Lisa Wade, PhD, is a Visiting Scholar at Tulane University, formally joining the faculty in 2021. An accomplished scholar, award-winning teacher, and public sociologist, she has become well known for delivering conversational yet compelling translations of sociological theory and research. She’s the author of the best-selling textbook Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions and American Hookup, the definitive account of …
Continue reading Decanonizing the Introduction to Sociology Text
Joel Best, the author of Social Problems, discusses how taking a social constructionist approach to the social problems course keeps it timely—even during a pandemic. Photo Credit: Kathy Atkinson Norton Sociology: We’re having this conversation as the fall semester is beginning. It’s been a crazy year, not just with many college classes being forced …
Continue reading A Social Constructionist Approach to Current Events: Q&A with Joel Best
What happens when you take a pen-and-paper assignment and translate it to an online environment? What do you and your students give up and what do you gain? Norton Biology recently sat down with Tim Hunt and John Wilson, authors of the beloved Problems Book that accompanies Molecular Biology of the Cell, Sixth Edition, which …
Continue reading Digitizing The Problems Book: An Interview with Tim Hunt and John Wilson
Carol Symes, co-author of Western Civilizations, talks about recent shifts in teaching history survey courses, and how Whiggish ideas of European history have been co-opted by white nationalist groups. She gives a more expansive view of Western Civilizations, and discusses how her research informs her global approach to the textbook. You regularly teach a survey of …
Continue reading Is “Western Civ” Still Relevant in Our Global Era? A Q&A with Author Carol Symes
Astronomy: At Play in the Cosmos author Adam Frank sat down with the astronomy team to tell us a little about his research and why he is passionate about getting nonscientists excited about science. Adam is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester. Norton Astronomy: Why did you want to write a textbook for …
Continue reading Making Science Accessible: A Conversation with Astronomy Author Adam Frank
American Politics Today authors David Canon and Bill Bianco discuss how they get their students to look beyond the noisy headlines and focus on how American Government is supposed to function. One of our goals as authors and teachers is to make students more engaged citizens. While it could be debated what this means and looks like …
Continue reading Cut through the Noise to Understand How Politics Really Works
Stacy Palen is an award-winning professor in the physics department and director of the Ott Planetarium at Weber State University. Dr. Palen is passionate about teaching astronomy, and presents tips on creating an active learning environment below. image credit: Zac Williams Somehow or other, classroom architects in the 1960s, 1970s, and as far along as …
Continue reading Orchestrating Active Learning in a Less-than-Ideal Environment
Microbiology: An Evolving Science author Erik Zinser sat down with the biology team to tell us a little about his contributions to the new edition and his research. Norton Biology: This is the first edition of the book where you are a co-author on Microbiology: An Evolving Science. What contributions did you make to the …
