教育

49 posts

種族歧視

來美國20年,我接觸了很多關於種族議題的學術研究和討論。由於我的專業是教育,因此種族議題經常會出現在課堂上的討論以及學術研討會的議程中。舉例來說,我們領域的專業社團Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) 今年的研討會主題Woke Academy就是一個以種族議題為中心的主題。雖然常常接觸種族議題,我個人其實沒有很多被種族歧視的經驗。上個禮拜的學術研討會卻讓我親身經歷了一遭。

話說2008年Barack Obama當上美國總統的時候,很多人以為種族歧視這個美國社會掙扎了兩百多年的議題總算可以退下檯面了。畢竟,黑人都已經當上美國總統了,種族歧視的問題還存在嗎?現在看來,當時的這些想法真是太單純太天真。自從Trump當上美國總統之後,白人至上主義者受到Trump直接和間接的鼓勵,現在美國各地不斷出現美國白人挑戰甚至挑釁種族平等的事件。這一切都突顯出「歧視」是人類天性的一部份,甚難根除。

幾年前,我跟我當年讀博士班時候的一個白人男性友人一起開始了一個研究計畫。這個研究計畫是我的主意,我的朋友Ashley幫我做了一些文獻調查並且幫我收集資料。我們兩個合作的很愉快,總算在今年我們把學術論文完成送到ASHE,也很幸運的被選上在今年的研討會發表。這篇文章的第一作者是我,第二作者是我的朋友。

當我們在準備誰要負責講哪個部分的時候,我們決定讓Ashley做開場以及文獻的部分,我則是負責研究方法以及結果和討論。之所以這麼分是因為研究方法以及結果有比較多統計的細節,Ashley怕他自己講不清楚。我當然是沒有問題,所以就這麼定案了。

研討會當天,我們的發表非常的順利,一切都按照我們規劃的進行。你也可以從上面的圖中清清楚楚的看到誰是第一作者、誰是第二作者。但是,令我納悶的是當我們發表結束之後,大家都向Ashley問問題而不是向我問問題。而且他們在問問題的時候都引述”Ashley and Daniel’s study.”這真的讓我很納悶:螢幕上明明就打著Daniel and Ashley’s study,為什麼你們卻自己把我白人朋友的名字放在前面,然後把我這個亞洲人的名字放在後面呢?我知道我的聽眾們不是故意的,但是這難道不是一種種族歧視嗎?

Calluna font

Calluna fontAs a professor and a coordinator for an academic unit in a state university, I often have to produce documents that must exist in different formats. For example, my class syllabus in available online in PDF format but I also need to print it out and pass to students in the first class. Other examples include student handbook, program information sheets, and many other documents. They all need to look good on-screen as PDF files and in print.

As someone who cares a lot about typography, I am in constant search of good text fonts. Because the documents I produced tend to be very text heavy, I want a good-looking text font that can perform well in small font size. For my purpose, I need the font to meet the following criteria:

  1. The font must look formal and authoritative. Because the documents I produce are official university documents, I need them to look official and authoritative. Therefore, anything that looks fun and funny are out.
  2. I want a font that does not look boring. If the first criterion is the only criterion, I can just use pre-installed Windows PC fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Cambria. Many people have done that and I have no objection on their choice. From my point of view, however, all those pre-installed fonts are overused and boring. I want a font that has some flare and more details but not outrageous. For example, even though I like Berkeley Oldstyle a lot, it to me has too much flare and decorations for a text font.
  3. I want a font that is not too expensive. I have a limited budget, so free would be my preference. If I have to buy the font, I want something that is not too expensive.

I have tried many different fonts and eventually I settled with two fonts: Adobe Minion and Calluna.

Minion fontAdobe Minion is a good-looking font and it looks very format and authoritative. The only problem is that it does not look very unique. It is true that in a quick glance most people would probably mistaken Adobe Minion for Times New Roman. However, I find Minion better looking than Times New Roman. The good thing about Minion is that its size is almost identical to Times New Roman, so you can replace Times New Roman with minimum changes to the overall layout.

Calluna is my new favorite text font. Its regular font is free to download. Calluna has a larger x-height thus make it easier to read in small font size compared to other popular text fonts such as Garamond. However, Calluna’s x-height is not too large as fonts aimed for screen reading. Many screen-reading-friendly fonts tend to look awkward in print because the x-height is too large. Calluna hits a very nice balance between screen reading friendly and looking good on paper. Calluna also has more details and flares that makes it look more distinguishable than fonts such as Minion and Times New Roman.

If you are looking for a text font and you have never tried Calluna, you should definitely give it a try.

