To Know Coursera is to Love Coursera

Earlier this year I wrote about Tampa's Free Skool, which is part of a brilliant yet mostly unorganized movement of free education going on around the United States. 

Near the end of that post, I linked to a Cousera course that I had stumbled across, intending to take it. But I didn't have the time since I was working full-time & taking part-time grad classes at USF's College of Public Health. 

I was extremely lucky that my esteemed employer at that time, Tampa General Hospital, paid my tuition because otherwise I would not have been able to afford to go back to school. I wish that encouraging your employees to have more education was the norm
these days, unfortunately, I think those kinds of excellent employer benefits are becoming more of the exception. 

That's where Coursera comes in. It offers free online courses from America's top schools. Co-founder Daphne Koller said during her TED Talk that the purpose of her organization is to provide “The best courses from the best instructors at the best universities and provide it to everyone around the world for free.” 

After some struggle, I found that public health wasn't the best fit for me, and as my frequent readers know, I instead went after the program that was. Three weeks ago I started my master's in film & video at American University in Washington, DC. 

I've already learned that my decision to come to AU is one of the best things I have done or will ever do for myself, though it comes with a very hefty price tag, via federal student loans. 

In the months before I left Tampa, I was antsy and bored and wanted to prep my brain for school, so I finally enrolled in a Coursera class. It was Internet History, Technology, and Security, taught by the University of Michigan's Charles Severance, but known to his students as Dr. Chuck. 

Coincidentally Dr. Chuck was in DC the week after I moved here and I got to meet him, as well as some of my DC-based Coursera classmates, at his "office hours" in a cafe downtown.

IHTS is definitely more of a history class than a tech class, but since my knowledge on both the internet & tech world is limited, I figured it was a good starting place. And not a moment too soon - I can't be a multimedia maven while not knowing all I can about the internet and where it came from. Without that knowledge, how can I possibly become one of the people who figures out where it might be headed?

Coursera's IHTS might be the cheapest class I've taken all year, but it's possibly the most priceless.

A Healthy Public

To keep my brain moving at a happy pace (it gets sad when bored & unchallenged), last semester I overloaded it with two classes as a non degree seeking graduate student in USF's College of Public Health.

I'm still unsure of which flavor MPH I'd like to earn. There's the policy track, which could turn me into the C-SPAN nerd of my dreams while giving me the tools to help improve health care & access to care for all Americans.


Then there's the behavioral track, which I'm drawn towards more each day I drive through the city and see panhandlers, disabled vets and other homeless folks, not to mention people with obvious mental & drug issues.


We wouldn't allow someone with a bleeding stump to sit on the sidewalk and bleed to death (I'm assuming, but refer to my aforementioned access to care comment).

So why has our society turned their collective noses up at mental issues, especially drug and alcohol addiction, for so long?

Ideal

Amy Royale is a slim, artsy 26-year-old senior at the University of South Florida. When she wears cutoffs you can see the lissome lines of her most recent tattoo billowing over her right calf and shin.


"I look like I have a normal, thin body," she said. "You can't tell with my clothes on." 


So to tell her story she bares all. A double major in psychology and studio art for photography, this week Amy has her first solo show revealing the truth as she knows it: from the perspective of a formerly morbidly obese young woman who felt like she never fit into this world.  


"I used to be so heavy, I couldn't ride roller coasters or fit in booths at restaurants."


Nearly 300 pounds before weight loss surgery, now all that remains from her heavier days is the skin that used to hold all of her in. 


Not only did people look at her differently when she was obese, but Amy said they now look at her differently when they find out she was formerly obese. 


"I felt bad about making myself better," she said, explaining that her art stemmed out of wanting to confront those who would judge her. "This is my body, and it may not be ideal." 


She described the project as very therapeutic.  "My confidence has changed," Amy said, "but mostly because of the work." 


She's also changing her eating habits, though she says it's difficult because she has always been a picky eater. But she wants to travel and be open to trying all kinds of ethnic foods, so her real work continues. 


Her show, however, is up for one week only. Visit USF's Centre Gallery (MSC 2700) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday - Friday. 


And meet the artist at the closing reception Friday, May 6 from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Week of Health

We are smack in the middle of National Public Health Week and Thursday is World Health Day. 

USF's College of Public Health has a bunch of activities going on this week (calendar here), from bike safety to film screenings to blood donation. Public health really is the whole shebang. 

I love this year's slogan "Safety is NO Accident." Many moons ago I trained to be a bus driver in the suburbs of Seattle.  I still remember how adamant my trainer was about referring to accidents as crashes. He said there was no such thing as an accident, and because we were the professionals and the biggest vehicle on the roads, we had to drive so well that we'd be able to prevent bad drivers from crashing into us. 

It sounded unreasonable at first, but I'd come to appreciate the accountability of the dedicated bus drivers. I'm a pretty responsible driver today because of them. 

24th Annual Children’s Mental Health Research and Policy Conference

Russian researcher Irina Vainer 

If a conference has health, research or policy in its title, I'm usually drooling with excitement at the thought. I love learning about what other people are learning about, and innovating and creating.




I'm happily doing a couple of stories this week for WMNF on USF's 24th Annual Children’s Mental Health Research and Policy Conference. I produced one story so far on Monday's newscast, and the next should air on Friday, barring any more natural disasters. 

Educator & HCZ's CEO Geoffrey Canada

I'm not an academic by any means, but I'm so curious about the process of how research grows from one person's neat idea to something real and useful, and if the idea/person is really lucky and perseveres, how it (eventually) weaves itself into the structure of our daily lives.

Not all research, of course, hits the real world. But being around all those concepts and creative thinkers/inventors is still such a thrill.

USF Pres. Judy Genshaft introduces Keynote Speaker Geoffrey Canada. Also pictured, L-R: Dr. Mario Hernandez and his two mentees Kristen Robinson & Carolissa Salcedo, Canada, Sandra Spencer, MaryEllen Elia, Luann Panacek 

RX Drug Abuse in Florida

So this should be the last edit to my prescription drug abuse video for USF.

I feel like Robert Rodriguez working without a crew and the barest of video necessities, but I'm really happy with the end result. The best part may have been playing with the soundtrack. I knew I hung around musicians for a good reason.

Yes, WE CAN

WE CAN is the name of the women-centered drug court program in Pinellas County, FL. I did a short informational documentary on WE CAN this past spring as a research assistant at USF.

It was enlightening to work with the women of the court system as well as the clients, many of whom had never been in trouble in their lives until they got hooked on pain meds.