The Lunch with Western Scholars Series at Western Colorado University was started by the Leslie J. Savage Library to give Western faculty the platform to present their research to the Western community.
“Lunch with Western Scholars provides an opportunity for faculty to showcase their research interests and engage in scholarly discourse,” said Tiffanie Wick, Director of Library Services at Western. “It’s also a vehicle for interdepartmental support, networking and collaboration.”
Series Speakers
For the 2022-23 school year, the library had a lineup of four faculty scholars for the series. The first one was presented by Dr. Kanae Haneishi, assistant professor of Recreation, Exercise and Sports Sciences at Western. Haneishi’s presentation was on how to include Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice techniques in the Physical Education Space. She spoke on two different projects she’s researching.
Projects within the Program
The first project that Haneishi presented was about third-space learning. Educators are encouraged to create a third-space learning environment where students from all different backgrounds and abilities feel safe to learn. The second project was about Gameplay learning. Here, the objective was to teach skills within a game rather than start with teaching skills and then apply those skills to a game. The point of this research is to allow children to learn while playing so there isn’t any apparent difference between the student’s skill levels.
A Forum for Sharing Research
While the number of presentations in the Lunch with Western Scholars varies from year to year, there is one more presentation set for the fall semester this year. On December 1st, Dr. Bob Cohen will be offering his presentation. In the spring semester, Luck Danielson and Dr. Maria Struble are up for the series.
“Our goal in hosting Lunch with Western Scholars is to provide a forum for our amazing faculty to share their research and to create an additional avenue to participate in Western’s scholarly community,” said Wick.
Discover more about upcoming programs through the Leslie J. Savage Library.
Author Credit: Kinlee Whiney
Photo Credit: Olivia Reinhardt
