Four professors this spring were named Stony Brook’s newest batch of Faculty Fellows.
The Faculty Fellows program, run by the Division of Undergraduate Education, assists professors in developing and implementing innovative, experimental teaching strategies. The fellowship encourages faculty to explore new methods and topics in undergraduate education, including SBU 102 courses, the required one-credit seminar course for freshman students, and university Honors Programs.
“These courses are designed to help students explore and engage with a topic that’s of interest to them,” said Rachelle Germana, senior associate provost for undergraduate education. “In the same way, we want faculty to be able to explore ideas and develop new ways of teaching. This fellowship program gives faculty extra support as they build or revise courses that will give students the best possible learning experience.”
This year’s faculty fellows are:
- Brooke Belisle, associate professor, Department of Art & Art History, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)
- Anurag Purwar, associate professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS)
- Tony Scarlatos, senior lecturer and director of the computer science multimedia lab, Department of Computer Science, CEAS
- Margaret Schedel, associate professor, Department of Music, CAS and Institute for Advanced Computational Science
During the three-year fellowship, each faculty member will receive a course release to give them time to develop, refine and launch their project. They will also receive support from the Division of Undergraduate Education staff and work with experts from the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching on instructional design and assessment.
“Excellent teaching — of the caliber we expect as the state’s top public university and a flagship — does not happen by accident, and this fellowship program supports and empowers our faculty interested in exploring new teaching methods,” said Carl W. Lejuez, executive vice president and provost. “I applaud our faculty for thinking creatively and asking for the support they deserve to make these classes even more interesting and powerful for students.”
Since 2023, the fellowship has supported 15 faculty members in creating eight courses. So far, more than 200 students have enrolled in them overall.
“This program is an investment in the hard work that Stony Brook professors do developing teaching strategies and implementing them in the classroom,” said Richard Tomczak, director of faculty engagement at the Division of Undergraduate Education and a research assistant professor in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Our Division wants to promote the innovative work that our professors are doing around teaching and pedagogy.”
Brief descriptions of this year’s projects are below.
How and Why Machines Learn: A Freshman’s Introduction to Machine Learning and Robotics
Artificial intelligence and robotics have gone mainstream, with applications that reach well beyond computer science into other engineering fields and beyond.
Purwar will use his fellowship to develop a class, designed for first-year engineering students, that will demystify machine learning through an exploration of mathematical models and hands-on, AI-driven robotics projects.
“The first year is crucial for sparking curiosity and setting the tone for the rest of their studies,” Purwar said. “This course can help students understand that AI and robotics are not for experts; they are tools that anyone can learn to use and innovate with. This early exposure develops excitement and curiosity, showing students they are entering a field that is dynamic and full of possibilities.”
To develop the course, Purwar will work with industry experts and SBU’s Department of Information Technology to evaluate potential tools and develop possible lessons and curricula. He will test elements in other classes before piloting the full curriculum and launching the course.
The Future of History
Museums, libraries, galleries and other cultural spaces are actively exploring ways to integrate and use technology to enhance visitors’ experiences, including those who are only able to explore online from home.
Scarlatos will use his fellowship to build a course that empowers students from across majors to understand how technology supports digitization and preservation, research and restoration, education, and accessibility. He will find and use case studies, including work done by previous Stony Brook students in the Computer Science Multimedia lab, to help students learn how these technologies can be used and applied.
“Interdisciplinary, collaborative and experiential learning pedagogy improves understanding, critical thinking, communication and success in solving real-world problems. Team-based service-learning projects are a great way to realize these benefits,” Scarlatos said. “Additionally, helping to preserve our cultural heritage can be a powerful motivator for students.”
The course will include lessons and partnership with local cultural institutions including: The Jazz Loft, The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, Patchogue Medford Library, the Long Island Museum of Art, History, and Carriages, as well as Stony Brook’s Zuccaire Gallery and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Filters and Transforms
For almost as long as our pocket-sized computers, otherwise known as smartphones, have had cameras, people have been using filters to make their skin smoother, their eyes brighter, and any number of other modifications.
Those filters and transformations are changing the way we see each other, and artificial intelligence tools are exacerbating the effects.
Collaborating across the departments of art and music, Belisle and Margaret Schedel, associate professor of music, will build a course that helps students explore and understand how audio and visual filters are changing society, and try their hands at building their own.
“Our goal is that this class helps students develop both technical expertise and critical thinking skills,” Belisle said. “Filters not only offer more creative control but they can also seem to parse and discriminate in ways we cannot access or opt out of.”
“This course examines how these tools shape our media environment, teaching students to understand both their technical implementation and cultural implications,” Schedel added.
The course will be designed for freshman honor students, and it will fulfill two of the requirements of the Stony Brook Curriculum, the general education program all undergraduate students must fulfill to graduate.
Past Faculty Fellows
- Mark Chambers, lecturer, Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences
- Mei Lin (Ete) Chan, assistant professor of practice, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
- Lisa Diedrich, professor, Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
- Robert Kaplan, advanced senior lecturer, Program in Writing and Rhetoric, College of Arts and Sciences
- Peter Khost, associate professor, Program in Writing and Rhetoric, College of Arts and Sciences
- Gary Mar, professor, Department of Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences
- Sharon Pochron, assistant professor, Department of Sustainability Studies, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
- Susan Scheckle, professor, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences
- Chris Sellers, professor, Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences
- Roger Thompson, professor, Program in Writing and Rhetoric, College of Arts and Sciences
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