Frank Trocco
Professional Title: Associate Professor of Social Study of Science
Areas of Academic Focus and Expertise:
Sociology of Science, Indigenous Studies, Reflective and Critical Reasoning
Area of Work and Concentration at Lesley: Administration half-time in GSASS; teaching half-time in the College of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
Representative List of Recent Courses Taught:
History of Science: The Emergence of Western Scientific Thought; Complementary Integrative and Alternative Medicine; Native North Americans; Applied Ecology: Health, Science, and Public Policy; Science in the Movies: Death Rays, Alien Invasions, Mind Control, and Time Travel
Education: BA, State University of New York; MA, Clayton University; PhD, Union Institute
Representative List of Recent Publications / Exhibitions:
- JPPP: “Chop Wood, Carry Water, Butcher Sheep: A Journey In Navajo Country”
Fun Facts: I have gone on extended backpacking and white water canoeing trips every summer for the last 30 years.
One of the frameworks I concentrate on most in teaching is experiential education. I was grounded in experiential education through 38 semesters of in-the-field teaching with the National Audubon Society Expedition Institute, as we traveled, camped, and backpacked throughout the US. I learned that first-hand experiences (with unfamiliar ideas, people, cultures, and ecosystems) can provide powerful academic skills, as well as personal and spiritual growth, by working on the individual’s whole being. The disorienting dilemma initiated by direct contact and interaction with extraordinary (to learners) environments, theories, and ideas often pushes them into uncharted intellectual territory where deep learning takes place. These experiences can be facilitated in classroom teaching and, importantly, in virtual environments. They include learners engaging with texts, writing projects, research explorations, group discussions, and one-on-one interactions. I have found that as invaluable as direct experience is to scholastic growth, learners also benefit by understanding the theoretical concepts from their disciplines which place their remarkable and varied experiences in larger historical, social, political, or scientific contexts.