Author / shannonchance

Unknown's avatar

Posts by shannonchance

Professor Shannon Chance PhD, SFHEA (UK), BArch, MArch, PG Cert (BIM) Registered Architect (Virginia), NCARB, LEED-AP Lecturer and Programme Chair at TU Dublin Visiting Professor at UCL Education Blog: www.IrelandByChance.com
by shannonchance

Always Learning to Teach

I love teaching students to design!  I’m also fascinated by theories about how students learn.  At the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) , I’m going to be researching:

  • How students’ ideas about “knowledge” and “knowing” mature over time.
  • How DIT professors are helping students become more flexible problem-solvers.
  • How DIT’s faculty has transformed its electrical engineering curriculum using a hands-on approach to education known as “student-centered, problem-based learning.”

I’m happy to report that these topics are of interest to the engineering education community… DIT’s Gavin Duffy and I have already been invited to present our work in Greece this September and to publish an article in the Journal of Engineering Education.

You can read more about the Fulbright in press releases by William and Mary and Hampton University.

Electrical Engineering students prepare to compete in the mid-semester round of “Robo Sumo,” March 2012.

by shannonchance

What is it?

Can you tell what this is?  What clues does the image give you about life today in Dublin?

Dublin, Ireland. (Copyright Shannon Chance, March 2011)

by shannonchance

Don’t Miss a Post!

You should be able to subscribe to this blog by clicking the “+ Follow” button at the bottom right-hand corner, entering your email address, and then confirming your subscription.

If that doesn’t work, please email me and I’ll send you an invite with the link for joining.

by shannonchance

Reflecting Dublin

Traveling with a professional photographer has its perks.  I get to use fabulous hand-me-down cameras and I have a most astute technical advisor on hand.

It’s got some drawbacks, too.  A few years back, I’d started to adopt Dave’s eyes and to automatically see the world through his frame of reference.  The problem was:  I found myself all too tempted to copycat his compelling visual language whenever I was behind a camera.  Most people would see that as a blessing, but we found we were competing for the same spot of ground everywhere we went.  There always seemed to be one most-logical place to stand to capture that perfect image and Dave got there first.

I’d have to find my own photographic niche. So I started capturing images of what lies beneath the surface. I became fascinated by the reflections that dance off metal, glass, and water.

In this pursuit, I’ve combed cities throughout the US and Europe in search of reflections that tell a story.  I seek to capture the essence of each city I visit and mark its place in time.

I hope that when we look back at these images in years to come, we’ll know intuitively “that was Madrid in the ’90s” or “Dublin in the early part of the new millennium.” We’ll be able to learn something of history, of the city, and of ourselves in the image’s details.

For me, this hobby never grows old.  Each shop window becomes a full-length motion picture, revealing to me layer upon layer of time and of social reality. Every puddle and each car fender provides a kaleidoscope of vibrant images waiting to be discovered.  In the blink of an eye or the subtle shift of the lens, a reflection can transform completely.

My camera captures what the eye sees but the mind generally ignores: the fleeting images that inform our understanding of the world without us even realizing they are there.

Below, I’ve posted the first of the Dublin Reflections I will share with you on this blog.  This particular image is quite straightforward.  I hope it will be very easy for you to untangle the layers, determine what it “is,” and decide for yourself what it means.  There are far more challenging visual puzzles to come….

I selected this particular reflection to share with you today because I think it does a nice job summing up my hopes and dreams for the upcoming year.  It was taken in Dublin in March 2011.

Cultivate Living and Learning (Copyright Shannon Chance, March 2011)

by shannonchance

Is Fulbright for you?

Each year, the US government sends thousands of people abroad. These “Fulbrighters” do advanced research, teach (at the elementary, secondary, or college level), or study at the graduate level. Fulbrighers include:

  • teachers, professors, scholars
  • students and recent graduates
  • professionals (e.g., journalists, attorneys, artists)
  • administrators

Fulbright programs vary in length (2 weeks to 12 months) and location (there are 155 countries participating today). They also vary on the level of  funding they provide and the subject areas hosted by each country.  The core Fulbright Scholar Program, in which I am participating, “sends 800 U.S. faculty and professionals abroad each year. Grantees lecture and conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields.” My position is for a full academic year.

The overall point of the Fulbright program is to increase mutual understanding among nations and help build knowledge as well. It dates back to 1946 when Senator J. William Fulbright asserted that nations could avoid future wars by simply getting to know other.  Today’s Fulbright programs are sponsored by the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. These programs bring foreign students and scholars to the USA in addition to sending US citizens abroad.

