Nic Helms's Portfolio
Nic Helms’s Bio

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Portfolio

Mini Course Syllabus

Designing for Public Writing

Higher Education (especially the Humanities) is getting hammered in politics, mainstream discourse, and austere institutional policies. How can we write, as scholar-teachers and with students, in/against that

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Keep It Simple

Everything is too much right now: from the climate (more wildfires in Canada) to politics (Trump admin’s crackdown on protests in LA) to higher ed

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Nic Helms's Highlights

Recent Comments

  • Love this! I think a foundational question would be: "At PSU, do we want our courses/trails to... More >>
    Comment on: “Design” is a word that can mean a lot of different things, depending upon the context. How do you define or think about “design” in the context of your teaching?
    Posted on: 07/08/2025
  • When I think of 'design,' I am drawn first and foremost to the arc of a course. What makes this... More >>
    Comment on: “Design” is a word that can mean a lot of different things, depending upon the context. How do you define or think about “design” in the context of your teaching?
    Posted on: 07/07/2025
  • Criptime, for myself, for my students, and for my colleagues. ... More >>
    Comment on: What are some personal and professional boundaries you’ve enacted in your care of students that have allowed you to approach care healthily?
    Posted on: 07/03/2025
  • "At the same time, I’ve also become increasingly aware of how certain people’s voices are so... More >>
    Comment on: Private: Vulnerability and the relationship between work and ego
    Posted on: 07/03/2025

Latest Annotations

  • This feels like a very fruitful ground for interdisciplinary collaboration on campus! Which... More >>
    Annotation on: Critical Instructional Design – An Urgency of Teachers
    Posted by: nrhelms
    Posted on: 07/28/2025
  • Agreed. One of the biggest challenges of 'pathways,' or anything similar, is visibility. How will... More >>
    Annotation on: Critical Instructional Design – An Urgency of Teachers
    Posted by: nrhelms
    Posted on: 07/28/2025
  • Oh, I really love this idea! Plus, it's compact, a 'garden' and not a 'forest.' We might be tempted... More >>
    Annotation on: Critical Instructional Design – An Urgency of Teachers
    Posted by: nrhelms
    Posted on: 07/28/2025
  • This right here! There's a big difference between "technology" and "technology pushed by venture... More >>
    Annotation on: 'All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace': Care and the Cybernetic University
    Posted by: nrhelms
    Posted on: 07/03/2025
  • Yes! This is how I feel every time I hear promises that AI will help "personalize" communication.... More >>
    Annotation on: 'All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace': Care and the Cybernetic University
    Posted by: nrhelms
    Posted on: 07/03/2025

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Stop Five: Exploring Your Portfolio

This page is your personal workspace in Design Forward. Whenever you complete an activity in a module, it will be posted here. In addition, you can add portfolio items at any time. At the bottom of the page, you will see a gray bar with options to add images, files, videos, text reflections, or workbook pages. 

On the right, you will see your most recent comments and annotations as well as any questions you’ve asked. 

Your portfolio lives outside of any individual module — it is available across your entire Design Forward experience. If you click on the Participants link  you will be able to see everyone else participating in a module and visit their portfolios. They can visit yours as well. 

Take some time to explore the options in your portfolio; you don’t need to add anything at this time. When you’re done click the “Back to the Map” button.

At the end of this stop in the Orientation journey, you will have