Rosenblum has taught at UCR since 1989, offering courses in Introductory Psychology (one of UCR’s largest classes), Perception, and Cognition. He has also taught seminars relating to his areas of specializations in Multimodal Integration, Audiovisual Speech Perception, Face Perception, Auditory Event Perception, and Ecological Approach to Perception and Action. In addition, Rosenblum was one of the first UCR faculty to utilize instructional technology and implement Powerpoint presentations and class websites for undergraduate courses, beginning in Fall, 1997.

Rosenblum has been a member of the professional societies: Acoustical Society of America, International Society for Ecological Psychology, Psychonomic Society, and Society for Computers in Psychology. He also has received numerous research grants and published a host of research pieces throughout his academic and professional career.

Rosenblum is honored to be chosen as the next chair, “Teaching has always been one of my greatest joys, and I am grateful to CHASS and UCR for allowing me to grow as a teacher these last 15 years. I am excited to now have the opportunity to give something back to my colleagues as a more experienced teacher.”

While planning to continue the mentoring programs and workshops Professor Axelrod established, Rosenblum will introduce innovative programs, particularly in establishing a website forum for CHASS teaching. Besides announcements of teaching workshops and mentorship opportunities, the forum will provide information and links on teaching technologies and teaching strategies. The forum will also provide background information on UCR undergraduates (e.g., upbringing, goals, values, extra-curricular responsibilities), to facilitate more effective teaching styles. The web forum will also feature a discussion board for CHASS faculty. This board will allow faculty with teaching questions or concerns to anonymously post messages, which can then be addressed by other faculty.

Rosenblum states he would also like to continue Axelrod’s, “general spirit of support he was able to provide to CHASS faculty looking for ideas, advice, and discussion on teaching.”

As a concentration field in his tenure, Rosenblum is interested in sharing ideas on how to utilize the sophisticated visual skills of students in order to foster an appreciation of concepts and theory. According to Rosenblum, there is research suggesting that today’s undergraduates are highly skilled at integrating large amounts of visual information. He relates this idea to this generation’s exposure to the sophisticated visual imagery used in popular media including MTV, the Internet, and modern film editing style. He also addressed the argument that the emphasis on concrete skills in the K-12 curriculum has left this generation with fewer skills in (and less appreciation for) abstract and conceptual thinking.

“During my tenure as Chair, I plan to explore ways in which college teachers can make use of students’ visual expertise to help instill an appreciation and facility with concepts and theory,” Rosenblum stated.

Rosenblum looks forward to the future collegial interactions with faculty, “I have always felt that CHASS faculty have much to offer each other in sharing teaching experiences, and I look forward to the workshops, mentorships, and informal discussions on teaching that the Chair position affords.”

For more information on Professor Lawrence Rosenblum please visit, http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~rosenblu/