Lauren Herckis
Librarian | Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES
Lauren Herckis' field research applies anthropological and archaeological methods and theory to analyze human engagement with the world.
Biography
Lauren Herckis is an anthropologist at Carnegie Mellon University who specializes in faculty culture and the use of technology in higher education. Her field research applies anthropological and archaeological methods and theory to analyze human engagement with the material world. Dr. Herckis is interested in implementation science, human diversity (especially in urban contexts), the pedagogical training of future faculty, the politics of praxis in fieldwork, chaîne opératoire, and political economy in urban growth. Her research in Latin America interrogates assumptions about cultural heterogeneity in the context of long-term urban growth, and highlights the ways that social networks dynamically impact technical choices and the development of informal economies. Under the aegis of Carnegie Mellon's Simon Initiative, Dr. Herckis' current projects explore the intersection of campus culture, technological change, and effective teaching at the college level. Her research informs policymaking, shapes the development of learning technologies, and illuminates aspects of organizational culture and policy which affect teaching practice.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Human-Computer Interaction
Implementation Science
Future of Education
Anthropology
Digital Archaeology
Media Appearances (5)
Why Professors Doubt Education Research
EdSurge online
2018-03-07
Lauren Herckis, an anthropologist at Carnegie Mellon University who has studied the culture of ancient Mayan cities, is turning her focus closer to home these days—exploring why professors try new teaching approaches, or decide not to.
Failure to embrace new teaching techniques not just about fear of embarrassment
Times Higher Education online
2017-07-12
There are many reasons why academics shun new pedagogical styles, say Lauren Herckis, Richard Scheines and Joel Smith
Innovation and the Fear of Trying
Inside Higher Ed online
2017-07-12
Last week in Inside Higher Ed, reporter David Matthews of The Times Higher Education characterized “as a surprising conclusion” the work of Carnegie Mellon University anthropologist Lauren Herckis that a major barrier to instructional innovation and technology utilization in higher education is that faculty “are simply too afraid of looking stupid in front of their students to try something new.”
‘Fear of Looking Stupid’
Inside Higher Ed online
2017-07-05
Lauren Herckis was brought in to Carnegie Mellon University to understand why, despite producing leading research into how students learn best, the institution had largely failed to adopt its own findings.
How to teach reason properly
Times Higher Education online
2017-06-15
To defend the values of reason from political attack we need to be more discriminating about the claims made in its name, says John Hendry
Media
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Industry Expertise (3)
Public Policy
Education/Learning
Research
Accomplishments (4)
Early Career Researcher Award (professional)
2016 POD Network in Higher Education
University of Pittsburgh Arts and Sciences PCB Alumni Fellowship (professional)
2012
Fulbright Garcia-Robles IIE Fellowship (professional)
2009
H.J. Heinz Fellowship (professional)
2011
Education (3)
University of Pittsburgh: Ph.D., Anthropology 2015
University of Pittsburgh: Certificate, Latin American Studies 2007
University of Michigan: B.A., Anthropology 1999
Affiliations (6)
- Anthropology of Higher Education TIG : Vice Chair for Sessions
- Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology : Member
- ACM Association for Computing Machinery : Member
- SIGCHI Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction : Member
- SfAA Society for Applied Anthropology : Member
- AAA American Anthropological Association : Member
Links (6)
Event Appearances (5)
Using Adaptive Learning Technologies Effectively
California Education Learning Labs meeting Mt. San Antonio College
2023-06-09
Optimizing Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning
Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA
2023-08-25
The New Digital Divide: Equity and Access in Postsecondary Education
Spring 2023 Micro-Course: Technology, Humanity, and Social Justice University of Pittsburgh Global Studies Center
2023-03-17
The Challenges and Triumphs of Blended Learning
KEDGE Business School Marseille, France
2022-06-14
Glocal Collaboration on Education for Sustainable Development
UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development
2021-05-18
Articles (4)
Exploring Hybrid Virtual-Physical Homes
DIS '20: Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference2020 There has been a great deal of research regarding the ways that people conceptualize and interact with places they call "home." This work has been extended to virtual reality primarily in the context of design tools. Here, we explore the idea of a hybrid virtual-physical home that uses virtual space to supplement an existing physical home.
Cultivating Practice: Ensuring Continuity, Acknowledging Change
Practicing Anthropology2018 This article presents the results of ethnographic and survey research conducted as part of a project designed to identify barriers and affordances to the adoption of evidence-based instructional practices in higher education. It focuses particularly on the role that faculty identity plays in approaches to teaching. The mixed-methods approach used in this study facilitates an exploration of the relationship between faculty identity and instruction.
Passing the Baton: Digital Literacy and Sustained Implementation of eLearning Technologies
Current Issues in Emerging eLearning2018 Evidence-based eLearning tools have proliferated in recent decades, but adoption at scale remains elusive. Educator buy-in is important for successful implementation of eLearning tools, and is often engaged through peer discussion, learning communities, and other educator network engagement.
Living Black: Social Life in an African American Neighborhood by Mark S. Fleisher (review)
Michigan Historical Review2016 Mark Fleisher’s Living Black: Social Life in an African American Neighborhood introduces the reader to central concepts in anthropology through the lens of one researcher’s personal experience. This eminently readable book has a compelling cadence which carries the reader from one snapshot of life in an American city to another and portrays a community at the mercy of systemic racism in the late 1990s.
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