Team Profile: Beloit College

Kristin Bonnie, Katie Johnson, Matt Tedesco

Team Background

Kristin, Katie, and Matt come to the SAIL seminar from departments traditionally representing three different academic divisions: Psychology (representing the social science), Biology (representing the natural sciences), and Philosophy (representing the humanities), respectively. That said, coming from an institution that has recently abandoned these traditional divisions in both its governance and curriculum, it is fitting that all three of us have demonstrated a deep commitment to working across disciplines and divisions in a variety of ways, and particularly in some ways that connect us with each other. Kristin and Katie have recently collaborated on a grant proposal; Kristin's and Matt's home departments collaborated in bringing tenure-track cognitive scientist to Beloit College; Matt and Katie are affiliated with Beloit's interdisciplinary Heath and Society program. So beyond the ways that the topic of the seminar connects with our own individual classes and research, we are confident that our track record of working together will allow us to build on the connection forged through this workshop.

Curriculum Development Plans

In the coming academic year, all three of us are teaching classes that will be directly impacted by this seminar: Matt will be teaching Environmental Ethics in the fall of 2012 and Biomedical Ethics in the spring of 2013, Kristin will be teaching a seminar on Animal Cognition in the spring of 2013 and integrating examples from the animal kingdom into all of her psychology courses, and Katie will be teaching Neurobiology in the fall of 2012 and Human Anatomy and Physiology in the spring of 2013. So, first and foremost, we plan to draw from each other as resources in planning and teaching those courses. Beyond this, our three-person team was chosen from a much larger group of faculty at Beloit College who expressed interest in this workshop when it was first announced. So, while this workshop will directly impact our own classes, we hope to reach beyond our classes by getting together with that larger group, sharing our experiences in the workshop, and looking to build collaborations regarding animals that go beyond the three of us.