Classroom Close-Up
This semester Rutgers Today launched a new series to explore the innovative ways the university prepares the next generation of leaders and thinkers. These stories take readers inside classrooms to discover how students' minds are broadened and their intellectual passions cultivated.
Skype Brings World Experts into the Classroom at Rutgers
New digital podiums with built-in Mac computers installed in classrooms throughout Rutgers are making it possible to use the power of Skype to talk with scholars and top officials who work on the world stage.
It's Not Fair! Complaining in Everyday Conversations
Jenny Mandelbaum and Galina Bolden co-teach a Byrne Seminar, “It’s not Fair! Complaining in Everyday Conversation,” which examines the common kvetching that has become second nature to most of us.
Rutgers Finds the Ideal Setting for a Bold New Biology Class
The School of Arts and Sciences,with help from a National Science Foundation grant, has revamped its Biological Research Laboratory course to make it a more hands-on, research-driven experience for future scientists.
Course on 'Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan' Broadens Students Assumptions
Each year, Master of Social Work certificate in aging students learn through the coursework that loss is a universal human experience that occurs at every age, and that grief is a normal part of the process.
In “Once Upon A Time: Why We Tell Stories,” Professor Barry Qualls encourages students to understand how pervasive stories are in daily life and to be attuned to possible end games for why people tell tales.
Rutgers Women's Basketball Squad Gives Rutgers Business School Students a Lesson in Teamwork
Nearly 700 business school students watched Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer and her players put a real-world spin on classroom lessons about communication, team dynamics and motivating others.
Pursuing Happiness in the Classroom
Sociologist Sarah Rosenfield has spent her career studying unhappiness. One day, she decided she needed a break from all that. Why not study happiness? She now teaches “Sociology of Happiness and Mental Health.”
Bringing the Art Museum to the Classroom
Since "Writing and the Visual Arts" began seven years ago, more than 10 schools and approximately 170 teachers have participated and school districts have incorporated the program into their curriculum.
Big Ten Benefits in the Classroom
Rutgers' membership in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) – a consortium of top research universities, most of them also members of the Big Ten – opens up opportunities for students to study less commonly taught languages and cultures.
In "Self and Society in Virtual Contexts," students use the popular, virtual world of Second Life as a platform to learn about the importance of collaborating with peers and future colleagues online.
Body Percussion Class Finds Rhythm at Rutgers
A new Byrne seminar called "Rhythm, Drumming and Body Percussion" has first-year students using their bodies as musical instruments - tapping, clapping and stomping their feet - to make some interesting sounds.
Shedding Light on Mental Ilness Through the Movies and Social Media
Anthony Tobia's psychiatry courses allow some 200 students from Rutgers University and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School gather to watch movies and tweet psychological observations about characters or plot lines.