars” is plural because “we can’t understand the American war without understanding the French war,” Dike explains—in what was only the second time Dike had taught it.

“So, I was a little nervous,” Dike remembers with a laugh, “but he comes in and is just the nicest guy in the world. I asked if he’d be interested in sharing his experiences, and he’s given his presentation during the semester every class since.”

In the Oct. 18 class, Steinhauer shares stories of bamboo vipers in the dental clinic, of perforating vs. penetrating wounds, of meeting baseball legends Brooks Robinson and Stan Musial when they visited the troops, of a since-faded Vietnamese tradition of women dyeing their teeth black as a symbol of beauty.

“It was an ugly war, but it’s a beautiful country,” Steinhauer says. “Just a beautiful country.”

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ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder alum and regent emeritus Peter Steinhauer shares Vietnam experiences with students, to be featured in the in-progress documentary Welcome Home Daddy.

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Not your parents' business course

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 22:12:14 +0000

Not your parents' business course Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/12/2023 - 16:12

Bradley Worrell

The Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability class focuses on using business innovations to address real-world needs

If tomorrow’s college graduates can successfully marry profit and purpose to address real-world problems, the sooner they can start the better.

That’s the premise behind the Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (SSIR 1010) class for first-year students, part of the one-year Stories and Societies Residential Academic Program (RAP) at Sewall Hall on the University of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder campus.

At first blush, the class sounds a bit like a business course with a dash of social responsibility, but there is much more to it than that, according to Laura DeLuca, instructor for the course.

Mallory Fahey (in green hat and white sweater), the sustainability coordinator for the Patagonia store in Boulder, talks with students in the Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability class about the company’s commitment to environmental causes. She noted that Patagonia provided $220,000 in grant funding to 16 environmental groups in ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ in 2022.

“Whereas Leeds (School of Business) has a bit more of a technical business focus, this class is more on the stories and human dimension—understanding the motivations of entrepreneurs and the issues they sought to address,” she says. “And then at the end of the course, students create a social innovation project solving a problem they care about. So students use lessons from real-life entrepreneurs to apply to their own projects.”

This course counts toward the arts and sciences certificate in social innovation run by Don Grant in the Sociology Department.

DeLuca says the course is appealing to students in part because of the “immersion learning” aspect of learning directly from entrepreneurs and hands-on activities, rather than rote academic teaching in a classroom. Additionally, the course is appealing to students because of the individualized attention they receive, thanks to the small class size, according to DeLuca. This semester’s class comprises 19 students, reflecting a roughly even number of men and women.

Students have taken field trips to several local businesses that operate at the intersection of innovation and social entrepeneurship, including the Patagonia store on Pearl Street.

A big part of the course, DeLuca says, is helping students to develop a problem-solving skills using an entrepreneurial mindset. Another important goal is to learn more about the “innovation and entrepreneurship” ecosystem on the campus and in the local community.

Boulder is an innovation hub

Boulder is fertile ground for businesses operating at the intersection of innovation and social entrepreneurship, DeLuca says, noting the community’s reputation as “the Silicon Valley for natural foods” as well as an adventure hub for exploring the great outdoors.

Students have been fortunate to be able to tap into that expertise, as many local entrepreneurs have been happy to share their stories during in-person visits to the classroom or on student field trips to businesses in the community, according to Deluca.

Recently, Pemba Sherpa, who immigrated from the mountain kingdom of Nepal to Boulder when he was just 19, shared his story with the class of founding Sherpa Chai Tea Co., Sherpa’s Adventure restaurant and Sherpa Ascent International, a climbing expedition business in Nepal.

After spending part of an afternoon learning about employee-owned Trident Booksellers & Café, students had the opportunity to enjoy a cold beverage on the company’s front patio.

Along the way, Pemba Sherpa has used his success in business to help his native village in remote, rural Nepal by funding the construction of a bridge to connect it to nearby communities and a hydroelectric plant to provide power. Next up is the construction of a medical clinic to serve his community.

A recent field trip featured a visit to the Boulder Patagonia store, an outdoor gear and clothing manufacturer and retailer that began as a humble, family-owned business in the 1970s but has since grown into a powerhouse in the outdoor market, with estimated yearly revenues of $1.5 billion.

