Season 2, Episode 2 of The Bulldog Mindset brings listeners into a conversation about collaboration, creativity, and the power of stepping outside traditional course structures. My guests, Professor Jessica Maloney (Photography & Design) and Dr. Chris Nelson (Theater Arts), guided recent graduate Carson Willoughby and a team of students in producing Shaping the Old North State—a documentary exploring the legacy of O. Max and Faye Webb Gardner. The film didn’t just engage our students and community; it went on to win the Founder’s Choice Award at the Reel to Reel International Film Festival.
What stood out to me in this episode wasn’t just the story of the film, but the course behind it. Maloney and Nelson built something atypical—an interdisciplinary, hands-on, team-taught course where the focus wasn’t on a single discipline, but on the real-world collaboration it takes to create something meaningful. In higher education, we often talk about preparing students for life beyond campus. Courses like this actually do it. Students didn’t just learn skills; they learned how to work across differences, navigate uncertainty, and push creative boundaries.
It reminded me of a course I once taught in our Honors program called Recipe for Disaster: Hollywood vs. Reality. We explored how science is portrayed in movies and TV—the balance between accuracy and storytelling, and why directors often aim for “perceptual reality,” where the science looks just real enough for the audience to buy in. Over several years, about 80–90% of the students in that class were not science majors. And yet, they excelled. The point wasn’t to be scientists; it was to think like scientists, to develop literacy in evaluating claims, questioning assumptions, and recognizing how knowledge is shaped.
That’s what I see in Shaping the Old North State. Yes, it’s a film. Yes, it’s a class project. But more importantly, it’s an example of what happens when faculty open the door to experimentation, cross boundaries, and trust students with ambitious, authentic work. The result is a product that lives well beyond the classroom and lessons that will stay with students for years to come.
Until next time—stay curious, collaborate boldly, and, when in doubt, just try it.
