The Teaching of Physics, Music, and the Teaching of Joy

Описание: Recorded February 28th, 2023

About the Session

How many instructors get to say that their teaching load includes courses in both physics and music (and not the physics of music)? In this presentation I will share teaching insights that I have developed over the past few decades as teaching Indian classical music in a university setting has been in the background of my progression from Ph.D. student in physics, to physics faculty member, to full time educational developer and administrator. The academic journey has evolved over several different US based educational institutions in different decades. As instructional technologies have emerged, they have played an important part in the way I have taught American university students, both in physics as well as in music. My deep involvement in teaching physics ultimately led to my shift into faculty/educational development work, while the passion for teaching music has led to the establishment of Indian Classical Music ensembles at three different universities and course listings for credit-bearing courses in departments of music. Bear in mind, my academic degrees are all in physics. Join us as we look at the joy of teaching and the teaching of joy, all possible while navigating institutional structures that are often not favorable to this kind of work.

About the Presenter

Dr. S. Raj Chaudhury is the Executive Director of the Innovation in Learning Center at the University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA. In his role, he provides strategic oversight and direction for the teaching, learning and support functions of the ILC which include online learning. Chaudhury works closely with the Office of the Provost on assisting campus wide initiatives related to measuring teaching effectiveness and implementation of active classroom learning technologies. He also holds an academic appointment as Associate Professor of Physics and is the founding director of the USA Indian Music Ensemble. His recent publications and presentations have been on faculty and educational development, scholarship of teaching and learning and online learning. He currently serves on the Senate of the Phi Beta Kappa liberal arts and sciences honor society and serves as the President of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in 2022-23.

Prior to moving to Alabama, Chaudhury held physics faculty positions in New York and Virginia. A native of Kolkata, India, Dr. Chaudhury is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vassar College and received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. His musical training was at Gitabithi Academy of Indian Music in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Further training has been with the late Professor Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy (UCLA), Padmashree (Indian Classical Music honoree) Prabha Atre, and recording artists such as Nirmalya Roy and Suchismita Das.