The company also is widely recognized for annually pledging 1 percent of its sales for the preservation and restoration of the natural environment, which Patagonia says has netted $140 million in contributions to environmental causes to date.

Students toured Patagonia’s store and learned from its sustainability coordinator, Mallory Fahey, about the company’s commitment to “People, Planet, Profits.”

Not every organization that students are exposed to during the course have achieved the financial heights of Patagonia, but then success looks different to individual entrepreneurs, DeLuca says, pointing in example to the owners of Bobos Bakery, which makes sustainably sourced, gluten-free snack bars and pastries while supporting a variety of charities; Nude Foods Market, which runs a zero-waste grocery store; and Trident Booksellers and Café, a 40-plus-year-old business started by two local Buddhists that is an employee-owned company and which supports a variety of community activities. Students will take a field trip on April 11 to see Trident’s operations for themselves.

DeLuca says one of her goals with the class is to expose students to a diverse group of entrepreneurs, including women, people of color and others from different races, ages, ethnicities and backgrounds. She says she also attempts to expose students to business owners who are different stages in their careers and different ages, although most of them tend to be people who are in the 40s or 50s and are at a point in their lives where they are happy to share reflections on their lives and careers.

For example, David Secunda, founder of Advid4Adventure, shared his story of launching an outdoor adventure company for youth. Avid4Adventure offers day and overnight summer camps in California, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ, and Oregon that reconnect kids with the natural world. Another outdoor innovator, Lisa Smith of Women’s Wilderness, shared her story of leading women of color on outdoor adventures in ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ through the Trailblazer program.

DeLuca also includes younger innovators, such as Rob Dodge, water quality specialist and logistics specialist for Epic Water filters, as well as Sophie Skogaard and her partner, Howard Gibbs-Hobgood, who make flavorful raw vegan desserts and meals. These 20-something entrepreneurs are recent ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ-Boulder grads who are easier for students to relate to in terms of life stage, given that they are only four or five years older than them.

Asking thoughtful, ‘hard questions’

While students are respectful, DeLuca says she encourages them to ask the entrepreneurs thoughtful, “hard questions” about their business practices regarding sustainability and to share their failures as well as successes. Students are expected to do a bit of research on the companies and their founders in advance of meetings so they can ask thoughtful questions, she notes.

Laura DeLuca, the instructor for the Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability class for first-year students, says that one of her goals with the class is to expose students to a diverse group of entrepreneurs, including women, people of color and others from different races, ages, ethnicities and backgrounds.

DeLuca describes the interactions between students and entrepreneurs as a “win-win,” noting that business owners sometimes get ideas on how to improve or expand upon their operations in speaking with students.

For their part, the first-year students who take the class gain an appreciation of the local business community that they might not otherwise see, she says, noting students tend to spend most of their time on the campus.

After meeting with entrepreneurs, students are tasked with writing one- or two-page reflection papers where they are expected to offer their assessments of the business’s operation, share any “aha moment” takeaways and offer any possible thoughts they had about the presentation.

For the final class assignment, students will present a social-innovation plan that’s designed to address a need that they see on a topic that is important to them. For example, Lily Patrick is working on an initiative she calls “Unforgotten,” which would collect and share the stories of senior citizens at nursing homes, so the stories of their lives are not forgotten; Camden Horner is working on a venture plan to fund performing arts education in ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ public schools; and Tony Puthuff is working on an initiative to address the high cost of mental health counseling.

Summing up the class, DeLuca says, “The students gain fluency not only in researching and writing, but also come away with an appreciation for what it takes to create, organize and manage an enterprise to achieve social change.”

The Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability class focuses on using business innovations to address real-world needs.

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Five staffers are named A&S employees of the year

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 16:25:03 +0000

Five staffers are named A&S employees of the year Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/30/2022 - 10:25

Asuka Morley, Stacy Norwood, Lia Pileggi, Michael Shernick and Alicia Turchette recognized for going well above and far beyond the call of duty

Five outstanding staff members have been named employees of the year by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder.

The honorees are:

Asuka Morley, administrative assistant and graduate program assistant in the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations.
Stacy Norwood, program coordinator at the Department of Theatre and Dance.
Lia Pileggi, digital imaging and technology coordinator in the Department of Art and Art History.
Michael Shernick, program coordinator in the Stories and Societies Residential Academic Program.
Alicia Turchette, program manager for the Department of Women and Gender Studies.

