Limed: Teaching with a Twist

See our extended episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/identity-and-belonging-in-mentoring/.

What makes mentoring relationships truly effective…and for whom?

In this episode, Karina Hamamouche (Butler University), Hannah Bellwoar (Juniata College), Yujie Huang (Old Dominion University), and Nira Rahman (University of Melbourne), members of a multi-institutional research group from the Center for Engaged Learning’s research seminar on Mentoring Meaning Learning Experiences, draw on their three-year study of mentoring in higher education and help us explore how identity, partnership, and cultural context shape mentoring relationships and students’ sense of belonging.

Through surveys and focus groups, their research reveals both expected and surprising findings: while shared identity can play an important role in mentoring relationships, differences are often intentionally sought to support growth. They also uncover key disconnects between how mentors and mentees understand what matters most – a highlighting the central role of reciprocity, mutual respect, and shared responsibility.

Ultimately, this episode invites listeners to rethink mentoring not as a hierarchical structure, but as a human-centered, relational process – one that requires authenticity, negotiation, and attention to both individual and systemic dynamics. The group closes by considering future directions for mentoring scholarship, including cross-cultural approaches and more nuanced explorations of identity and belonging.

This episode was hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

Themes and music composed and produced by Kai Mitchell, Elon University Music Production and Recording Arts class of 2024. Kai produces music and releases it across streaming platforms with the producer’s name KVI. You can follow Kai on Instagram @theofficial_kvi.

Show art was created by Jennie Goforth and Matt Wittstein. Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash.

The Center for Engaged Learning uses Rev to create transcripts for each episode.

See our full episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/can-peer-mentoring-power-equity/

In this episode of Limed: Teaching with a Twist, members of Team Augmentors – Krista Craven (Carleton University), Maggie Safronova (University of California Santa Barbara), Diana Gregory (Kennesaw State University), and Olivia Choplin (Elon University) – share insights from their cross-institutional research on peer mentoring programs.

Through campus scans, surveys, and in-depth interviews with program leaders across multiple campuses, their team explored how peer mentoring supports student success and equity. Their findings suggest that while these programs consistently promote access, belonging, and navigation of the hidden curriculum, the extent to which they are explicitly framed as equity-driven often depends on institutional context and climate.

We discuss the role of peer mentors in demystifying higher education, the importance of training and support, and the challenges of embedding equity and social justice into program design. As the team looks ahead to expanding their framework and studying mentor experiences more deeply, this conversation invites us to rethink mentoring as a shared, relational process that makes opportunity more visible, more accessible, and can involve student partnership at every level.

This episode was hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

Themes and music composed and produced by Kai Mitchell, Elon University Music Production and Recording Arts class of 2024. Kai produces music and releases it across streaming platforms with the producer’s name KVI. You can follow Kai on Instagram @theofficial_kvi.

Show art was created by Jennie Goforth, Nolan Schultheis, and Matt Wittstein.

The Center for Engaged Learning uses Rev to create transcripts for each episode.

See our full episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/mentoring-moves/

What actually happens in a successful mentoring conversation? In this episode of Limed: Teaching with a Twist, Katia Levintova (University of Wisconsin–Green Bay) and Mario Sto. Domingo (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) share findings from their multi-institutional research on what they call mentoring moves. Through interviews with several mentor–mentee pairs across institutions in the U.S. and Europe, their team examined the specific conversational techniques mentors use and how students experience those same interactions.

We explore encouragement, human connection, navigating the hidden curriculum, reframing strengths, and the subtle dynamics that foster trust and belonging. We also discuss where mentors and mentees align — and where gaps emerge — particularly around unseen advocacy and in-the-moment mentoring.

If mentoring is one of the most important practices in higher education, this conversation invites us to think more intentionally about the moves we make.

This episode was hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. 

Themes and music composed and produced by Kai Mitchell, Elon University Music Production and Recording Arts class of 2024. Kai produces music and releases it across streaming platforms with the producer’s name KVI. You can follow Kai on Instagram @theofficial_kvi. 

Show art was created by Jennie Goforth, Nolan Schultheis, and Matt Wittstein.  

The Center for Engaged Learning uses Rev to create transcripts for each episode. 

See our full episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/mentoring-constellations-research-teaching-with-a-twist-visual-mapping/

In this episode, host Matt Wittstein joins fellow researchers Jenn Aumiller (University of Maryland School of Medicine), Sarah Burns Gilchrist (American University), and Alexis Hart (Allegheny College) to discuss their collaborative research on mentorship as a constellation of relationships rather than a single dyad. Sparked by shared questions about student support, belonging, and engagement, the team explores how students understand and navigate networks of meaningful, supportive, and mentoring relationships across academic and personal contexts.

Drawing on survey data, interviews, and an interactive constellation mapping process, the conversation highlights how visualizing mentorship networks can prompt reflection, surface gaps, and challenge assumptions about who “counts” as a mentor. The group reflects on key findings, including students’ realization that they themselves act as mentors, the importance of relationships beyond formal academic roles, and how mentoring needs shift over time. The episode closes with discussion of how constellation mapping might be adapted for professional development, faculty mentoring, and other non-student settings.

This episode was hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

Themes and music composed and produced by Kai Mitchell, Elon University Music Production and Recording Arts class of 2024. Kai produces music and releases it across streaming platforms with the producer’s name KVI. You can follow Kai on Instagram @theofficial_kvi.

Show art was created by Jennie Goforth and Matt Wittstein. ChatGPT 5.1 was used to generate the background image, with an initial prompt of “I'd like to create episode artwork for an episode titled Mapping Mentorship. I'm thinking something like an old style constellation chart." Prompts for revision included, "Let's try a concept that shows someone trying to chart the stars," and finally, "Take the people out of it, and let's just see a cartographic map of the stars and constellations."

