This piece is part of a series by participants in the Winter 2025 Open Knowledge Fellowship, coordinated by the Mina Rees Library. Fellows will share insight into the process of converting a syllabus to openly-licensed and/or zero-cost resources, as well as their experiences teaching undergraduate courses at CUNY.
Lia Crowley’s current research interests include ambivalent attitudes in the workplace, the use of big data to study organizations, and occupational health psychology.
Contact information
Undergraduate institution: University of Connecticut
Email: [email protected]
Lab affiliations: Emotions in Organizations, Supporting Healthy And Promoting Equitable Work Lab
Participating in the Open Knowledge Fellowship was a rewarding experience in terms of 1) developing my course on Diversity in Organizations, 2) learning about open educational resources more generally, and 3) connecting with students across a variety of disciplines.
I applied to the Fellowship because I wanted to make my course more accessible and reduce financial barriers for students, namely in terms of textbook costs. As an instructor, I have seen how the costs of “high-quality” textbooks have prevented otherwise great students from being optimally engaged and successful in my class. The Fellowship’s focus on Open Educational Resources and Open Access scholarship aligned with my commitment to fostering an inclusive learning environment where all students have equal access to educational materials. Furthermore, this Fellowship allowed me to explore creative ways I could implement a variety of materials (e.g., videos, news articles, case studies, etc.) into my course.
Course site for PSY 4010: Diversity in the Workplace
Finding open resources specifically related to Diversity in Organizations was both interesting and challenging. I located high-quality open-access journal articles, case studies, and multimedia resources relevant to the course. However, I was also limited when journal articles or book chapters were behind paywalls. Ultimately, I was able to find one suitable book option from LibreTexts with similar content to my current costly textbook. While I was relieved to find a book after many searches, it would have been nice to have a greater selection of materials to choose from. Additionally, I found many videos and content using the Creative Commons search portal. This made determining what I could (and could not) adapt more straightforward.
Generally, I learned a lot about open resources and how they challenge many of the issues that exist within traditional scholarly publishing. I also gained a deeper appreciation for Creative Commons licensing and its flexibility in adapting materials to suit course needs. The ability to modify existing resources helped me craft a curriculum that was both comprehensive and responsive to contemporary issues in Diversity in Organizations, under the recent administration.
Beyond the intended purpose of this Fellowship, I was able to connect and learn from my peers at the Graduate Center from a range of disciplines from Physics to Philosophy to Theater. There are not many structured opportunities in graduate school where you can interact and meet people outside of your research domain. It made me feel more connected to the Graduate Center community as a whole.
Reflecting on this Fellowship, I am grateful for the resources provided by the Fellowship and the broader group of people dedicated to creating more accessible educational resources. The Fellowship has enriched my teaching practices and deepened my commitment to fostering an academic community that prioritizes accessibility. By integrating open educational resources into my Diversity in Organizations course, I organized freely available educational resources, hopefully reducing student financial burdens, ultimately promoting a more inclusive learning environment. The Open Knowledge Fellowship has provided me with both the tools and perspective necessary to integrate open knowledge principles into all the classes I teach and the work that I produce.
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