This Blog:
This is Lisa Dickson’s General Stuff Blog. Here you will probably want to look at the “Downloadables” page on which you will find all of my Tip Sheets and Samples associated with teaching and learning, mostly the “nuts and bolts” of writing essays in the discipline of English Literature. All of these resources are mine, but you are welcome to download and use them or modify them. If you’d like to give me credit, that’s great, but not necessary.
I haven’t been updating the blog since it was established as I have been building blogs in other areas. However, I hope to begin building this one again, and will be adding interesting tid-bits and tip sheets and comments on research, mostly with regard to teaching and learning.
Some Details About Me:
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada, where I specialize in Renaissance Literature (Shakespeare), Literary Theory (Post-Structuralism/Post-Modernism/Feminism) and Pedagogy. When I’m wearing my literary hat, I focus on theories of embodiment and performance in the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, particularly with an interest in the relationship among beauty, violence and knowledge. I have recently begun working on dance and “embodied research,” with the help of such wonderful people as Andrea Downie of the Enchainement Dance Centre.
I am a 3M National Teaching Fellow and much of my work in the classroom and in my pedagogy-focused research centres on high impact teaching and learning practices and learning outcomes. I am a member of the team that developed the IASK (Integrated Analytical Skills and Knowledge) Program at UNBC, an innovative, first-year program grounded in high-impact practices. This cohort-based program features deeply collaborative team-teaching and course design and an emphasis on experiential learning and “big questions” curricula. Students learn how Arts, Humanities and Social Science scholars engage in the “scholarly conversation” while exploring such questions as the following: “What is Knowledge?”, “Who are we and where do we come from?”, “What is Security?”, “What does it mean to belong?”, “How do we understand place?”, “How do we fit into a global community?”, “How do complex systems shape our lives and cultures?” For more information about the program, see our website:
Integrated Analytical Skills and Knowledge
When I am not in the classroom, I’m usually in the dance studio where I flail and roll and pretend I’m awesome at hip hop. The studio is home to an eclectic and cherished group of adult dancers who make my life more vibrant and who support and challenge me almost daily.
Here’s a thing that I think sums up my view of teaching and students and life:
“… the hopeful challenging the actual in the name of the possible.” (Ira Shor, When Students Have Power)