You can identify which programs fit you by visiting the Institute of International Education’s (IIE’s) Fulbright page.  As you dig down, you’ll be able to find out what countries host scholars in your areas of expertise and interest, how much funding they provide, and what skills they require.  Some positions are much more competitive than others — some require specific credentials while others are open to scholars in any discipline.  Some positions require that you can speak your host’s native language.

It’s worth your while to spend a little time today looking over the possibilities… it’s never too early to start planning your own Fulbright adventure!

by shannonchance

What’s in a Name?

My husband Dave loves to point out that “the mouth of the Shannon is wide and deep.”  Indeed, when we visited the mouth of the River Shannon it was so.

I’d grown up with the impression that my name was Irish–as Irish as my sister Heather’s name.  So it surprised me when I arrived at the Shannon Airport in 2003, ready to rent a car, and the man behind the counter asked me to spell my first name. “Shannon?” I replied. “You know, like the airport!?!”

On that trip, I found driving on the left side of the road wasn’t nearly as difficult as communicating my very Irish-seeming name to the Irish folks I met.

I visited Ireland again in 2010, and discovered the same problem.  Why did so few people click with the name, I wondered?  I realized that even at home, many people heard “Janet” when I introduced myself.  I tried to slow down and enunciate more clearly:  “Heeellllooooo, my name is Shhhaaaannnn-non.”

By my 2012 visit, I’d had a relevation.

“The Irish don’t name their girls Shannon, do they?” I asked Gavin, my colleague at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).

“No, I don’t think so,” he replied. This, despite that fact that Shannon is a well-known last name.

When Gavin asked other lecturers at the DIT, they reported knowing of a couple of (very) young women by the name.  They believed it gained popularity in Ireland due to American television shows… that it was actually imported from the States for use as a first name for women.

So, here’s to Beverly Hills 90210, a show I’ve never actually seen.  You can bet I’ll be hard at work this year, trying to set the bar a little higher for what a girl-Shannon can be.

And I’ll make sure to visit that lovely River Shannon.

by shannonchance

Standing on Shoulders

In the States, we tend to overemphasize individual merit.  While there’s something to be said for pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, you never actually do that all alone.  There are always others there providing ideas, support, and know-how.

Surrounding yourself with good role models is key to achieving big things.  You need to hang around people who are curious, passionate, and driven to make a difference.  They help you see what’s possible and how to achieve it.

One my best role models is my mom, Dr. Cynthia Mara, who recently completed her own Fulbright to Canada.  A Fulbright representative actually recruited her for that position because the US needed to send someone with mom’s expertise.  While in Canada, she researched health care and interviewed people about how well their single-payer system works. There’s a photo of mom below.

Another of my role models is Dr. Pamela Eddy, a professor of higher education at The College of William and Mary. She joined W&M in 2009, at the same time she was a Fulbright to Ireland.  Her success reminded me of the goals I’d set for working in Ireland.

They both gave ideas and encouragement, helping me hone my Fulbright proposal and connect to important people.  I am grateful to have their shoulders to stand on.

Mom and me at the photo exhibition “Exposed” at the Meyer Gallery in Norfolk, Virginia.

by shannonchance

Roadmap to Ireland

Enchanted by Ireland in 2003, I vowed to return to live and work there for a year.  My husband and I had fallen in love with the people, pubs, landscape, food, architecture, music, and even the climate.  (Admittedly, we had false impressions of the climate, since our two-week trip coincided with a “heat wave” where temperatures hit a whopping 75F each day and rain was nowhere in sight.)

I returned home and researched the requirements for becoming a Fulbright Core Scholar.  Securing a Fulbright grant was going to be more difficult than I’d thought, but I did see a possible route to achieving that goal.  I’d significantly improve my chances if I earned architectural licensure and a doctorate.  Over the years, I chipped away at my iceberg — earning a license to practice architecture in 2005 and a PhD in Higher Education in 2010.

I submitted an application to Fulbright right after graduation, but to no avail.  That inital application got kicked out in the first round of competition. I kept chipping away, though.  My second try met with success.  Starting August 23, I’ll be living my dream — and working my finger to the bone — at the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Stay tuned to this blog for:

  • Tips on applying for a Fulbright
  • Stories of my adventures Ireland
  • Photographs of “Urban Reflections”
  • Findings from my research at the Dublin Institute of Technology

A picture from graduation day 2010 at The College of William and Mary in Virginia.