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Ep. 006: Teaching in Times of Crisis

So far, 2016 has been a tumultuous year, marked by truly horrific acts of violence. When a crisis occurs, how should we address it with our students? How can we balance the need to cope with traumatic events against the need to keep learning on track? There are no easy answers. As we mark the fifteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we look at the research resulting from that national crisis, explore options, and offer a few practical tips for teaching in times of crisis.

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Show Notes

Here are some additional resources:

  • The Redbird Care Team assists when you identify individual students who need help.
  • Illinois State’s Student Counseling Services website has some important information for faculty members.
  • Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching has a detailed online resource on teaching in crisis, often cited, updated in 2013.
  • A study from shortly after September 11th that categorizes different types of faculty responses: Clair, J. A., MacLean, T. L., & Greenberg, D. N. (2002). Teaching through traumatic events: Uncovering the choices of management educators as they responded to September 11th. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1(1), 38–54. doi:10.5465/AMLE.2002.7373603
  • Miller, K. (2002). The experience of emotion in the workplace: Professing in the midst of tragedy. Management Communication Quarterly, 15(4), 571–600. doi:10.1177/0893318902154003

A captioned version of this episode is available through this YouTube playlist.
Download a transcript of this episode in Adobe PDF format.

2025-11-19T16:09:56.611851536-08:00 2025