What are your back-to-school rituals?

Risa Sodi

Now that I think about it, I have a couple of back-to-school rituals, including filing old papers (boring) and leading a teacher preparation workshop (exciting). An enjoyable ritual is adding a new cartoon to my bulletin board. This year’s cartoon comes from the YDN.

Sodi is a Senior Lector and the Language Program Director of Italian.

Marta Wells

One of my rituals for the fall semester is to go and check the giant hissing roaches and make sure they are ready for the lab! Another is to post syllabi on time.

Wells is a Senior Lecturer of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Emily Coates

My back-to-school rituals changed last June, July, and August when I began trekking up Science Hill to meet with my amazing colleague Sarah Demers, to plan our course “The Physics of Dance.” Professor Demers is a particle physicist who works on the highest energy hadron collider in the world, the Large Hadron Collider. Finding common ground between our respective disciplines of physics and dance studies has been a highlight of my teaching and research career. The walk to Science Hill pays off.

Coates is the Artistic Director of the World Performance Project and a Lecturer of Theater Studies.

Dolores Hayden

I’m delighted to be back. I always meet with teaching fellows, and we talk about how to encourage creative responses to everyday American landscapes.

Hayden is a Professor of Architecture, Urbanism, and American Studies.

Kathryn Lofton

I make a new mix for my walk to class. And I sharpen all my pencils.

Lofton is an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Religious Studies.