Now, each week, the two sit down with their students to watch an episode and then talk about the topics \u2014 such as group dynamics, growth mindset, empathy, and trust \u2014 that emerge from the show.<\/p>\n Some students, like Kat Kalabratzidis \u201926, had never seen the show prior to taking the class. She was skeptical because she wasn\u2019t a soccer fan; but the business management major was quick to see the class\u2019s value. \u201cWe discuss the deeper meanings behind being a leader, and those are lessons I\u2019ll take with me into my business career,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Edward LaPadula \u201926 was drawn to the class because of his love for sports but admits his favorite assignment \u2014 to write a two-minute halftime speech from a coach\u2019s perspective \u2014 helped him understand rhetorical analysis.<\/p>\n \u201cI know how to use my voice to motivate people now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been an amazing experience to watch the students\u2019 growth from the very beginning of their leadership journeys,\u201d says Kalinowski.<\/p>\n Imprisoned minds: Philosophy and religion from jail<\/strong><\/p>\n Edwards has taught the course for eight years, and he starts with the story of Socrates, the Greek philosopher who questioned the traditional beliefs in the gods. \u201cThe elite Greeks think that they can shut him up by putting him in jail,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n That first day of class is always his favorite. \u201cI remember when I first read Socrates, and just hearing this outrageous punk voice from long ago,\u201d he says. \u201cI repeatedly see his voice having that same effect on the freshmen I teach every year. It\u2019s so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Edwards\u2019 course deals with classical questions of philosophy and concerns many of us share: What is the meaning of life? How can I find happiness? And what does it mean to live in freedom?<\/p>\n Students read stories from Hebrew scriptures, the Bible, and medieval political thinkers, as well as the writings of Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel, and activists Angela Davis and Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just this potent combination of amazing texts, great students, and the freedom to ask the biggest and hardest questions,\u201d says Edwards.<\/p>\n Peter L. Ricco \u201919 took the class in 2014, but recently drew on its lessons as he worked as an emergency room nurse at Duke University Medical Center during the pandemic. \u201cThoughts of that class got me through a tough and isolating time,\u201d he says. \u201cIt helped me find hope.\u201d Ricco wrote to Edwards at the time to let him know it had always been his favorite course.<\/p>\n \u201cThis kind of literature holds so much hope, so much power, so much light,\u201d says Edwards. \u201cIt\u2019s a chance to let these great voices from history impact and affect these students in whatever futures they pursue.\u201d<\/p>\n East Asian fashion connections<\/strong><\/p>\n Liu, who grew up in Taiwan, has always loved the fashion of the Japanese kimono. She initially developed her course as a way to give Asian American students a sense of pride in their heritage. But the students in her class were diverse, and it morphed into something different. \u201cThis class really became more about the connection of clothing to your inner self and how you display your personality and character,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n One assignment asks students to take a photo of themselves in an outfit that makes them feel confident. They then have to write a social media post about how they see themselves in the photo. The students\u2019 gallery of pictures is like a fashion show featuring everything from a traditional Indian salwar kameez to a business power suit to urban techwear.<\/p>\n The class has made an impression on Sanjana Dokiburra \u201926. \u201cProfessors like Liu are the ones you don\u2019t forget,\u201d she says. Dokiburra also appreciates how a seemingly simple concept like fashion can reveal complex issues.<\/p>\n The class discusses culturally relevant topics such as fast fashion and sustainability, the rise of K-Pop culture, cosplay, and even henna tattoos. Liu ties it all to what she calls the \u201cenclothed cognitive,\u201d meaning the clothes we choose to wear influence our psychological processes and how we feel and behave.<\/p>\n Or, as Liu says, \u201cFashion has power.\u201d<\/p>\n The last of us: A study of human nature and threats to humankind<\/strong><\/p>\n The class is organized as an \u201cend of the world\u201d competition where students are divided into teams and given challenges to complete. His students can be spotted out by Lake Sylva collecting kindling to start a fire, lashing poles together with rope to build a suspension bridge, or learning how to filter water.<\/p>\n For Singer, who was a Boy Scout, a paratrooper in the Army\u2019s airborne infantry, and a 46er (he\u2019s hiked to the peak of each of the 46 Adirondacks mountains), outdoor skills have always been a part of his life. \u201cBut a lot of youth don\u2019t have the opportunity to develop those skills,\u201d he says. He teaches survival within a context of threats to human sustainability, such as overpopulation, disease, resource depletion, environmental degradation, and war. \u201cWe investigate the policies that various nations implement to address or exacerbate these threats,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Bella Reich \u201925 made \u201cno claims to having any survival skills going into the semester,\u201d but it quickly became her favorite class. \u201cCollege feels like such a place of academic prestige that you expect all your classes to be taught in old buildings with professors who dress in three-piece suits,\u201d she says. \u201cBut this shows learning can be fun.\u201d And the takeaways may be even bigger, she says. \u201cThese lifesaving skills will stick with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Illustrations: Ann Marie Sekeres<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Check your class schedule. Clever courses abound at TCNJ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":12061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12053"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12416,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12053\/revisions\/12416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"whistle\"](\"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Whistle-150x150.jpg\")
Lindsay Barndt and Erica Kalinowski don\u2019t hide their fangirl enthusiasm for Ted Lasso<\/em>, the Emmy-winning television series that follows a small-time American college football coach as he is hired to lead a professional English soccer team. In \u201caround the watercooler\u201d-type discussions between friends, Barndt, associate director of co-curricular and leadership development, and Kalinowski, assistant dean of the School of Arts and Communication, marveled at how relatable many of the show\u2019s leadership themes were to their own jobs. \u201cAt one point, we just looked at each other and said, \u2018What if we taught a class together about leadership through Ted Lasso?\u2019\u201d says Barndt.<\/p>\n![\"book](\"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Book_And_Pen-150x150.jpg\")
\u201cIt\u2019s the best material from the worst place,\u201d says adjunct philosophy professor Mark Edwards of the works he introduces in Imprisoned Minds, a class about writings from behind bars. \u201cImprisoned authors have had a profound and inordinate influence on philosophy, religious studies, and political theory,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n![\"Earring\"](\"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Earring-150x150.jpg\")
Students who register for Celia Liu\u2019s East Asian Fashion Connections course may be surprised to see a tea party listed on their syllabus. At the party, Liu, a professor of world languages, encourages everyone to try on a kimono to see how they feel in it. \u201cI like to connect clothing and culture,\u201d says Liu. \u201cIt may sound a little like dress-up, but hopefully when my students go out into the world, they will have more appreciation for people from different backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"compass\"](\"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Compass-150x150.jpg\")
If you ever find yourself stranded in a Lord of the Flies<\/em>-type situation, Steven Singer has you covered. The special education professor teaches a seminar class on survival that lays a foundation for learning about team building, leadership, and problem-solving.<\/p>\n