{"id":20931,"date":"2024-11-01T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/?p=20931"},"modified":"2024-11-01T10:32:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T15:32:52","slug":"teaching-after-the-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/teaching-after-the-election\/","title":{"rendered":"So Restless Indeed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler alignright wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4W5aKwrsYIM?si=r0Lc1BHtSHLgfoVY&#038;version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The title for this blog post comes from Arcadia's song \"Election Day,\" which has nothing whatsoever to do with the American political system. However, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/article-9261963\/Eighties-pop-best-genre-reducing-anxiety-study-reveals.html\">2021 study<\/a> suggests that listening to 80s pop music can be an effective means of lowering anxiety.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><strong>Election Day in the U.S. is Tuesday, November 5<\/strong>\u2014and it\u2019s safe to say that most Americans are not only well aware of that fact but are also bracing for the emotionally charged days likely to follow. I\u2019ve been reflecting on how to approach those expectations in my class next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">I began teaching at Xavier in the fall of 2007, so I recall teaching on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, the day after Barack Obama was elected; I also remember teaching on Wednesday, November 9, 2016, the day after Donald Trump\u2019s election. On both occasions, I was unprepared for the strong emotions expressed by my students. Both times, I ended up setting aside my planned activities to give students an opportunity to share what they were feeling. Was that the right decision? I\u2019m not entirely sure. But in both instances, students seemed to appreciate my willingness to create a space for discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Huston &amp; DiPietro (2007), when responding to a stressful event, \u201can instructor\u2019s response need not be complicated, time intensive, or even personalized.\u201d Their study focused on faculty responses to collective tragedies, but their findings apply to other situations that bring up intense emotions. Students in their study often reported frustration when faculty ignored a major event and gratitude when instructors acknowledged that something impactful had occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While we can hope that this Tuesday won\u2019t bring \u201csomething awful,\u201d we must recognize that it will likely feel even more charged than 2008 or 2016. With that in mind, I\u2019ve been thinking about how to best support my students following this year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/cteresources.bc.edu\/\">Center for Teaching Excellence at Boston College<\/a> encourages faculty to consider several factors when planning post-election classes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Your comfort level:<\/strong> What are you comfortable discussing with students? Self-care is essential. Avoid engaging in topics that may elevate your own stress.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Student burnout:<\/strong> Are students able to engage in discussion? This has been a long, complex election year. Students might not have the cognitive or emotional energy to process the results immediately.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Connection to learning:<\/strong> How does this fit with the course content? For some students, discussing the election results might be more meaningful if there\u2019s a clear link to course objectives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Classroom community:<\/strong> How might this fit within your classroom\u2019s culture? By now, you probably have a good sense of how your students engage with one another and their comfort level in discussing sensitive topics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If any of these factors lead you to decide against dedicating an entire class to the election results, the team at the <a href=\"https:\/\/crlt.umich.edu\/\">Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) at the University of Michigan<\/a> suggests a few smaller steps faculty can take:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Acknowledge the situation.<\/strong> By openly recognizing the election, we show students that we understand its impact on them. Huston &amp; DiPietro (2007) found that students felt more unsettled when faculty didn\u2019t respond to significant events at all.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Make learning adjustments.<\/strong> When students are stressed, their ability to learn can suffer. Consider temporarily easing your expectations. As Jin (2017) points out, external stressors can greatly hinder a student\u2019s capacity to engage and retain new information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Share campus resources.<\/strong> Most faculty aren\u2019t trained as therapists, as Field (2023) reminds us. Sometimes the best support we can offer is to connect students with campus resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This election year, I won\u2019t be in class on Wednesday, but I\u2019ll let students know that they\u2019re welcome to stop by my office for coffee and a friendly conversation. I\u2019ll also be reducing the workload for the week, to give everyone a little more space to process the results\u2014whatever they may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Field, K. (2023, October 24). Professors Struggle With Demands to Tend to Students\u2019 Mental Health. <em>The Chronicle of Higher Education<\/em>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/article\/professors-struggle-with-demands-to-tend-to-students-mental-health\">https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/article\/professors-struggle-with-demands-to-tend-to-students-mental-health<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Huston, T. A., &amp; DiPietro, M. (2007). In the Eye of the Storm: Students\u2019 Perceptions of Helpful Faculty Actions Following a Collective Tragedy.