 

My Research Focus

InterdisciplinaryToday I thought about a new way to describe my research focus:

My research focus is the study of college impacts and institutional effectiveness through an interdisciplinary approach.

When I say college impacts, I mean student learning in- and out-of-classrooms, online education, STEM education, student engagement, civic engagement, and moral and spiritual development of college students.

When I say institutional effectiveness, I mean assessment of student affairs practices, teaching evaluation, student satisfaction, and other measures of institutional competitiveness and effectiveness.

Many scholars study college impacts and institutional effectiveness, but my unique contributions come from the utilization of an interdisciplinary approach. I investigate college impacts and institutional effectiveness through psychological, sociological, and economic theories combining with the current literature in the field of education, business management, data sciences, and leadership.

Career Advice for New Academics

Career AdviceYesterday I saw a friend asking on the Facebook for career advice for new student affairs professionals. I am now into my 12th year working as a professional in academia. I thought about career advice for new academics and I have three:

  1. Treat everyone with respect and dignity especially to those you don’t like and those “black sheep”.
  2. Do not stop learning and improving your trade. This should be true for everyone but especially true for academics.
  3. Raise your hand and take on the task nobody wants, and you are on your way to become a leader.

喜愛的字型 – FF Scala & Whitney

Typography最近忙著改學生的報告和論文改得我團團轉。我不知道有多少教授現在還要求學生把報告印出來,我從兩年前就開始要求學生所有的報告都只交電子檔,而且要先經過Turnitin檢查看有沒有抄襲。每天改報告看著Time New Roman實在看到我的眼睛都快要脫窗了。Times New Roman如果印出來在紙上其實一個不錯看的字型。但是一來它實在是太氾濫了,二來Times New Roman在電腦螢幕上(特別是Microsoft Word裡面)真的很不好看,所以我現在收到學生的論文都先把字型換成別的再開始改。

兩年前我寫了一篇文章討論哪些字型適合用來寫英文報告,其中提到不少可以替代Times New Roman的字型。過去這幾年我自己寫的學術論文都是用Minion Pro。Minion Pro並不特別,它看起來方方正正的就像Times New Roman一樣。我相信很多不注意字型的人甚至不會發現Minion Pro和Times New Roman有什麼不同。但是在我的眼中看來,Minion Pro是比Times New Roman好看上很多倍,但是又不會太突出、太有個性,因此用來寫學術報告最是適合。

另外一個我這幾年常用的字型是Lyon Text。我用Lyon Text主要是在寫信函的時候使用,像是給學生的推薦信或是給期刊主編的cover letter。當初會知道這個字型是因為在網路上讀到Typography for Lawyers作者的推薦。Lyon Text比起Times New Roman和Minion Pro都來的豐滿。如果說Minion Pro像是標楷體,那Lyon Text就像是顏真卿的書法體。Lyon Text比起Minion Pro或Times New Roman更有個性。因此,Lyon Text用在長篇的學術論文可能會有點突兀,但是用在個人書信上感覺剛剛好。

今天要介紹的則是我最近愛上的兩款字型。第一款是Martin Majoor所設計的FF Scala。我之前的文章中曾經提到過無襯線的FF Scala Sans,這次我要說的則是同一個字型家族中的襯線字體FF Scala。FF Scala當初是為了荷蘭的Vredenburg音樂廳所設計的。設計師Martin Majoor提到這個字型的設計靈感來自於十五世紀的字型Bembo與十八世紀的法國設計師Pierre Simon Fournier。我個人覺得FF Scala兼具古典與現代之美,很適合在電腦螢幕上閱讀,印出來也很好看。FF Scala唯一讓我對它有所保留的地方是它的數字1設計太過前衛,看起來像是大寫的英文字I。我並不是覺得這樣的設計不好看,只是擔心如果我用FF Scala來寫學術論文會有審稿人對於這個過於前衛的數字1感到過敏。

Scala

第二款我要介紹的字型則是由Tobias Frere-Jones所設計的Whitney。Whitney的由來跟FF Scala有點類似–紐約的Whitney Museum of American Art請設計師Tobias Frere-Jones幫他們設計一套字型,結果就是今天的Whitney。Whitney這款字型的特點是它能夠用在小字體的場合也可以用在大字體的場合。當初Whitney Museum of American Art對這款新字型的要求是它用在印刷刊物像是博物館的手冊或是雜誌的時候要好看,同時把它放大成博物館內部的路標或是其他大型標示的時候也要同樣好看。我個人的觀感是Whitney就是美。Whitney跟FF Scala一樣,在電腦螢幕上看起來很舒服。如果你需要把它印出來在紙上它也同樣的好看。

Whitney

總之,別再用Times New Roman了。