For Fun

I am married to John Carroll, another professor at IST. We co-direct the CSCL, often co-supervise students, and work on many other projects together.

We have one daughter, Erin Carroll, who is a junior at Penn State. She is in the Schreyer Honors College studying Sociology, with two minors (IST and Community Engagement). She is active in Penn State’s student-led community service and a founding member of Students Engaging Students. This summer she is working in the Public Policy Planning group at Zero to Three, a nonprofit in Washington DC.

My family also includes a couple of non-humans. Number one pet is Kerby — aka the perfect dog — a yellow lab who at 11 is starting to slow down, but still loves to go on hikes and walks in the Pennsylvania Game Lands whenever she gets the chance. Number two pet is Colette — aka the play cat — who is 5 now, and just as feisty and mysterious as ever.

Other Stuff

Singing much of the year in my church’s Chancel Choir. Thanks to Ned we sing an amazing variety of works, have lots of fun learning them, and usually sound pretty good!

I love to travel, especially abroad, and especially with Jack. Some of my favorite places are England, Scotland, Mexico, and Spain. Lucky for me I’ll be on sabbatical in Spain as of January 2009, visiting t the University Carlos III of Madrid. I am already working on my Rosetta Stone training!

Sports, Sports, and more Sports:

• A dedicated fan of the Penn State Nittany Lions, every sport, every season, all year long!
• Rooting for the Yankees, who seemed to lose their way after firing Joe Torre, but hopefully will get their act together any day now (as long as A-Rod and Jeter stay healthy).
• A founding fan(!) for the State College Spikes, a minor league “short season” team that shares the fantastic Medlar Field at Lubrano Park with Penn State’s baseball team. I love Ike-the-Spike and Bob the Baseball Dog!
• Still cheering on the Virginia Tech Hokies. But what on earth will happen to Michael Vick now?
• I have never given up on the New York Giants - and they rewarded me mightily at Super Bowl XLII in February 2008! Who says Eli can’t keep up with his big brother?