Ep 140: Dr. James M. Lang on Editing a Book Series

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On this episode, Katie is joined by Dr. James M. Lang, a Professor of English and the Director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption College in Worcester, MA. He is the author of five books, the most recent of which are Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2016), Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (Harvard University Press, 2013), and On Course: A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching (Harvard UP, 2008). Lang writes a monthly column on teaching and learning for The Chronicle of Higher Education; his work has been appearing in the Chronicle since 1999. His book reviews and public scholarship on higher education have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and Time. He edits a new series of books on teaching and learning in higher education for West Virginia University Press. He has conducted workshops on teaching for faculty at more than a hundred colleges or universities in the US and abroad, and consulted for the United Nations on the development of teaching materials for college faculty. In September of 2016 he received a Fulbright Specialist grant to work with three universities in Colombia on the creation of a MOOC on teaching and learning in STEM education. He has a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, an MA in English from St. Louis University, and a Ph.D. in English from Northwestern University.

Segment 1: Editing a Book Series [00:00-14:59]

In this first segment, Jim shares about his experience editing a book series.

In this segment, the following resources are mentioned:

• Lang, J. M. (2016). Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of learning. San Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass.
• Lang, J. M. (2013). Cheating lessons: Learning from academic dishonesty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
• Lang, J. M. (2008). On course: A week-by-week guide to your first semester of college teaching. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• POD Network (conferences)
• RIA # 9: Dr. Kevin Gannon on Balancing Research, Teaching & Service
• RIA # 124: Dr. Sarah Rose Cavanagh on Emotions and Teaching
  • Cavanagh, S. R. (2016). The spark of learning: Energizing the college classroom with the science of emotion. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press.

Segment 2: Choosing Which Books to Write Next [15:00-27:16]

In segment two, Jim discusses how he chooses which book to write next.

In this segment, the following resources are mentioned:

• Blog post on Dr. Jame's Lang's forthcoming book, Teaching Distracted Minds
• Schuman, R. (2018, November 4). The worst writing advice in the world. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/
• Lang, J. M. (2016). Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of learning. San Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass.
• Cavanagh, S. R. (2016). The spark of learning: Energizing the college classroom with the science of emotion. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press.

Segment 3: Writing as a Teacher [27:17-36:08]

In segment three, Jim shares about his practical experience as a teacher impacts his writing.

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