The Neurobiology of Fear (L, E, A, D, S, CRTP, ACUE)

Thursday, January 11
12 pm - 12:50 pm
The Neurobiology of Fear (L, E, A, D, S, CRTP, ACUE)
Presentation
"""New Horizons"" can be frightening if you feel you are in an unfamiliar and threatening environment, do not know what the future may hold, and the stakes are high if you fail. This is a common situation for many NSCC's students. Student fear often causes conflicts with faculty and can impede student learning. Fear can lead students to misunderstand faculty motives, create a feeling of helplessness or anger, and overwhelm students with anxiety to the point that they feel compelled to lash out, withdraw, or shut down instead of embracing the challenges of learning and growing. 

 

Faculty also experience fear in the classroom, leading to similar misunderstandings and negative outcomes as students face. The only difference between students and faculty being how we are assessed and perceived power dynamics. In this session, I will discuss the basic neurobiology of fear in the context of specific situations that both students and faculty experience in the classroom and discuss the results of a survey on fear that students took in my classes. Audience questions and participation will be encouraged both during the presentation and in the discussion afterwards. 

 

If you would like to prepare ahead of time or need something to read over Christmas break, the idea for this presentation was inspired by the following book: Cox R. D. (2011).  The College Fear Factor: How Students and Professors Misunderstand One Another. Harvard University Press."

Presenter: Gracie King, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology

Zoom