Emily Simnitt has taught courses in first-year writing (WR 121-123), scientific and technical writing, community literacy, public speaking, and digital humanities since 2015. She also directs the Writing, Public Speaking, and Critical Reasoning (WSCR) program and is the current chair of the Core Education Council. She’s passionate about helping students develop critical writing and speaking skills and engage in civic and community activism. Before teaching, she had careers in journalism and public policy, covering neighborhood, city, and state politics as a newspaper reporter and worked in public information for Idaho’s health and human services agency. She just began a two-year term on Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, a 15-member volunteer body appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Oregon Senate, and will be working to develop state policies and programs to foster student success and advise the Oregon Legislature and governor on funding to meet state postsecondary goals. She grew up in Eastern Idaho, near Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and still loves to spend every second she can outside enjoying natural beauty -- often with a book or knitting. 

Core Ed Connection: Member Core Education Task Force (proceeded creation of Core Education Council) and current co-chair; Core Education Fulfilling Courses: WR 121: College Composition I; ENG 250: Literature and Digital Culture 

Why did you want to be on the Core Education Council? 

I love that Core Education is something that engages all undergraduate students and positions them to grow into civically engaged leaders in their future communities. Being on the council means that I get to have conversations with campus stakeholders about how each of our areas can become strengths in developing student skills in the methods of inquiry that are the cornerstone of the Liberal Arts. 

Christian Cherry is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and performer who makes collaborative music that has been presented in theaters throughout the U.S.; at Lincoln Center (NYC); the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) and abroad. His work as a dance musician includes stints at the American Dance Festival and Bates Dance Festival, including two ADF/Seoul tours. As a dance educator, Christian has been part of several prominent dance departments: at Ohio State University (’83-’93), the University of South Florida (‘93-’96) and the University of Illinois (’96-’01). Christian serves as Music & Undergraduate Director in Dance at the University of Oregon where he teaches courses in music for dance, dance theory and collaboration, and contact improvisation. He is an avid fly fisherman and tennis player. 

Core Ed Connection: Member Core Education Task Force (proceeded creation of Core Education Council); University of Oregon Committee on Courses (UOCC), member 

Why did you want to be on the Core Education Council?  

I wanted to be on the Core Education Council because it brings the educational spirit to its fullest realization. The work is important in terms of making a difference for the students as learners, as people and as global citizens. 

What does Core Education mean to you?  

Core Education means that we participate in the formation of the future. Ideas adapt over time with the input of people who can think in different ways. 

What is a favorite activity you use in your teaching that supports Core Education?  

In the online course DAN 251 Looking at Dance Core Education course that I teach, I assign a creative video project which asks that the students choreograph a dance with a chair. The things that they uncover about chairs are fascinating. 

Jagdeep Bala teaches several core education courses in psychology, all with an emphasis on scientific reasoning, critical thinking, and ethical decision-making.  

Core Ed Connection: Member, CAS-NS; Undergraduate Council representative to Core Ed Council, coordinator of core education curriculum for psychology as chair of PSY undergraduate education committee. Core Ed courses: PSY201 Mind and Brain, PSY305 Cognition, PSY383 Psychoactive Drugs.  

Harinder teaches 100-300 Italian language and culture courses and LING 144 Learning How to Learn Languages. In addition, she coordinates the Self Study Language Program (LT 199) run through the Yamada Language Center where she also teaches Turkish. She sees the study of Languages Beyond English as a gateway to become not only global citizens but also as a meaningful way to contribute to the needs of our increasingly diverse society. Learning a new language is a potentially profound way of self-discovery too. You can read more about Harinder and her journey here. 

Core Ed Connection: Elected Faculty Member (CAS > Humanities > Romance Languages)  

What does Core Education mean to you?    

Being able to grow as a person and to learn and create new things, be it in your profession, your personal relationships, your role as a contributing member of society, you need to develop an appreciation for gaining knowledge and skills in different areas. Core Education helps you to do both while you also become aware of some of your hidden interests, talents, and passions. In Core Education courses you discover how different disciplines relate to each other, create pathways for collaboration as part of a strong community of learners, researchers, and educators. For all these reasons and more, I am a strong advocate for Core Education at the University of Oregon.  

What is a favorite activity you use in your teaching that supports Core Education? 

I love designing activities where students take charge of their learning by setting personalized goals, reflect on their learning process, and work on projects where they present their newly gained knowledge in creative ways through collaboration and cooperation. In this link you can see a good example created by a group of students who took my LING 144 Learning How to Learn a Language course in Fall 2021. 

Kimberly leads the Division of Undergraduate Education and Student Success and is responsible for setting the strategic direction for undergraduate student success efforts, developing and implementing strategic priorities for student advising, evidenced-based academic engagement initiatives, and timely graduation. She also handles facilitating reform of relevant university policies and procedures.  

Core Ed Connection: Convene Council 

What does Core Education mean to you?  

Core Education is a unifying way all our students, regardless of major, will gain the necessary skills in critical and creative thinking, written communication, and important foundations for a global society as with think ethically and grow our ability for cultural literacy. 

Jamie Mayhew Bufalino is a historian who teaches courses in the department of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies on intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and class in U.S. history. She is the director of the General Social Sciences program and serves as a student success liaison between Tykeson Hall & the College of Arts and Sciences.

Core Ed Connection: Core Ed Council member (Social Sciences), Instructor for core education course, WGSS 101 

What is a favorite activity you use in your teaching that supports Core Education?     