The Center for Engaged Learning uses Rev to create transcripts for each episode.

See our full episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/rapid-responses-mentorship-part-2/.

Center for Engaged Learning participants in the 2023-2025 research seminar on Mentoring Meaningful Learning Experiences were invited to share their responses to several mentoring related questions. Karina Hamamouche (Butler University), Alexis Hart (Allegheny College), Katia Levintova (University of Wisconsin Green Bay), Gabi Pleschová (Comenius University), and Nira Rahman (University of Melbourne) recorded their responses to a few guided questions about who mentors, what mentoring looks like, and how to improve mentoring in higher education.

This episode was hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

Themes and music composed and produced by Kai Mitchell, Elon University Music Production and Recording Arts class of 2024. Kai produces music and releases it across streaming platforms with the producer’s name KVI. You can follow Kai on Instagram @theofficial_kvi. 

Show art was created by Jennie Goforth and Matt Wittstein with the episode-specific image generated and revised by ChatGPT 5.1 using prompts and re-iterations by Matt. 

The Center for Engaged Learning uses Rev.com to create transcripts for each episode.  

See our full notes for this episode at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/rapid-responses-mentorship-part-1/.

Participants from the Center for Engaged Learning's research seminar on Mentoring Meaningful Learning Experiences were invited to share their responses to several mentoring related questions. Karina Hamamouche (Butler University), Alexis Hart (Allegheny College), Katia Levintova (University of Wisconsin Green Bay), and Gabi Pleschová (Comenius University) recorded their responses to a few guided questions about practices and misconceptions in mentoring. This month, hear the first of their rapid responses and join us again next month for a few more ideas you can act on. 

This episode was hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

Themes and music composed and produced by Kai Mitchell, Elon University Music Production and Recording Arts class of 2024. Kai produces music and releases it across streaming platforms with the producer’s name KVI. You can follow Kai on Instagram @theofficial_kvi.

Show art was created by Jennie Goforth and Matt Wittstein.

See our full episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/student-scholar-perspectives-on-mentoring-relationships/.

In this episode, guests Azul Bellot and Tiffanie Grant, both Center for Engaged Learning Student Scholars at Elon University, share how mentorship has shaped their confidence, sense of belonging, and academic journeys. Through their experiences, we explore the balance of responsibility between students and faculty, the difference between transactional and transformational mentorship, and how open, authentic relationships can empower growth on both sides. Azul and Tiffanie remind us that students aren’t just recipients of mentorship – they’re active contributors to the process, offering lessons that can benefit both students and their mentors.

This episode was hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning, an international research center.

Themes and music composed and produced by Kai Mitchell, Elon University Music Production and Recording Arts class of 2024. Kai produces music and releases it across streaming platforms with the producer’s name KVI. You can follow Kai on Instagram @theofficial_kvi.

Show art was created by Jennie Goforth and Nolan Schultheis.

The Center for Engaged Learning uses Rev.com to create transcripts for each episode.

See our extended episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/how-scholarship-shapes-our-mentoring-past-and-future/

What can the research on mentoring teach us about building stronger, more equitable learning environments? In this episode, guests Ashley Finley, Jane Greer, and Jessie Moore unpack the scholarly roots of mentoring in higher education from foundational studies to the newest approaches shaping the field today.

They discuss how theories from psychology, feminist practice, and relationship-rich education inform mentoring across disciplines, and why understanding mentorship as both an individual experience and a systemic force matters now more than ever. Along the way, they explore key questions about intentionality, equity, and what it means to study mentoring not just as an act of support, but as a catalyst for institutional change.

This episode was hosted by hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

Themes and music composed and produced by Kai Mitchell, Elon University Music Production and Recording Arts class of 2024. Kai produces music and releases it across streaming platforms with the producer’s name KVI. You can follow Kai on Instagram @theofficial_kvi.

Show art was created by Jennie Goforth and Nolan Schultheis.

See our extended episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/not-just-a-cup-of-coffee-why-mentoring-matters/

In this kickoff to our new season, we explore the heart of mentorship in higher education. Guests Titch Madzima, Sabrina Perkins, and Maureen Vandermass-Peeler share personal stories of the mentors who shaped their paths and reflect on what mentoring really means beyond a casual conversation over coffee.

Together, they discuss why mentoring is central to student and faculty success, the challenges institutions face in making it accessible, and why “mentoring constellations” may be the future of more inclusive and supportive academic communities. From authenticity and reciprocity to the barriers of availability and representation, this episode highlights how intentional mentoring can transform both individuals and institutions.

This episode was hosted, produced, and edited by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

Original music: Kai Mitchell

See our full episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/higher-education-is-worth-fighting-for/.

Since January 20, 2025, a plethora of political activity and announcements have created instability and concern across the U.S. higher education sector, with ripple effects in the international landscape. In this episode, Denise Bartell, Senior Associate Vice President for Regional System Faculty and Student Success at Kent State University, Amy Johnson, Assistant Vice President for Academic Success at Old Dominion University, and Jessica Riddell, holds the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence at Bishop’s University and author of Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and Other Organizations for Human Flourishing, join the show to have an open conversation about how higher education is being impacted by the political climate. Our conversation includes the battles around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, why higher education is worth fighting for, and seeds of hope to help us write a yet unwritten future with optimism.

This episode was hosted and edited by Matt Wittstein, and produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with the Center for Engaged Learning. 

Artwork: Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash (locker)  

Original music: Kai Mitchell