I think another way that Aakash and Sid are coming at this might be from this sentence in your post:
“In wildlife science, innovation has been driven by technology.” Yes, but the technology doesn’t invent itself – changes in the social / cultural context in which we as humans see and interact with wildlife condition the kinds of questions we ask about wildlife (i.e. the key concerns of “wildlife science”). The humanities and social sciences help us understand and condition the way we see, experience and value wildlife. Those social and historical factors inform innovation (both in form and application) just as they help define the (changing) questions and concerns we have about bears or wolverines.

Ok, there’s so much here to like….but I’ll pick the low hanging fruit and affirm that the mac and cheese days are fine. Just finished mine as I’m getting ready for class this evening. As long as you keep your beacon in front of you (or at least in your mind’s eye), the cumulative effect of those mac and cheese days is indeed cordon bleu.

Yes! I like how this post speaks to the need for an integrated understanding of the “liberal arts” — the STEM / Humanities dichotomy is really forced and problematic IMO.

“Critical pedagogy has given me more a new way to talk about my values, and perhaps a collaboration of effort to shred those force fields holding back improving our world.” You made my day – Thanks!

I’m with Sid and Aakash here (no surprise, I’m sure). Do you know this book? (it’s written by someone with a background in the humanities ;-): http://etiennebenson.com/wiredwilderness/
I think radio tracking has been around since the 50s. This is a very cool book and I think you would like it – a lot.

Thanks so much for this, Mohammed. I really appreciate your reminder that the tension between the ideal and the real might be significant. But I can tell that you are going to follow in the footsteps of the creative prof you reference here — doing what you can to facilitate active learning and modeling a culture of compassion, support and care for the learning community that you’ll be maintaining — even with all of the redtape and restrictions. Every little bit helps, right? Also, there’s a wonderful person in higher ed pedagogy at the American University in Cairo who has an amazing, global network: http://blog.mahabali.me/blog/ She’s on twitter as well. Let us know how it goes, ok?

I can’t beat these comments so I’m just going to say, yes, yes, yes and thanks, thanks, thanks. You are my kind of model Dr. Karen!

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There’s valuable perspective here. I think your focus on Galileo and Steve Jobs nicely highlights the ways that “Reniassance people” really exemplify the integrated skills and talents of the liberal arts (which include math and physics, btw!). Thanks for this!

Yes yes and yes!

I agree with Mohammed — this is wonderful example of why cultivating active co-learning can make such a difference in the classroom.