Teaching, Learning, and the Lessons of Grief

Christy Albright + Clarissa Sorensen Unruh share about teaching, learning, and the lessons of grief on episode 596 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

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Quotes from the episode

Take two deep breaths.

-Clarissa Sorensen Unruh

None of the books that I researched on grief actually defined grief. It’s like they just assumed you knew what it was because it’s such a universal experience, but it’s not universally experienced by everybody in the same way.

-Christy Albright

Anticipatory grief is when you know something is coming and you’re already grieving that situation.

-Christy Albright

People assume that grief gets smaller, and actually we grow around it.

-Clarissa Sorensen Unruh

The big griefs in my life stay forever.

-Christy Albright

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Resources

• Bonni fact checks her anecdote about birds (teachinginhighered.com/2025/10/11/3b-communities)

• Fractals: Is Hasan Smarter than a 13-year-old Math Genius (youtube.com/shorts/Vxwmcn0Stio)

• Peter Felten: Can We Teach Curiosity? (youtube.com/shorts/Vxwmcn0Stio)

• Resources for Grieving (Christy’s website) (christyalbright.com)

• Capsule (capsuletracker.com)

• Ish, by Peter H. Reynolds (bookshop.org/a/79174/9780763623449)

• The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds (bookshop.org/a/79174/9780763619619)

• The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins (bookshop.org/a/79174/9781401971366)

• An Educator’s Guide to ADHD, by Karen Costa (press.jhu.edu/books/title/53916/educators-guid…)

• Good Hang with Amy Poehler (theringer.com/podcasts/good-hang-with-amy-poeh…)

• An Educator’s Guide to ADHD, by Karen Costa (press.jhu.edu/books/title/53916/educators-guid…)

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