My favorite activity that supports core education in my classroom is an activity that I do in the first 10 minutes of the first day of WGSS 101.  I encourage students to think about the power dynamics of the college lecture hall. We spend a couple minutes discussing what the physical space communicates to us about whose words and actions are important and who is responsible for the learning process. We do a think-pair-share activity in which we consider how this spatial arrangement influences student engagement (their preparation before class, their attention to their fellow students, their sense of responsibility for their own learning). I follow this up with a reading assignment about cooperative learning and syllabus quiz that encourages students to be mindful of the collaborative nature of the learning process and their individual and collective responsibility to the learning process.  This exercise helps to establish the culture of the classroom and introduces a core concept, the notion that power is institutionalized through spatial arrangements. It encourages students to think critically about power dynamics in public spaces and institutions. 

Core Ed Connection: Director, Office of Academic Advising 

Office of Academic Advising is under the Division of Undergraduate Education and Student Success and contributes to supporting undergraduate student success in their academic, career and personal journey at the UO.   

What does Core Education mean to you?  

Office of Academic Advising works most often with exploring students who are considering different majors and minors.  Core Education is an important way that students can explore interests and gain exposure to new and exciting paths of study.  Core Education courses often help students identify the disciplines they would like to pursue. 

Core Ed Connection: Office of the Provost ex officio member of council. Led, with Senate president and other committed faculty, the creation of the Core Education Council to provide more intentional focus on our Core Education curriculum. 

Why did you want to be on the Core Education Council? 

I’m a firm believer in the importance of and power of our liberal arts education in preparing our students for meaningful lives. 

What does Core Education mean to you? 

The Core Education curriculum is the set of courses and experiences that we, as a university community, have deemed so important that it applies to all undergraduate students. I want to do all I can to make sure the curriculum lives up to that its central place in our degrees. 

What is a favorite activity you use in your teaching that supports Core Education? 

I haven’t taught a Core Education class in a while, but I recall teaching an Introduction to Business Class where I demonstrated some fundamental principles of supply chains by having a long line of students with different size containers transferring water from one place to another. The way that experiential learning can create insights and inspire motivation to learn is key to my teaching philosophy. 

Kristy Bryant-Berg has a PhD in English Literature focusing on representations of cultural trauma in 20th century American fiction. She teaches in both the English Department and Writing Composition Program with special emphasis on Writing in the Context of Research. 

Core Ed Connection: Appointed CAS – Humanities   

What is a favorite activity you use in your teaching that supports Core Education?    

The research projects in my Writing 123: Writing and Research for a Better World courses engage students in ethical reasoning in a variety of ways, including: practicing open-minded inquiry regarding topics with lively academic debate; reducing confirmation bias during library research through an understanding of how positionality influences collection of sources; ensuring all stakeholders in a debate are well-represented among selected sources; exploring competing views, especially counterarguments, to refine and enrich analysis of evidence; and creating nuanced arguments that acknowledge limitations in evidence and qualify claims. 

Core Ed Connection: Core Ed Council member

Why did you want to be on the Core Education Council?   

I believe in the value of a common educational experience. It is our duty as educators to monitor, and direct the focus of our educational offerings towards common goals and themes that broaden students' knowledge and awareness. The Core Education Council addresses the issues from a top down approach and its goal is to prescribe best practices that lead to a common experience for all of our students.  

Core Ed Connection: Head Undergraduate Advisor for the Department of Mathematics, Instructor of Core Education courses for the math department. 

What does Core Education mean to you?   

Core Education helps students obtain a breadth of knowledge and helps students learn to think critically in multiple disciplines. It prevents students from specializing too much and broadens their perspective on society. 

Samantha Ramos moved from El Paso, Texas to attend the University of Oregon. She started as an Architecture major but soon realized that her passion lived within Psychology and Family & Human Services. While being a student at the University, she also immersed herself in Eugene’s current public education by volunteering with the GANAS program at Kelly Middle School. She is also currently working with girls aged 10-18 in Lane County as a Direct Service Intern at Ophelia’s Place.

Core Ed Connection: Undergraduate appointed by ASUO

Why did you want to be on the Core Education Council?

Her volunteering and interning experiences drove her to deeply evaluate how the current education system is impacting students and the harmful practices that persist in our society. The Core Education Council allows her to use her unique experiences as a student to be an active participant in examining these problems and identifying solutions that will create transformative change for future students at the University.

Amalia has been a UO faculty member since 1995. Her teaching and scholarship center on literary translation, translation theory, and Latin American theater and narrative.  

Core Ed Connection: Core Education Council member 

Why did you want to be on the Core Education Council?  

As an advisor, I enjoy helping students see how the pieces fit together. Core education brings together the practical and the ideal, asking both “what are we trying to accomplish?” and “can we make our plans work?” I see the Council as a space where colleagues can work together to make Core Education more effective, both in its aims and in its implementation. 

Matthias Vogel teaches undergraduate language and content class in German and Scandinavian and coordinates the German language program. Several of his classes are Core Education classes. He serves on the Implementation Committee for the new School of Global Studies and Languages where Core Education plays an important role in preparing undergraduate students for academic and post college success. In his role on the UO Committee on Courses, he helps with the review and re-certification of existing Core Education classes.  

Core Ed Connection: UOCC Representative on the Core Ed Council 

What does Core Education mean to you?  

Core Education is the foundation for academic and professional success. It allows students to gain general skills in addition to discipline specific ones and it increases student success. Critical thinking, creative thinking and problem solving, writing and communication skills are all Core Education skills while gaining a global perspective allows students to become global citizens.