**Editor's Note:  Jill first contributed to this blog in 2019 when she was a graduate student, so she is contributing again as her approach to teaching has developed a great deal in the intervening years.

School name: Holy Family University

Type of school: small private, Catholic, liberal arts

School locale: Philadelphia, PA, USA

Is your role mostly in-person, hybrid, online (synchronous or asynchronous)? In person

For how many years have you taught psychology? 10 years

Classes you teach: Introduction to Psychology, Child Development, Adolescent Development, Lifespan Development, Psychology of Popular Culture, Research Methods, Teaching of Psychology

Specialization: Developmental

What size classes do you teach? 20-30 students/course

What do you know now about teaching that you wish you knew when you were starting? One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that it’s okay not to know everything. When I was starting out, I felt an enormous pressure to be the expert at all times and to ensure that every lesson went smoothly. The reality, though, is that teaching (like life!) is unpredictable, and things don’t always go as planned. I’ve come to realize that there are great opportunities for growth in those moments. Not knowing an answer can actually be a powerful teaching opportunity: it allows me to model curiosity, resourcefulness, and the process of “looking it up” rather than pretending to have all the solutions. Similarly, when an activity or assignment doesn’t land the way I hoped, it becomes an authentic chance to model resilience and how to reflect, adapt, and move forward when things don’t go our way. They can also be really fun moments that help humanize me as an instructor, it’s all about your perspective. These experiences have shown me that the classroom is not just about delivering information; it’s also about demonstrating how learning, problem-solving, and perseverance look in real time.

Briefly tell us about your favorite lecture topic or course to teach.  One of my favorite courses to teach is a class I developed at my university called The Psychology of Popular Culture. I’ve been teaching it through the lens of musical theater, which has been both engaging and a lot of fun. Each week, we focus on a different show (a few examples I’ve used are The Sound of Music, Mamma Mia!, Hairspray, Grease, and Come From Away - although there are lots of others!) and explore the psychological themes that emerge from its story. You’d be surprised by how much psychology is embedded in popular culture, especially in musical theater, from identity formation and family dynamics to prejudice, resilience, and moral decision-making.

One especially memorable discussion came after we watched Waitress. The show addresses difficult and complex topics, and at first the students were hesitant to engage. Their initial reactions to issues like infidelity were very black-and-white. But as the conversation continued, they began to recognize the nuanced realities behind human relationships and the many contextual factors that shape people’s choices. By the end of class, several students commented that the discussion opened their eyes to complexities they had never considered before.

That’s what I love about using popular culture to teach psychology. Because the material feels familiar and accessible, it lowers students’ defenses and invites them to engage with challenging ideas in a safe, meaningful way. It also makes abstract concepts more concrete - students can immediately see how psychological principles are playing out in the stories they’re watching. In that sense, pop culture becomes more than just entertainment; it’s an entry point for critical thinking, empathy, and deeper understanding of human behavior.

I also serve as editor of the Pop Culture Corner blog (hosted by Psi Chi), where many of my students have the opportunity to submit their final papers for publication. It’s incredibly rewarding to see their creativity extend beyond the classroom and reach a wider audience, giving their work a life after the course ends. (Check it out and feel free to encourage your students to submit if they are doing anything pop culture related!)

Briefly describe a favorite assignment or in-class activity. Building on what I shared earlier, one of my favorite assignments is something I call the Psych in the Media Paper. For this assignment, students sign up for a week of specific course content (for example, Memory in an Introduction to Psychology class) and then select a fictional source such as a book, movie, TV show, musical, or video game to connect with that week’s material. For instance, during our Human Development unit, a student might analyze parenting styles as portrayed in the Harry Potter series, or for Social Psychology, they might explore peer relationships in Mean Girls.

I enjoy this assignment for several reasons. First, it gives students a creative and engaging way to apply psychological concepts to stories they’re already familiar with, which makes the material feel more relevant and approachable. At the same time, because they’re working with fictional examples rather than their own personal experiences, it creates a sense of safety and distance that allows deeper reflection without feeling overly vulnerable. Second, it’s an incredibly versatile assignment. I’ve successfully used it in introductory psychology, lifespan and developmental psychology, and it would also work well in courses like social psychology, psychology of gender, etc.

In practice, students write a short paper applying course concepts to their chosen topic, and they also record their selections on a Google form. Over the years, this form has grown into a spreadsheet of nearly a decade’s worth of submissions which showcases the incredible creativity and diversity of connections students make between psychology and popular culture. It not only shows how versatile psychology is, but also how powerfully students engage with learning when they can approach it through the lens of stories and media that matter to them.

What are three words that best describe your teaching style?  Goofy, Engaging, Innovative

What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer? Authoritative teaching: firm but supportive

What’s your workspace like? My office is bright and colorful. One of the things I love about my office is the large table which makes it a great gathering space for colleagues and students.

Tell us about a teaching disaster (or embarrassment) you’ve had and how you dealt with the situation. This doesn’t really qualify as an embarrassment or a disaster, but it was definitely a funny, lighthearted moment. On the very first day of my Senior Seminar course, while I was reviewing the syllabus, the “O” key on the classroom computer somehow got stuck. No matter what I did, the computer just kept typing out a long stream of “ooooooooo” across the screen. I tried everything - closing the browser, restarting the computer - but nothing worked to fix it. The students were cracking up, joking that the classroom must be haunted. It turned into a silly shared moment that helped break the ice and set a relaxed, welcoming tone for the semester.

What is something you are currently focused on improving or changing in your teaching? One area I am continually working to improve is finding the right balance between rigor and flexibility. Early in my career, I assumed this balance would eventually come naturally, but I’ve realized it is something that constantly shifts depending on the course, the students, and the context of the semester. My focus now is on intentionally designing flexibility into my courses in ways that maintain academic rigor.

For example, I allow students to drop their lowest weekly assignment grade. This practice acknowledges that “life happens,” gives students room to manage their own time, and eliminates the need for me to make case-by-case judgment calls. It also allows me to uphold high expectations for the quality of their work, since the flexibility is built into the course structure rather than coming at the expense of rigor.

Ultimately, my goal is for students to feel both challenged and supported. I’ve come to see that flexibility and rigor aren’t opposites; rather, when approached thoughtfully, they can actually complement each other and enhance the overall learning experience.

What are you currently reading for pleasure? I’m currently reading The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks which is the third book in the Montague Siblings series by Mackenzi Lee. They are clever, quirky, and relatively quick reads with great LGBTQIA+ representation.

What tech tool could you not live without? Canvas, and the Google suite (Drive, email, calendar)