Conflict Transformation: Mindfulness Skills as Educational Praxis This course will introduce students to a variety of approaches to conflict transformation (CT) using skills-based practices from the fields of mindfulness and contemplative education. Conflict, as a personal or collective act of disruption, will be examined as a driver for social/political and individual change. We will examine this work through the theoretical lens of social justice and liberatory educational philosophies. Using these frameworks, we will also explore mindfulness-based skills as tools for engaged inquiry, including: identifying shifting conceptual frameworks and mindful states and employing embodied practices as learning praxis.

Education in the USA What are schools for? What makes education in a democracy unique? What counts as evidence of that uniqueness? What roles do schools play in educating citizens in a democracy for a democracy? In this course, we will engage these questions while investigating education as a social, cultural, political, and economic process. We will develop new understandings of current policy disputes regarding a broad range or educational issues by examining the familiar through different ideological and disciplinary lenses.

Education in the USA What are schools for? What makes education in a democracy unique? What counts as evidence of that uniqueness? What roles do schools play in educating citizens in a democracy for a democracy? In this course, we will engage these questions while investigating education as a social, cultural, political, and economic process. We will develop new understandings of current policy disputes regarding a broad range of educational issues by examining the familiar through different ideological and disciplinary lenses.

Writing to Heal This writing-intensive course examines writing as a catalyst for healing after loss or grief. In a workshop focused on student writing, we will analyze fiction, drama, poetry, and creative nonfiction as a basis for discussions.  To this end, we will read creative non-fiction, memoir, and novels.  Assignments for this course will include formal analytical essays, creative work (published online), and oral presentations.

Mindfulness in Education: Radical, Holistic Models of Learning What is mindfulness? And how is it useful in reframing approaches to education for engaged, critical learning?  In this course we will explore the impact of contemplative practices in education, considering such questions as: what is learning and how does divergent or mindful thinking influence how we learn? For example, is there a connection between mindfulness and creativity, attention, memory? We will engage in contemplative practices to consider mindful learning from a personal perspective and review research in the fields of education and psychology that suggests a positive correlation between contemplative practices and the intellectual, emotional, and psychological growth of students.

Educational Psychology: Learning in the Community In this course we will expand our understanding of learning and teaching while engaging with the local school community, including professionals and stakeholders who support K-12 students in various roles. We will examine curriculum theory, teaching theories, and practices that support social-emotional as well as proficiency-based learning, trauma-informed teaching, and the use of personalized learning plans to support student growth and development.  In this way, students will continue to understand and develop effective instructional practices, the design of optimal learning environments, meaningful assessment tools, and effective and engaging teaching strategies for diverse, inclusive, innovative, student-focused classrooms.

Educational Psychology: Learning in Schools In this course we will expand our understanding of learning and teaching while exploring principles, issues, and research in educational psychology. We will examine learning theories, complex cognitive processes, cognitive and emotional development, and motivation, and apply these constructs to effective instruction, the design of optimal learning environments, assessment of student learning, and teaching in diverse classrooms.

Sophomore Seminar in the Liberal Arts The current pandemic, and all the questions it brings to the fore about what we value in a college experience, make this an ideal moment to consider the meaning and purpose of your liberal arts education. At the heart of this exploration will be a question posed by physicist Arthur Zajonc: “How do we find our own authentic way to an undivided life where meaning and purpose are tightly interwoven with intellect and action, where compassion and care are infused with insight and knowledge?” We will examine how, at this pivotal moment of decision making, you can understand your college career as an act of “cultivating humanity” and how you can meaningfully challenge yourself to take ownership of your intellectual and personal development. Through interdisciplinary and multicultural exploration, drawing from education studies and philosophical, religious, and literary texts, we will engage our course questions by way of student-led discussion, written reflection, and personal, experiential learning practices. In this way we will examine how a liberal arts education might foster the cultivation of an ‘undivided’ life, “the good life”, a life well-lived.

Melissa Hammerle

Reviews and ratings for Melissa Hammerle at Middlebury College.Melissa Hammerle teaches Mindfulness & Conflict Skills, Education in the USA, Education In the USA and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Melissa Hammerle good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

I enjoyed the course, I feel I am more aware of educational injustice in our country. Most of the homework was just responses to our readings, the reading are pretty lengthy but very manageable. We wrote two papers and did a project about our own education story, as well as have some quizzes. The education story project was very interesting and I loved learning the stories of my classmates. 

I loved Professor Hammerle, the class is gem. Readings are pretty easy and you have reading responses every class. You have one presentation you read in front of the class, and about two essays but that is it.

Professor Hammerle is amazing! I highly reccommend taking Edcuation in the USA. I loved Hammerles teaching style, and passion. I also loved how the class was structed, I learned so much about the topic but also so much about my classmates. 