Book Groups
CAHSS HILL Selected Books for 2025-2026:
- Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge by Sarah Rose Cavanagh. Beacon Press, 2023. We opened the academic year with a virtual visit from the author who presented her "compassionate challenge" approach to students, staff, and faculty at an event co-organized and supported by the CAHSS HILL and Kirby Student Center. We are happy to provide a recording of Sarah's presentation to book group participants.
- Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn't Matter and What Really Does by Ned Scott Laff and Scott Carlson. John Hopkins University Press, 2025. In the context of growing pressures throughout higher education to transform our institutions, we face pervasive public questions about the value of a college education and its connection to meaningful, marketable careers. This book shows how the narrative about 'lucrative' or 'useless' majors confuses students and how the silos and structures within institutions can exacerbate the problem. Chapters provide actionable strategies to support a "field of study" approach that engages and develops students' agency.
- Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and Other Organizations for Flourishing by Jessica Riddell. McGill-Queens University Press, 2024. Change is uncomfortable, often painful. How do we "stay with the trouble"? Where does "flourishing" even come in during times of budgetary constraint and realizations that old structures are no longer functional? In this book the author invites readers to engage in hope circuits: "intellectual and emotional work to cultivate habits of mind and patterns of behavior that can rewire individuals, institutions, and ultimately society."
CAHSS/SCSE Collaborative Faculty Fellowships
Dr. Joseph Lane, Department of Environment, Sustainability & Geography + Minnesota Sea Grant
The purpose of this project is to better understand individual and community perceptions regarding the beneficial use of dredged material from the federal navigation channel in western Lake Superior’s commercial ports. This research will inform the Minnesota Sea Grant Great Lakes Transport extension program’s future education and outreach efforts to improve public awareness and understanding of dredged material management. Results will also be used to improve the Dredged Material Decision Tool (DMDT; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), which considers the environmental, social, and economic aspects of dredged material management options to support holistic and science-based decision making. Through in-depth interviews, and focus groups, the research will target local stakeholders in port-adjacent communities. This work deepens understanding of the intersection between environmental issues and public opinion, a key area in developing sustainable policies.
Dr. Kathryn Haglin, Department of Political Science + Swenson Active and Innovative Learning (SAIL) Program
Recent years have seen increasing politicization and misinformation surrounding science, highlighting the need for effective ways to strengthen public understanding and trust. Dr. Haglin’s project, “Teaching the Scientific Method: An Approach to Improving Science Communication,” explores how teaching the scientific method can help students resist misinformation and politicized scientific claims. Drawing on inoculation and prebunking theories, I hypothesize that a deeper understanding of the scientific process builds psychological resistance to misinformation. Using survey methods, I aim to measure how instructional approaches affect students’ critical engagement with scientific information. Collaboration with SCSE will not only inform innovative teaching practices and produce scholarly publications but also foster lasting interdisciplinary partnerships in science communication and education research.
Humanities in Action
Check back soon for opportunities available in AY 2025-26!
Questions?
Please contact Dr. Mitra Emad ([email protected]), Director of the Hub for Integrated Learning and Leadership