Amy is the director of Summer Institute since 2020. At Lawrence, Amy is an Instructor of First Year Studies, the Senior Experience Coordinator and Lecturer of Biology. You can contact her via email at amy.nottingham-martin@lawrence.edu.
Co-Curricular Director of Summer InstituteI am the Associate Dean of Students and Dean of the Sophomore Class. Through my role as Co-Curricular Director of SI, I organize and help implement workshops and social offerings in partnership with other staff and faculty, as well as the peer student leaders for SI called Program Assistants. I have been at Lawrence for 12 years in a variety of roles within the Division of Student Life. SI helps me provide opportunities and pathways to help all students reach their greatest potential. Whether it is attending a social event, engaging in one of the workshops, or learning new academic habits, being part of SI will help you construct a strong foundation - inside and outside the classroom - to build upon for the rest of your time as a student at Lawrence. I am excited to be part of building that foundation with you. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time playing games (board, video, RPG, puzzles, etc), drinking coffee, traveling, and dying my hair fun colors. If you have questions about the Program Assistants or the workshops and social offerings/programs, you can contact me any time at 920-832-7303 or via email at rose.wasielewski@lawrence.edu.
I have had the honor of teaching in the Department of Psychology at Lawrence University since 2000. I am originally from Wisconsin and always hoped to find my way back to my beloved home state after having moved away to attend graduate school at the University of Virginia and teaching at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. What I enjoy most about teaching at Lawrence -- aside from living a short 26 miles from Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers -- is working with our highly motivated student body and knowing that I play a role in helping them succeed in reaching their academic and personal life goals. My work with the Summer Institute has been especially gratifying since it allows me to work with incoming freshmen before they even begin their academic careers at Lawrence. The primary goals of the SI are to provide students with opportunities to learn first-hand about the rigors of academics at Lawrence, to help them develop effective strategies to succeed in both seminar and larger lecture courses, and to become familiar with and comfortable utilizing the important resources available to ensure student success. The work I do in the SI gets at the very heart of what we strive toward as an institution - helping students to meet their potential. Most importantly, the SI allows me to help ensure that new Lawrentians are on the right track from the very beginning of their collegiate careers; words cannot describe the satisfaction that comes with being a part of that process.
Instructor of the SI SeminarIn September 2000, I arrived to Appleton, Wisconsin, coming directly from cultural fieldwork with Sudanese refugees in Cairo, Egypt. As an Arabic-speaking and Italian-speaking cultural anthropologist, I teach what I research academically— society and cultures in the Middle East and Africa, the impact of migration and globalization on cultures, the anthropology of food, sex/gender/sexuality systems across cultures, race and ethnicity across cultures, anthropological theory and cultural research methods. I am also the chair of the Anthropology Department and am active in the Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies programs. I still can’t believe it has been 21 years!
More about me personally, I was born and raised in an Air Force family, my father graduating from the ROTC Program (Reserve Officer’ Training Corp) at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) to become a commissioned officer in the Air Force and my mother studying nursing also at Tuskegee to become a registered nurse and later (after graduate school) a Professor of Nursing. Growing up in a military family and before coming to Wisconsin, I lived in 9 different states in the U.S. and was often the new black kid in predominantly white K-12 schools. Also, I was among the few African American women at Mount Holyoke College. And, I was counted as an under-represented minority in graduate school at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Point 1: Growing up adapting like a chameleon to different social environments, one would think I was destined to become a cultural anthropologist! Point 2: I know what it is like to be in betwixt – in between or to be that insider-outsider or to sometimes feel socially out of place.
I am excited to teach for the SI Seminar and to facilitate student connections to other faculty, staff, and other students, and to resources on and off campus. My goal is to mentor and educate the whole student—covering the social, personal and academic—because social belonging and personal wellness can have an impact on academic success. Congratulations on having this opportunity to be an SI Scholar! Welcome to Lawrence University!
The Jesuits use a Latin phrase, cura personalis, as one of their mottos. In my life, this concept has transcended its original context and speaks to my ethos as a teacher and a human being. Cura personalis might be translated as “care for the entire person.” It emphasizes the idea of individualized attention to another’s needs, respect for the background and circumstances which have shaped that person, and appreciation for his/her particular talents and insights. It is about meeting individuals where they are at and supporting them as they face challenges.
Since 2005, I have worked on behalf of Lawrence students’ efforts to achieve academic success, both in our campus learning center (with a focus on peer tutoring and academic skills support) and in the classroom (teaching Freshman Studies and public speaking). I am committed to helping students learn about and practice essential academic abilities such as effective reading, writing, and speaking; develop habits of mind such as critical thinking; and hone college success skills such as time management. I look forward to working with SI students as they begin their college careers in order to help them get off to a strong start at Lawrence. One of things I think makes the SI (and Lawrence as a whole) special is the personal connections that develop among students, staff, and faculty. It’s a privilege to get to know students as individuals in a setting like SI and to help them to develop attitudes and abilities that will serve them well throughout their time at Lawrence and beyond.
I have enjoyed teaching and learning at Lawrence since 1995. Despite never having lived further north than Nashville, TN (and being a little intimidated by the idea of real winter) I couldn’t resist the opportunity to come to Lawrence because I saw the opportunity to be a part of an engaged and caring learning community. I have never regretted the decision to move to a higher latitude! I spend most of my time teaching about biology and neuroscience, but I also enjoy teaching regularly in our First Year Studies program and contributing to our Gender Studies courses.
I’m excited to be a part of the SI because I want to give back what I was given as a young college student. I grew up in a rural community with little exposure to arts and science and different ways of thinking. Upon attending a small residential liberal arts college like Lawrence, the world opened up for me, academically and personally, and life is so much richer for that experience. Today, I enjoy being part of that type of experience for Lawrence students.
