Forging Connections: Championing Science, Learning, and Higher Ed through Effective Communication

Forging Connections is a series of presentations and workshops open to all – regardless of discipline, department, or program – designed to help faculty, students, and staff grow as powerful, effective communicators who can champion the value of science, learning, and higher education. At a time when public trust in academic institutions is under threat and the scholarship in many fields is increasingly politicized, questioned, or sidelined, these sessions aim to empower participants to communicate the impact, relevance, and significance of their work to broader audiences.

The goal of this series is to advance learning and scholarship that connects with the public, confronts harmful narratives head-on, and reasserts the vital role of science, academic discourse, and higher education in sustaining a vibrant, inclusive democratic society. Participants will explore how to convey the significance of their work in ways that resonate with diverse audiences. Through these sessions, participants will gain concrete strategies, practical tools, and greater confidence to engage the public, shape meaningful discussions, and advocate effectively for the value and impact of their work. The program will culminate in a public event designed to put these insights into action and strengthen connections between the campus and the broader community.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

1. Strengthen participants’ communication skills to enhance their effectiveness in presenting the significance of their academic work to non-specialist audiences and serve as ambassadors for academic inquiry, science, and higher education.
2. Support participants in developing as public scholars who engage meaningfully in public discourse and community education.
3. Provide participants with strategies to address public skepticism and combat misinformation about science and other fields, and build trust in higher education more broadly.
4. Host a public event that showcases the scholarly and creative work of our academic community, fosters meaningful dialogue between the campus and the broader public, and elevates appreciation for the significance and impact of this work.

PARTNERSHIP

This series is a collaborative effort among the following groups:

• Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship
• College Writing Program
• First-Year Seminar Program
• Hanson Center for Inclusive STEM Education
• Landis Center for Community Engagement
• Provost Office

SCHEDULE

FALL SEMESTER

SEPTEMBER

Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 12:00-1:00 PM
Wilson Room, Pfenning Alumni Center
Small Teaching: Evidence-based Teaching Strategies
➢ Dr. James M. Lang, University of Notre Dame

Dr. Lang is the Professor of Practice at the Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Notre Dame and a renowned expert on teaching and learning whose research-based insights have transformed teaching practices across higher education. Dr. Lang will share insights from his book Small Teaching about how small, research-backed teaching changes can make a big impact on student learning. Participants will leave with ready-to-use approaches to enhance learning in their own classrooms and practical ideas for course design and classroom practices. Lunch will be provided.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 4:15-5:30 PM
Kirby 104
Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience

Dr. Lang has just published a new book, Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience (University of Chicago), which describes how to become a more effective public writer. At this workshop, Dr. Lang will guide participants in translating the core principles of effective classroom teaching into practical strategies for writing for a general audience. Participants will explore how readers learn and experiment with approaches that foster exploration, creativity, and engagement in their writing.

Tuesday, September 30, 2025, 12:15-1:00 PM
Rockwell 262
Science Homecoming: Championing Science Through Local Voices
➢ Dr. Jessica Cantlon, Carnegie Mellon University

Join us for lunch and a discussion with Dr. Jessica Cantlon, Zdrojkowski Professor of Developmental Neuroscience and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, and one of the scientists behind the Science Homecoming initiative. Science Homecoming encourages scientists to return to their hometowns and share op-eds in local newspapers, advocating for investment in American science. By connecting science to the lives and futures of everyday communities, the initiative highlights how research fuels medical breakthroughs, drives innovation, creates jobs, and strengthens our shared prosperity.

Dr. Jennifer Talarico (Psychology) will facilitate a conversation with Dr. Jessica Cantlon, who will join us virtually to share the vision, outcomes, and impact of Science Homecoming and explore how we can communicate science in ways that resonate across communities. All students, faculty, and staff are welcome. Lunch will be provided by the Hanson Center.

OCTOBER

Thursday, October 9, 7:00-8:15 PM
Colton Chapel
Technology, Democracy, and Empires of AI
➢ Karen Hao, Award-Winning Journalist

Karen Hao’s epic and urgent book Empire of AI —an instant New York Times bestseller — is the culmination of her years of insider access and original reporting, spanning five continents. In this timely talk, drawing on years of original research, Hao examines a growing body of evidence to ask whether AI will ever produce broad-based economic benefit. Companies like OpenAI have become empires in the full sense of the word, consolidating extraordinary power and wealth in the hands of the few and threatening an unraveling of democracy. But there are viable paths forward. Hao offers a pragmatic and hopeful look at how to create a world we all want in the age of AI.

This lecture is a partnership between Lafayette College Libraries and the Office of the Provost, with generous support from the endowment of John L. Hatfield ’67. Hao’s presentation is also part of the Forging Connection series. Her talk underscores the power of clear, evidence-based communication to combat misinformation about AI and demonstrates how investigative journalism can illuminate complex issues in science and technology, helping audiences understand and engage with topics of critical importance.

Tuesday, October 21, 12:15-1:15 PM
Pardee 28
Sounding Off: Using Podcasts to Champion Science and Higher Ed
➢ Professor Kathleen Parrish (English) and Professor Ben Cohen (Engineering Studies)

Podcasts have grown into a global phenomenon with estimates of almost 600 million listeners worldwide. That means a classroom project, a faculty research story, or a campus initiative has the potential to reach audiences far beyond campus walls. Podcasting is also becoming increasingly popular in education, with faculty in multiple disciplines assigning student-created podcast projects to foster creative and collaborative learning experiences. Join this Forging Connections session to explore podcasting as a powerful form of communication and public engagement.

