Courses that I Instruct at Burlington College

I enjoy teaching for many of Burlington College's academic programs. One of the most innovative programs is the distance learning program or Independent Degree Program. The Independent Degree Program begins with a brief residency upon the shores of Lake Champlain.
The four-day residency for the Independent Degree Program (IDP) is held at the beginning of each semester at a local conference center in Burlington, located directly on the shore of Lake Champlain. The residency typically begins on a Friday, with all students registering throughout the day and staying until Sunday evening or Monday morning. Lodging and meals are provided and are included in the tuition. There is always plenty of food, and accommodations are simple but comfortable. Students who are either vegetarian or vegan, or who have specific dietary restrictions can be accommodated.
Coming from all over the United States, Alaska, California, Florida and the East coast, students most often fly directly to Burlington International Airport. Other means of travel include Amtrak, Greyhound bus and cars.
The residency is the heart and soul of the IDP. It is at the residency that students will meet individually with their advisor and faculty, discussing their courses of study for the semester ahead. Students will have communicated with both their advisor (to discuss the degree plan) and faculty prior to the residency in preparation for their meetings; typically, arrangements to complete the design of each module (the course syllabus) together at the residency, or alter what has been developed thus far, are made. Some of the beginning learning modules (Gateways to the major) are designed ahead of time by the faculty, with the majority of the learning modules co-designed by student and faculty.
In addition to the faculty meetings, students will participate in a number of workshops; throughout the weekend, that are geared toward helping the independent learner with writing and study skills (Library and database, academic writing, narrative evaluation writing, working with faculty as an independent learner, Ethics in Social Sciences, Public Speaking, Degree Project 1 and 2 workshops). New students attend a New Student Orientation on the first day of the residency, and all students gather together Friday evening to get to know one another.

I offer many directions of study within the Independent Degree Program some of which are detailed here. (Please click on the link below).

Spring 2003 semester's projects include: the Feasibility of the Continuation of the NASA Space Program; an Analysis of Current Iranian Cinema; the Revitalization of American Funerary Practices; the Ongoing Need for Welfare Reform; The Changing Roles of Japanese Women; Similarities Between Buddhist Practice and Western Psychoanalysis; and the Enhancement of Special Ed Student Performance with a Regulated Sensory Integration Diet.

Fall 2003 semester's projects include: the Healing Power of Music and the Singing Bowl; the Middle Ground: Optimism and Compassion in the Films of Cameron Crowe and Paul Thomas Anderson; the Continuing Fight for Reproductive Health of American Women; the Phenomenology of the Serial Killer:Ted Bundy; An Animal's Emotional World; Synchronicity and Nonduality; Corporate Kinky: African American Hair and Power; the Maliciousness of Animal Experimentation; The Ban on Partial Birth Abortion.

Spring 2004 semester's projects include: the Positive Influence of the Burlington Smoking Ban; Methadone in the Treatment Process of Heroin Addiction; Veganism as an Ethical and Ecological Solution; Civil Disobedience as a Legitimate Device for Improving Governmental Policy; The Loss of Ritual and Reflection in Modern Popular Music; The Mismanaged Police Investigation of the Robin Hood Hills Murders.



Spring 2006 semester's projects include: the Methodology of Effective Art Therapy; Paternalism and the Need for Children's Rights; the Efficacy of Natural Childbirth; the End of an Era: the Grammy Awards No Longer Matter; The Social Determinants of Race and Class in America: Which Matters More?; Two Sides of Justice: The Iraqi War.

2004 STUDENTS SPEAK OUT ON THEIR RESEARCH(Please hit stop on all media players except for on your selection)

Listen here as Rachael Lamb discusses the need for defending and hearing America's Homeless.




Listen in as Nick Milburn expands on the theory of natural capitalism and the inevitability of globalization.




Listen in as Jason Carter elaborates on the power of civil disobedience to influence governmental bodies around the world.




Here Justin Bennett emphasizes the miscarriage of justice during the trying of the West Memphis 3 and their alleged roles in the Robin Hood Hills Murders.