&nbsp;<em>To Improve the Academy<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>25<\/em>(20210331). <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3998\/tia.17063888.0025.017\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3998\/tia.17063888.0025.017<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jin, P. (2012) Stress and Learning. In: Seel N.M. (eds) <em>Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning<\/em>. Springer, Boston, MA<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Navigating the Post-Election Period With Your Students<\/em>. (2024). The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan. <a href=\"https:\/\/crlt.umich.edu\/blog\/navigating-post-election-period-your-students\">https:\/\/crlt.umich.edu\/blog\/navigating-post-election-period-your-students<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Teaching After an Election<\/em>. (2024, August 8). The Center for Teaching Excellence, Boston College. <a href=\"https:\/\/cteresources.bc.edu\/documentation\/teaching-during-a-tumultuous-election-year\/teaching-after-an-election\/\">https:\/\/cteresources.bc.edu\/documentation\/teaching-during-a-tumultuous-election-year\/teaching-after-an-election\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While we can hope that this Tuesday won\u2019t bring \u201csomething awful,\u201d we must recognize that it will likely feel even more charged than 2008 or 2016. With that in mind, I\u2019ve been thinking about how to best support my students following this year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[510],"tags":[518,240,519],"class_list":{"0":"post-20931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-directors-corner","7":"tag-compassion","8":"tag-pedagogy","9":"tag-politics","10":"h-entry","11":"hentry","12":"h-as-article"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p82MQk-5rB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10346,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/election-day-obligations\/","url_meta":{"origin":20931,"position":0},"title":"Election Day Obligations","author":"Jeremy Tuman","date":"November 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is election day in the U.S. On college campuses across the country we see a direct connection between the purposes of universities and active and engaged citizenship, as many campuses serve as polling places, and many semester-long student, faculty, and university initiatives to increase knowledge\u00a0of and participation in our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Civil Society\"","block_context":{"text":"Civil Society","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/tag\/civil-society\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"vote","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Vote.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1231,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/how-to-cite-a-tweet\/","url_meta":{"origin":20931,"position":1},"title":"How to Cite a Tweet","author":"Bart Everson","date":"March 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've ever wondered how to cite a tweet in an academic paper, wonder no more. 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As an adult, I see the value encryption offers for keeping\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Security &amp; Encryption&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Security &amp; Encryption","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/tech-tips-a-la-carte\/security-encryption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12867,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/encrypt-sms\/","url_meta":{"origin":20931,"position":3},"title":"Just Encryption Part 2: Text Messages","author":"Bart Everson","date":"January 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you encrypting your texts? You should be \u2014 now more than ever. Before the 2016 election, writing for TechCrunch, Steven Renderos and Mark Tseng Putterman observed that \"for activists and people of color, strong encryption is essential.\" Here in New Orleans, in the interim between the election and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Security &amp; Encryption&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Security &amp; Encryption","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/tech-tips-a-la-carte\/security-encryption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cyber-security-3400657.jpg?fit=1200%2C408&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10573,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/conversation-56\/","url_meta":{"origin":20931,"position":4},"title":"Conversation #56: Ross Louis on the Monument Crisis","author":"Bart Everson","date":"February 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Conversation #56 A conversation with Ross Louis of Xavier's Communication Studies department on service learning. Ross Louis joined the Communication Studies program at Xavier in 2003 and teaches courses from a performance studies perspective. He is the co-founder of the Performance Studies Laboratory at Xavier University of Louisiana. Recent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Old Podcast Archive (\u22642018)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Old Podcast Archive (\u22642018)","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ross Louis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/about\/staff\/ross.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10632,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/conversation-58\/","url_meta":{"origin":20931,"position":5},"title":"Conversation #58: Marcia Chatelain on Connecting with Students","author":"Bart Everson","date":"March 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Conversation #58 A conversation with Marcia Chatelain of Georgetown University on connecting with students. Dr. Marcia Chatelain, previously on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma's Joe C. and Carole Kerr McClendon Honors College, researches a wide array of issues in African-American history. Dr. Chatelain writes and teaches about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Old Podcast Archive (\u22642018)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Old Podcast Archive (\u22642018)","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/background-313415.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/background-313415.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/background-313415.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/background-313415.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/background-313415.jpg?fit=1200%2C480&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20931"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20944,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20931\/revisions\/20944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}