Passion and Practicality: A Liberal Arts Podcast
Passion and Practicality is a podcast series produced by Southern New Hampshire University‘s online Liberal Arts department, which includes academic programs and courses in Communication, Composition, Creative Writing, English, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, History, Literature, and Philosophy. In this podcast series, faculty, staff, and guests discuss the career paths open to graduates of those programs, the research and creative work of practitioners in the field, and other interesting stuff.
Episodes

Friday May 09, 2025
History Speaker Series with Karen Sieber and Public History
Friday May 09, 2025
Friday May 09, 2025
In this History Speaker Series event, public historian Karen Sieber discusses her career as a public historian and historical consultant, focusing on her recent research on Moses Dickson and the Underground Railroad in Minnesota. Karen received her master's degree in public history from Loyola University Chicago. She is best known as the creator of Visualizing the Red Summer, which is part of the AP African American Studies curriculum nationwide. Her work has been featured by the Library of Congress, National Archives, American Historical Association, Smithsonian and others. She also appears as an expert on Black history in documentaries like the CBS, Smithsonian, and BET collaboration, Tulsa 1921: An American Tragedy. Last year she led the scholarly team for the NEH award winning series, “Examining Military History from the Margins.” In 2025 she will be developing a series of documentary shorts funded by PBS related to America’s 250th anniversary. She will also be leading preservation, exhibit design, and outreach efforts for a project in St. Paul, Minnesota, related to Pullman Porter history. She also teaches public history courses in Southern New Hampshire's graduate History program.

Friday Apr 25, 2025
Word for Word featuring Jeffrey Ford
Friday Apr 25, 2025
Friday Apr 25, 2025
Word for Word is proud to welcome award-winning author Jeffrey Ford! Ford’s fiction has garnered World Fantasy, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Nebula awards. Join us as Jeff reads a new story, "Plunged in the Years," discusses his writing apprenticeship with John Gardner, and shares his wisdom about workshopping, the writer's subconscious, and more!

Friday Apr 11, 2025
Friday Apr 11, 2025
In this special edition of Wireside Chat, Associate Deans Paul Witcover and Jacob Powers answer questions about SNHU's online MFA and MA creative writing programs. If you are a creative writer looking to take your passion for words to the graduate level, this is a great place to start!

Friday Mar 28, 2025
History Speaker Series with José Peláez and Doctoral Programs in History
Friday Mar 28, 2025
Friday Mar 28, 2025
In this History Speaker Series event, José Ernesto Peláez discusses his research and his experience transitioning from the online Master of Arts degree program in History at Southern New Hampshire University to an in-person doctoral program in History at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Additional topics for discussion include the decision to pursue a doctoral degree, applying to programs, expectations of students in doctoral programs, and strategies for researching and writing history.

Friday Mar 21, 2025
Word for Word Featuring the Penmen Review Fall Fiction Contest Winners
Friday Mar 21, 2025
Friday Mar 21, 2025
The five winners of the 10th Annual Penmen Review Fall Fiction Contest read their winning stories and discuss their writing journeys. Welcome N. Ryan Tucker, Jesse Teller, Amy Midgett, Jenel Alan, and Megan Okonsky!

Friday Mar 14, 2025
Friday Mar 14, 2025
In this History Speaker Series event, Dr. David Valladares discusses his career and his new book, England’s Response to Hitler in the 1930s: Empire, Appeasement, and the Cliveden Set, which discusses political and strategic efforts by British aristocrats to support Nazi Germany’s rearmament efforts and the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia. More information about the book can be found on the publisher's website. Dr. Valladares received his doctoral degree in history from Florida State University and teaches history at Southern New Hampshire University.

Friday Mar 07, 2025
Wireside Chat featuring Frank Sennett
Friday Mar 07, 2025
Friday Mar 07, 2025
In which Wireside Chat hosts Melissa Hart and Paul Witcover welcome instructor and author Frank Sennett, who talks about the pacing and structure of thrillers, his surprising favorite novel, how to develop your unique voice as a writer, and much more!

Friday Feb 28, 2025
Ethics in Action 2024: Leadership Panel
Friday Feb 28, 2025
Friday Feb 28, 2025
Ethics in Action is an event series hosted each year by the Liberal Arts team that focuses on student discussion, ethical reflection, and collaboration around current issues. The Fall 2024 Ethics in Action event was a student conference that took place on December 11, 2024, and focused on leadership in the 21st century.
In this panel, a group of community leaders and employers from different industries speaks to what leadership looks like in the 21st century.

Friday Feb 28, 2025
Friday Feb 28, 2025
Ethics in Action is an event series hosted each year by the Liberal Arts team that focuses on student discussion, ethical reflection, and collaboration around current issues. The Fall 2024 Ethics in Action event was a student conference that took place on December 11, 2024, and focused on leadership in the 21st century.
The keynote for Ethics in Action featured Dr. Christopher Preston, Professor of Philosophy from the University of Montana. The title of his address is “Ethicist Gone Feral: Where Philosophy Counts in a Changing World.

Friday Feb 28, 2025
Ethics in Action 2024: Edil Sandoval and Jonathan Murphy
Friday Feb 28, 2025
Friday Feb 28, 2025
Ethics in Action is an event series hosted each year by the Liberal Arts team that focuses on student discussion, ethical reflection, and collaboration around current issues. The Fall 2024 Ethics in Action event was a student conference that took place on December 11, 2024, and focused on leadership in the 21st century. In Conference Session 2, Edil Sandoval will present on “The Ethical, Political, and Cultural Implications of Repatriating Indigenous Art: Leadership and Responsibility in Restitution. Following that, Jonathan Murphy will present “Transformative Leadership: Ethical Mentorship for the Formerly Incarcerated.” This panel is moderated by Rob Denning, the Associate Dean for the online undergraduate and graduate history programs at Southern New Hampshire University.