What Does It Mean To Be a Physicist in a Rapidly Changing World?
Join this interactive, three-week topical cohort to explore the relationship between physics identity, departmental culture, and sustainable change in graduate education.
What does it mean to be a physicist—and how might our answers to that question shape the changes we are willing to make in physics education? Join this interactive, three-week topical cohort to explore the relationship between physics identity, departmental culture, and sustainable change in graduate education. Participants will examine how physics identity can support students while also considering how established disciplinary norms and identities may contribute to resistance when departments seek to change longstanding practices. Through research-informed discussions, collaborative activities, reflection, and peer feedback, participants will connect these ideas to challenges and opportunities within their own departments. Drawing on change literature and the Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) framework, participants will develop practical strategies for navigating resistance and advancing meaningful, sustainable change. By the end of the cohort, participants will leave with a context-specific action plan for facilitating change within their department or graduate program.
The cohort sessions will be on Fridays, Jan. 8, Jan. 15, and Jan. 22, 2027, from 12-1:15 p.m. ET each day.
Core competencies:
- Departmental climate and culture
- Navigating change /resistance
Eric Burkholder, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the department of physics at Auburn University.