Todd Heldt is a poet, writer, and academic librarian based in Chicago. This page collects presentations, interviews, and public readings by Todd Heldt, showcasing his work in creative writing, information literacy, and academic assessment, as well as his broader creative and pedagogical philosophy.
Presentations by Todd Heldt
Todd Heldt presents at LibreFest: Success: Harold Washington College’s OER Initiative.
Excerpt:
In any given year we have 7000 students taking one or more of these classes we are transitioning to OER. If they would normally spend $75 per class for used textbooks, which is an extremely conservative estimate, it would save our students about $525,000/semester.
Todd Heldt presents Information Literacy in a Post-Truth World with Professor Carrie Nepstad at the Illinois Assessment Fair at Prairie State College.
Excerpt:
People are going to click what they are going to click. Most people have bad habits: They think uncritically (or hyper-critically). They research inefficiently or unethically. They are unaware of their own biases.
Harold Washington College Library Assessment Presentation presented at Harold Washington College.
Excerpt:
Though we are an academic department, and librarians are teaching, student-facing faculty, realistically, we often also serve in the capacity of student support. Even as professors, we most often help students complete tasks for other professors. In that sense, our role is unique: we assist, coach, train, and even, at times, nurture. Yet, we were not assessing the impact of all these roles.
Todd Heldt presents Developing & Implementing an Assessment of the Humanities General Education Objective: A Do-It-Yourself Guide with Professors Carrie Nespstad and Amanda Loos at University of Indiana/Purdue University’s Assessment Institute.
Excerpt:
To be content-appropriate for our students, a reasonable length to maintain their commitment, and aligned with our specific SLO’s, we had to design our own tool.
Interviews by Todd Heldt
Todd Heldt interviewed by Meg Tuite of Connotations Press about Jukebox Loser: An Owner’s Manual for Idiot Desires.
Excerpt:
More fundamentally, it is crazy to try to make art in this world in the exact same way that it is crazy to let your guard down enough to really love someone. If you ask someone who his favorite artist is, he is more likely to say Justin Bieber than Marina Abramovic or Kurt Vonnegut, and that just breaks my heart in the most self-aware and silly way possible. I mean, I get that it’s preposterous to write a poem and even more so to expect anyone to take the time to read it, but shouldn’t we make the same demand for honest communication in both cases?