Colleagues nominated each of the awardees, bestowing high praise in all cases.

Asuka Morley

Morley joined Asian languages and civilizations in December 2017. R. Keller Kimbrough, professor of Japanese and chair of the department, says she is the “eminently professional, all-knowing and ever-kind face of our graduate program.”

Kimbrough added that Morley has consistently exhibited outstanding performance in all areas of her position, whether it be course scheduling, classroom assignments, maintaining the department’s webpage, consulting with faculty and students about rules and procedures, keeping track of students’ required courses and paperwork, meeting with visitors and prospective students, organizing and overseeing graduation ceremonies and other departmental events, “and even carrying books and boxes when faculty need help with an office move.”

Jackie Coombs, program assistant in the department, concurred, adding that Morley is “instrumental in fostering an environment of exceptional support to enhance student learning and the mission of the university.”

Coombs added: “She has demonstrated leadership and innovation in an abnormally strenuous time that has delivered obstacle after obstacle due to the challenges of the pandemic. Asuka truly is a rare find and our department would not be what it is today without her contributions.”

Stacy Norwood

Norwood came to the department after a career as a professional stage manager, and that experience as “the person responsible for everything” is evident in her current role, said Bruce Bergner, interim chair of theatre and dance.

Bergner went on to quote colleagues who praised Norwod in many ways, including these:

"She goes beyond the call of duty, creating a nurturing and proactive atmosphere in the front office—her office door is filled with encouraging quotes and tear-off words of encouragement should anyone need a bit of a lift. She is inspirational."

"In our regular meetings, (Norwood) is the glue that holds our committees together—almost like a sage guide."

Lia Pileggi

"Stacy was the safe harbor during the storm of COVID, keeping the office running when we were scattered all over ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ, always facilitating working communication channels."

Pileggi joined art and art history in 2015 and has in recent years gone “truly above and beyond to help the department and its members thrive,” said Jeanne Quinn, professor and chair of the department.

Quinn noted that Pileggi stepped in to fill a critical need: Students needed to photograph their work, but there was no system of helping students. “Lia took it on, acquiring backdrops, lights and other necessary equipment, found space, fitted it properly and began working with faculty to integrate the teaching of this skill as part of our undergraduate program,” Quinn said, adding, “It has paid great dividends for our students and is a much-used and appreciated facility.”

Last year, Quinn added, Pileggi served on the department’s diversity committee, which worked “as never before to address issues that had been brought to the committee by concerned students and alumni.”

The committee met 22 times over the course of the year, conducting multiple “listening sessions” to hear and record the experiences of students, staff and faculty regarding DEI issues. “Lia scheduled the meetings, kept records of the meetings and listening sessions, and essentially kept the committee moving forward,” Quinn said.

Michael Shernick

Shernick is a longtime staff member whose service to residential academic programs is “broad, deep and multi-faceted,” said Eric Stade, professor of mathematics and director of the Stories and Societies Residential Academic Program (RAP).

Stade included a dozen bullet points highlighting instances in which Shernick provided key contributions. More generally, Stade noted, Shernick’s genuine affinity “for helping people and for making them feel like they belong helps to instill a spirit of inclusivity in our RAP and Sewall Hall.”

Additionally, Shernick has frequently helped English-language learners among the housekeeping staff read, interpret and respond to various documents written in English, Stade said.

Stade added: “Just this week, a student in SRAP/Sewall Hall, unfortunately, experienced a traumatic event. The student immediately came looking, not for me or the hall director or an RA, but for Michael. And of course, Michael was there. That’s who he is.”

Alicia Turchette

Turchette has been with women and gender studies for 13 years and is the “glue that has held the department together” through staff changes and the pandemic, noted Julie Carr, chair of the department and a professor of English and creative writing.

Even during turbulent times, Carr said, “Turchette is unfailingly thorough in her work: managing the finances of the department; handling course scheduling; understanding and responding to pedagogic needs; communicating with students and staff about events and updates from campus, the college and the department; administrating the LGBTQ certificate program; administrating the (department’s graduate) certificate program; and helping me to understand the department by-laws and ongoing projects while keeping me on track for all administrative deadlines.”

