I am the Instructional Media Designer and co-coordinator for the Digital Liberal Arts Program at Whittier College. I build programs and projects that blend pedagogy with digital technologies. I teach digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool to engage students in higher order…
“Que viva la mujer! Que viva Whittier!” exclaims Maria de la Luz while speaking about her photo featuring a group of women who have bonded over hikes in Turnbull Canyon. “We leave our troubles on the trail and we like…
Last year when I turned 40 I thought I would feel different. Closer to middle age (whatever that means), older, wiser, mature. It’s just a number…or is it? Well, I don’t feel the same way I felt at 20 or…
This semester students from the paired course “Medical Sociology and the Science Behind Obesity” are engaging in a new way to do digital storytelling. The method known as PhotoVoice is borrowed from a movement that aims to use participatory photography as…
This May we took our ‘show on the road!’ Instructional Technologist, Kathy Filatreau and I traveled to Denmark with professors of social work, Paula Sheridan and Lisa Ibanez and 19 Whittier College students. This study abroad course is designed to…
I love my job. I really do! There are times however, that I struggle to remain motivated and my creativity is clouded by the many to do lists in my life—from work to home. Last week I took a day…
I recently found a picture taken of me on a hill overlooking the Krak des Chevaliers in western Syria during a 2003 trip. I am pictured with my video camera, tripod and a bag strapped to my waist that holds brick-like…
This semester I am once again partnering with Stephanie Carmona who is the community education and parent initiative coordinator for the Whittier College Fifth Dimension program at the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier. Together we are preparing a series of…
Why do we tell stories? “To transfer knowledge” replied a student in the Anthro 211 course as he read off one of my slides. Yes, but thinking creatively, how can we make information transfer more story-based I asked? Crickets. I…
This semester I was invited by Sofi Cervantes, who teaches a class in social work at Whittier College to partner with her students and the Fifth Dimension learning program at the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier to help parents…