The workshop will be led by Professor Kathleen Parish (English Department), who teaches Writing for the Ear and brings expertise in podcasting, and Professor Benjamin Cohen (Engineering Studies Program), who integrates podcast assignments into his First-Year Seminar Ten Ways to Know Nature and was the co-host of the award-winning Various Breads and Butters podcast (2015-2019). All students, faculty, and staff are invited to join this session to learn practical strategies, explore resources to support podcast production, and gain insights into what makes a podcast compelling, engaging, and effective. Lunch will be provided.

Thursday, October 30, 2025, 3:00-5:00 PM
Marlo Room
Write-a-Thon
➢ College Writing Program

The Lafayette community is invited to the fall 2025 Write-a-Thon! Whether you’re working on a class assignment or want to get your creative juices flowing with writing prompts and magnetic poetry, all are welcome. At this year’s Write-a-Thon, you’ll also have the chance to have your voice heard beyond campus. We will have postcards and addresses of local lawmakers to write to about the value of learning, science, and higher education. Drop in to write your thoughts, feelings, and experiences to champion causes you believe in, and we’ll drop them in the mail for you afterwards! Snacks and coffee will be provided.

NOVEMBER

Tuesday, November 11, 4:15-5:30 PM
Simon 109
Making Science Relevant: How Risk and Urgency Motivate Community Learning
➢ Ms. Rachel Hogan Carr, Nurture Nature Center

Rachel Hogan Carr is the Executive Director of the Nurture Nature Center in Easton and currently serves as this year’s Dyer Center Social Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Ms. Carr brings a wealth of experience in communicating science in ways that resonate with the public. As leader of the Nurture Nature Center and a key contributor to nationally recognized flood risk communication campaigns, she has dedicated her career to ensuring science is accessible, relevant, and responsive to community needs. Her work draws on focus groups and public feedback to shape messages that inform, engage, and inspire action. In this session, Ms. Carr will share practical, powerful strategies for connecting meaningfully across diverse perspectives—tools you can use to make your own work matter more to the audiences you most want to reach.

SPRING SEMESTER

FEBRUARY

Friday, February 6, 2026 4:15-5:30 PM
Hugel 100
From Classroom to Community: Making Science Pop for Everyone
➢ Dr. Raychelle Burks, Provost Associate Professor of Chemistry, American University

Dr. Burks is an award-winning chemist and science communicator whose dynamic public engagement brings chemistry to life through pop culture, media, and hands-on learning. As the first woman of color to receive the prestigious American Chemical Society’s Grady-Stack Award (joining such notables as Isaac Asimov) Dr. Burks demonstrates how integrating pop-culture-themes and inclusive storytelling can broaden participation in STEM and enhance public understanding of science. Participants will learn how to design engaging, interactive experiences that spark curiosity, connect scientific concepts to everyday life, and draw in diverse audiences.

Thursday, February 19, 2026, 4:15-5:30 PM
Gendebien Room, Skillman Library
Did the Ancients Use ChatGPT? Disseminating Knowledge to Non-Experts in Classical Antiquity
➢ Dr. Markus Dubischar, Associate Provost for Curriculum and Associate Professor of Classics and Charles Elliot Scholar of Latin and Greek, Lafayette College

Markus Dubischar is Associate Provost of Curriculum, Associate Professor of Classics, and the Charles Elliott Scholar of Latin and Greek. His research focuses on Greek tragedy and ancient technical writing. In this presentation, he examines a passage from the medical writer Galen of Pergamon (2nd century CE), in which the prominent physician critiques popular scientific works that promise quick and effortless learning. The presentation explores Galen’s analysis of why such works attract readers, what they accomplish, and where they fall short. Grounded in Platonic ideas about knowledge, Galen’s reflections remain surprisingly relevant in an age of Wikipedia, Blinkist, and ChatGPT.

MARCH

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 4:15-5:30
Location TBD
What Works (or Doesn’t) to Mitigate Misinformation
➢ Dr. Michael “Misho” Stawnychy, Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Nurse Scientist, Penn Princeton Medical Center

Dr. Stawnychy, Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, will discuss the effectiveness of experimental approaches to building trust, changing beliefs, and reducing the spread of misinformation. Drawing on research-based evidence, he’ll present practical strategies, including debunking, accuracy prompts, and factual reinforcement, to strengthen trustworthiness and impact the audiences you aim to reach.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 4:15-5:30
Location TBD
Reel Science, Real Learning: Short Videos for Effective Student Assignments and Public Engagement
➢ Dr. Laura Murray, Director of the Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship, Lafayette College

Dr. Laura Murray, Director of the Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning and Scholarship at Lafayette College, is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and expert on effective and inclusive pedagogy. In this session she will explore how to design compelling short film assignments for students and create powerful videos to communicate scholarship and the work of higher education to wider audiences.

APRIL

➢Public Event (TBD)

Stay tuned for details about the culminating public event—an opportunity to put these insights into action, share work that inspires and informs, and strengthen connections between the campus and the broader community.