“She is somehow able to do the job of two (or three) people at once, though indeed she never should have had to,” Carr said. “She takes on this extra labor without a hitch, as she cares deeply about all aspects of our department. She is a joy to work with: thoughtful, careful and considerate of others’ feelings. She takes authority for what she knows (which is often more than anyone else in the room) and openly offers clear advice.”

Asuka Morley, Stacy Norwood, Lia Pileggi, Michael Shernick and Alicia Turchette recognized for going well above and far beyond the call of duty.

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Students root down to rise up

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 00:14:06 +0000

Students root down to rise up Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/14/2019 - 18:14

Meagan Taylor

Farrand RAP instructor aims to make connections and inspire confidence through yoga

Skateboards thunder by on the sidewalk. Laughter and shouting resound from Farrand field. Frenetic activity abounds just outside the open windows of the sun-drenched classroom. But inside, there is serenity and calm as Michele Simpson instructs her students to breathe.

“I’d like to invite you now to become mindful,” she says with the soothing tone of a meditation. “To bring all the various parts of you into the room.”

She encourages them to concentrate on breathing despite encroaching desires to return a friend’s text message or head to the grab-n-go for dinner. Breathe in.

I make it a point to spend time with students outside of class. I love developing those relationships and yoga is one of the ways to do that.”

“All of those noises that are a part of our experience at Farrand, we acknowledge the sounds and let them pass,” she says. Breathe out.

As a senior instructor in the Farrand Residential Academic Program (RAP), which emphasizes the study of the humanities, Simpson is usually found teaching courses such as Gender, Sexuality and Pop Culture, Passport to the Humanities, and Ethical Puzzles and Moral Conflicts.

But this afternoon, the stress of the day is put on hold for an hour, for yoga. Having practiced the ancient art for more than 30 years, Simpson began teaching free yoga courses on campus over 10 years ago.

“I realized there was an appetite for it and that students were interested in the benefits yoga provides,” Simpson says, reflecting after the session. But the class serves another important purpose—connection.

“I make it a point to spend time with students outside of class,” she says. “I love developing those relationships and yoga is one of the ways to do that.”

She hopes that as students journey through their college education they are able to integrate classroom learning with tangible experience.

Students join Michele Simpson for yoga classes in Farrand Hall. Photos by Meagan Taylor.

“You learn that when you are stressed you tighten,” Simpson says, providing an example of applying yogic principles to school. “In a test, you are reminded to let go of the tension you are holding in your jaw or your shoulders. You learn how to work out tightness from being on a computer too long.”

The class also provides an emotional outlet for students who are feeling anxious.

“I wanted to do yoga with her because I knew it would be relaxing,” says Alli Avery, a first-year student in Farrand RAP. “It’s stressful at school right now with new beginnings and hard classes.”

Avery appreciates the opportunity to spend time with her teacher outside of class. “We can get know her more as a person and it relates to how she teaches the class because she is so well-rounded,” Avery says.

In addition to the experience of getting to practice downward dog alongside faculty, the class has a unique makeup including more students of color and men than the average Boulder yoga studio.

“Typically, we have students of color here, all types of bodies and all types of experiences,” Simpson says. “I know what it’s like to be the one black person in a yoga class. I never want anyone to come in the room feeling they don’t belong here.”

Indeed, her class fliers posted around the hallways say that yoga is for every body. And every person is invited. The free class takes place at 4:30 every Tuesday and is open to all, not just Farrand residents.

Anthropology instructor Laura DeLuca, who attends Simpson’s class, says Simpson has a real sense of students’ individual needs, especially students of color. “What I think is really wonderful is having that intersection of living, learning and mindfulness right in their space.”

Simpson adds: “It’s about opening up to the idea that yoga is for all of us. It’s about going places where we don’t usually permit ourselves to go – that’s the medicine.” For that reason, the class appeals to all levels of learner with a focus on creating space within the body.

“I would not teach a class that was restrictive,” Simpson says. “I think carefully about what movements I have people doing because I want it to be available to everyone.”

Yogis use the phrase “root down to rise up” to ground the body and mind so a pose can develop from a strong foundation, much like a tree unfurls its branches. Simpson uses this philosophy in all aspects of educating her students.

