Alanna Gillis, PhD

My students came ready in Soc of Education today! Passionate and critical debates about my university’s initiatives to reduce party culture on campus, despite the 8:50 AM start time.

I love teaching Paying for the Party and pro tip: schedule this discussion around Halloween 👻

I allowed students to opt out of either or both classes if they didn’t feel they were in a place to attend. It was only because I’ve heard her be very critical of the system on numerous occasions that I trusted her to come in (unlike mine from grad school that just denied any inequality problems).

analyzing some overview information from the intro chapter and creating space to ask questions while just us. It’s an undergrad seminar of only 10 students who have been very critical yet supportive of each other all semester but sometimes asking ?’s I don’t know about our uni…

I invited her because I thought it could be a cool opportunity for mutual learning: she from our sociological analysis and my students and I about how our uni structures things. And that cross learning definitely happened both ways 🎉

For my students’ protection, we spent one class before she came…

She had actually read the book this summer (for prof dev)! She’s unusual in that her background was in Title IX victim advocacy as a student and she got JD to get a coordinator job to improve the system. She’s made good changes so far (as permitted by law) and is very open to suggestions

In my DEI in Higher Education course I try different ways to combine theory, research, and practice. This week I invited our university Title IX coordinator to join our critical discussion of @nbedera.bsky.social’s On The Wrong Side. We all analyzed and learned so much together!

PS: GREAT book!

As someone who suffers from long covid it’s easy to focus on challenges. There are so many, especially while teaching. But today I’m going to celebrate an accomplishment: I can now call on all students by name in all my courses!

This seems small, but for me it’s a ray of joy.

This article is even worse than I expected. The professor literally just taught that more than two genders exist and there has been mass calling from the right for her firing, for a federal investigation, and removing her leadership who rightly said that she has the right to teach her expertise.

I’m teaching one that size this semester (6) and I’ve found it’s effective to be a bit more informal. Sometimes I sit down to feel more like we’re chatting together to get conversations going more deeply. You will need to provide more diverse perspectives since there are fewer of them to do so.

I'm so excited for my new capstone course, DEI in Higher Education, to start this week! Extremely timely and thankful to be in a state that allows professors to actually teach about important topics like these.

Preview to the first day of class slides...

I was outraged to hear about the atrocious new laws in SO MANY red states while talking to colleagues at ASA this year. As you begin a new semester under increasingly repressive and fascist conditions, I send you all the best of luck. The work you do is so important.

Starting my 6th year as faculty and I guess I'm moving up in the world because I'm joining the IRB!

I'm excited for this new way to serve my university. As a liberal arts college it will be a great way to support student research and see what some of my colleagues across the university are up to!

So so so so excited to be medically stable enough to attend a conference again. The #ASA2025 teaching and learning preconference was AMAZING and it’s already making me so thrilled for more panels, chats, and sociology!

Those are great suggestions!! I wouldn’t have thought about noise canceling headphones, but that would be so nice when walking through the hallways to not hear all the other noises so loudly.

I’m attending my first conference (ASA) since my long covid induced medical leave 1.5 yrs ago. I’m excited but nervous because I now get easily overstimulated which then sets off other symptoms. I plan to spend a lot of quiet time in my room between sessions— any other tips?

Great! Yeah I was planning to spend class time checking in on progress and offering informal feedback throughout the semester but that’s a great idea to do it as mini presentations so they can learn from each other.

I’m creating an undergrad seminar with a scaffolded research paper. I’m considering having process based reflection check ins required for each component (what did well/poorly & lessons to carry forward). Would love to hear good/bad experiences doing something like this!

Want to talk to someone who works there or ask questions? DM me and I'll put you in touch with my twin sister, dept chair of Spanish at HH Prep. She would be happy to talk to any potentially interested candidates.

If you, or someone you know...
✅Speaks Spanish
✅College degree
✅Willing to relocate to Hilton Head, SC by early August
Email a resume and a cover letter to head of HR cmorgan@hhprep.org.
hhprep.org

Job alert! Anyone know someone interested in being a high school Spanish teacher at one of the top private schools in South Carolina? Hilton Head Prep, blocks from the beach, is looking to hire and interested in reviewing candidates ASAP.

Thanks!!

I'm writing a book proposal and I want to hire a developmental editor for the proposal and eventual manuscript. The book's vision is a general audience book about how different types of students can succeed in US colleges (using longitudinal interviews)

All suggestions welcome!

South Carolina is thought of as staunchly conservative but my hometown showed up today! Hundreds lined both sides of the major road and received major support from honking cars. #NoKingsDay

Sure! My inequality course is an undergrad intro course and then otherwise I infuse inequality deeply into my other sociology 200 level courses like family, education, and careers

Ah, course evaluations, the time when a few students each semester claim that in my courses about inequality everything is too one-sided because we talk too much about...inequality!

Strategically, attacking Harvard is dumb. They have endless $ and resources. A more strategic approach would attack low resource unis who struggle to fight back. Once policies were accepted enough places, it would be harder to stop. Thank goodness these decisions are just vibes.

Screenshot reads: 300 Level - Advanced Topic Seminar. This course examines the topic of DEI theoretically and empirically. Theoretically, we examine diversity, equity, and inclusion each as separate perspectives by which to promote better access to and outcomes for all students in higher education. We will analyze the strengths and limitations of each perspective, as well as the overlap between them. Empirically, we will analyze how DEI initiatives are implemented in higher education, including the feasibility of implementing change and the limitations of changes that occur. Case studies include a study of Title IX sexual assault investigations, the fall of race conscious admissions policies, funding disparities between public predominately white institutions (PWIs) and minority serving institutions (i.e., MSIs, HBCUs, HSIs), and more. Additionally, we will analyze contemporary resistance to DEI initiatives. As part of the course, students will be required to complete a research project whereby they identify a problem in higher education, conduct background research on the problem to apply to the SLU context, conduct and analyze data to address the problem, and complete a final paper and presentation presenting a full academic paper of their investigation.

Course enrollment is complete and I can officially say I'll be teaching my new undergrad seminar in fall 2025: DEI in Higher Education! It's going to be so interesting and I am very thankful to be working at a university supportive of courses like this!

Where Students Have Had Their Visas Revoked The Trump administration has quietly revoked hundreds of student visas across the country, wreaking havoc on the system.

Link to article from Inside Higher Education that is regularly updated: www.insidehighered.com/news/global/...

Check on your international students. They are not okay.