New Season of UAlbany Podcast Explores the Role of Human Connection in Teaching
ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 28, 2025) — UAlbany’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Learning, and Online Education (CATLOE) has launched a new season of the Pause for Teaching podcast. The podcast, which debuted in 2024, addresses ideas about effective teaching in higher education, with the second season focusing on the theme “Being Human in the Classroom.”
The new season began Monday and features UAlbany faculty in conversation with CATLOE instructional consultants, Nyssa Knarvik and Aviva Bower. The first season focused on the theme of teaching and artificial intelligence.
“Season 1 was very popular because AI has been a huge source of both excitement and concern in recent years,” said Billie Franchini, director of CATLOE, a central resource for teaching and learning at UAlbany. “This season, we wanted to shift our focus and help faculty think about the ways in which human presence — both that of faculty and of students — supports learning.”
The first episode in this season — available for streaming now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and via CATLOE’s website — features an interview with Joe Creamer, a lecturer in the Writing and Critical Inquiry program.
Future episodes this season will include conversations with Hillary Wiener, associate professor of Marketing; Kristen Hessler, professor of Philosophy; and Sarah Mountz, associate professor in the School of Social Welfare.
While conversations about teaching innovation often focus on technological advances, Franchini said research shows that students are most successful in higher education when they make meaningful connections in their classes. She hopes this season of the podcast will help address ways that instructors can foster these connections.
“Technology has a role to play in teaching, and it can provide many new ways to reach students,” she said. “However, we can’t forget that one of the most important ways we can innovate as teachers is to find new ways of designing learning experiences that help students feel connected to the instructor, to their peers and to what they are learning. I am always impressed by the ways that our faculty work to foster those connections, and it is exciting that we have the opportunity for just a few of these instructors to share those stories.”