“In my ethics courses, we discuss virtues, self-regulating qualities involving our interactions with others beings and the world at large,” she says, explaining that yoga is more than simply a series of poses. “What are ethics if not what we call ‘yoga off the mat’?”

Teaching yoga has made Simpson a better instructor as well as enriched the ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ experience for both her and her students. “It’s not just something good to do,” she says. “It’s something I love to do.”

"I make it a point to spend time with students outside of class. I love developing those relationships and yoga is one of the ways to do that.”

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Educators to get their RAP on

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 23:17:02 +0000

Educators to get their RAP on Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/24/2017 - 17:17

Jeff Thomas

Residential Academic Program will cater to students who want not only to learn how to learn but also to learn how to teach

When Plato and his pals first gathered at what became known as the Academy, very little had been established in terms of a formal doctrine, but the would-be philosophers apparently shared an interest in learning how to learn and got there by problem-solving together.

That’s essentially the idea behind Residential Academic Programs, or RAPs, programs hosted at residence halls and designed to get first-year students involved with other students and faculty with similar academic interests. For the first time next fall, the University of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder will host a RAP for students interested in not only learning how to learn, but learning how to teach, as well, as Sewall Hall will host the first RAP for would-be educators.

“We want to encourage that spirit of learning and growth, because the university is not a place to grow and learn on your own,” said math Professor Eric Stade, the director of Sewall RAP. While Stade’s specialty is in number theory and special functions, he has an avid interest in both math pedagogy and also in the role RAPs play in the lives of students.

Eric Stade

“Partly because I’m a teacher myself, I’m very keen on the idea of encouraging kids and giving them a picture of the profession and the discipline,” said Stade, who teaches a course in mathematics for elementary-school teachers as part of his duties as a math professor.

“I’ve worked with a lot of future teachers, elementary, high school and (higher education) teachers. I like the idea of highlighting the importance and benefits of teaching professions.”

Sewall RAP began in 1970, as the first RAP on campus. Traditionally, its emphases have been on history, culture, and the social sciences. These themes will continue to constitute major elements of Sewall’s academic identity, but will be now be integrated with the new focus on teaching and learning.

Sewell Hall, a residential academic program, is revamping its offerings to help students who want to learn how to teach.

Building on the success of Sewall RAP, the campus soon began expanding the RAP initiative: Farrand Hall got its humanities RAP in 1980, followed by Baker RAP, with emphases on natural and environmental science, in 1994. As of Fall 2017, the initiative will comprise 11 RAPs campus-wide, including programs in engineering, global studies, communications, business, the arts and so on.

Curiously, Stade was the director of Libby RAP, originally a performing and visual arts RAP, for a time. “It occurred to me that there is a lot of creativity in the mathematics that I do,” he said. With this, he undertook to expand Libby RAP’s focus, reimagining it as the “visual and performing arts and creativity” RAP.

To join a RAP, students must reside in the hall where it is housed. So RAP administrators work closely with Housing and Residence Life personnel to place freshmen in halls that fit their academic interests.

Appropriate placement is “a great benefit to the programs and students,” Stade said. “We’re optimistic going forward that students are going to be aligned more closely with their academic residence.”

Upon living in a RAP, freshmen will find core curriculum and elective courses taught in small and friendly classrooms in their own hall, as well as many other less-formal chances to interact with fellow students and faculty.

Traditionally, students anticipating a teaching career would complete an arts & sciences major, and then take additional coursework to earn their teaching credentials. However, this fall the School of Education will offer a major in elementary education, and the possibilities that this presents for Sewall RAP has Stade rather enthusiastic about the opportunities for collaboration.

“We’re very excited about this new theme in education,” he said. “Because it’s a broad theme, it allows students with a wide diversity of interests to participate.

“One thing I really hope to do is get students involved in volunteering at BVSD (Boulder Valley School District). I find those students are rewarded as much as the teachers they are helping.”

In the end, that’s the whole idea of a RAP, getting more involved.

“Going it alone in a large research institution can be quite intimidating for first-year students,” he said. “RAPs try to promote growth in a more organic and holistic way.”

And that’s a RAP.

For the first time next fall, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder will host a Residential Academic Program for students interested in not only learning how to learn, but learning how to teach, as well, as Sewall Hall will host the first RAP for would-be educators.

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Residential Academic Program

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