2022 Family Weekend Acorn Talks
2022 Family Weekend Acorn Talks
Saturday, October 1 ~ 11:15 a.m.-Noon
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Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education
Leveraging Children’s Literature in the Elementary Curriculum
Lisa Buchanan, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Education
Lambert Academic Village – Lindner Hall, Room 204
This Acorn Talk will overview the long but narrow history of identity and representation in children’s literature and look at the implications for K-12 education. The audience will engage in a picture book analysis together, so come ready to interact with materials in this collaborative session!
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Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences
How do questions work?
Stephen Bloch-Schulman, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy
2018 Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching
Lambert Academic Village – Lindner Hall, Room 102
In this interactive session, we will explore how to understand questions and how they work, including what they say and what they hide. It is common to think that questions do not say anything; how could they?… they are asking for someone else to say something. But they do; and understanding how they do can unlock the mechanisms that make questions powerful communication tools.
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The Future of STEM: Lessons from the Scientific Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and Today
Anthony Crider, Ph.D., Professor of Astrophysics
2016 Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching
Innovation Quad – Innovation Hall, Room 109
People working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) today often find themselves in high-paying, intellectually rewarding, and well-respected careers. But will the advent of artificial intelligence eliminate many of these jobs? Will the nature of research itself change as scientists increasingly rely on computer simulations? And will public skepticism of science grow to the point where scientific results have little impact on society? To understand the technological revolution we’re currently living through, we’ll look back to examine the trial of Galileo in the midst of the Scientific Revolution and the Luddite revolt in Manchester in the Industrial Revolution.
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MOTOR MATTERS: Movement and Learning in Children
Caroline Ketcham, Ph.D., Professor of Exercise Science
2017 Ward Family Excellence in Mentoring Award
2014 The Elon College Excellence in Service-Leadership Award
Koenigsberger Learning Center, Room 127
Movement is something so many of us take for granted; walking, writing, smiling, talking – these are all complex patterns our neuromusculoskeletal system plans, organizes and executes. Kids learn the intricacies of their body through play, often outside in trees, sand, mud, sticks, rocks and negotiating with friends. People who work with kids who are developing know how miraculous it is to watch a child acquire coordinated movement. What about the kids who are clumsy, awkward, uncoordinated, unathletic? What about kids with common diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder, ADHD/ADD, sensory processing disorders? How much does motor matter for their success?
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Pre-sleep Nutrition: A new window of opportunity?
Takudzwa “Titch” Madzima, Ph.D., CISSN, Associate Professor of Exercise Science, Chair of the Department of Exercise Science
Lambert Academic Village – Lindner Hall, Room 208
Pre-sleep feeding, also often referred to as night-time eating is defined as the consumption of nutrients (calories) within 30-60 minutes of going to sleep. Recently, this time period has been considered a new window of opportunity in nutrient timing research for health and performance. This seminar will discuss and examine the health impacts of eating food late at night including the effects on metabolism, appetite, weight loss and recovery.
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Martha and Spencer Love School of Business
Will Cities Survive in a Post-Pandemic World?
Tonmoy Islam, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics
Summer 2018 Love School of Business Summer Research Award
Richard W. Sankey Hall – Room 308
Cities have played an important role in the progress of civilization. However with the increase in ‘working from home’ in recent times, many large cities have been losing population. In this class, we will study whether this is a temporary phenomenon, or a long-term effect that will reduce the size and importance of cities.
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Creating community: Understanding how entrepreneurial communities form to create value
Elena Kennedy, Ph.D., Doherty Emerging Professor of Entrepreneurship and Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship
Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center, Room 101 (LaRose Digital Theatre)
Entrepreneurship can be a valuable driver for economic development, particularly in rural areas. Here in Alamance county the community of Saxapahaw has successfully rebuilt a vibrant entrepreneurial community in the shell of a defunct cotton mill. In this lecture, we will examine the case of Saxapahaw to better understand how entrepreneurial communities form, act as a structure of support for new businesses, and create value for all members within the community.
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School of Communications
Here and there: How Latinx immigrants in the U.S. benefit both their home and host countries
Vanessa Bravo, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Communications, Chair of the Department of Strategic Communications
2022 Distinguished Scholar Award
2017 School of Communications Excellence in Scholarship Award
Schar Hall, Communications Building, Room 207
People migrate internationally for different reasons. When they do, they integrate to their new environments (their “host countries”), and, at the same time, they also keep ties with their countries of origin (their “home countries”). Host and home governments have realized the benefits that immigrants can bring here and there, and they have started to build and cultivate relationships with immigrant communities at home and abroad. Why is this? What are the main benefits of sustaining these relationships? This Acorn Talk explores some of the ways in which nation-states benefit from immigration, focusing on Latinx immigrants in the United States.