| Kira Hudson Banks spearheaded the GO-GIRL mentoring program to foster math and science interest among adolescent girls in the Bloomington-Normal community. She has received the community's Athena Award and the Pantagraph's "20 Under 40" honor for her local leadership. | |
| Your hometown? | Edwardsville, Ill. |
| Alma mater? | Mount Holyoke College, B.A. University of Michigan, M.A., Ph.D. |
| Why Wesleyan? |
Small liberal arts is where it’s at! |
| Your teaching? |
Love it. Oh, what I teach? Abnormal Psychology, Understanding Race, Psychology of Racism, Middle School Girls in Social Science.
I see myself as a partner in the learning process to help motivate and inspire students. I often use the quote “You cannot get an education from a book or a college any more than you can get to New York by reading a road map.” So, I’m here to help students prepare for that trip, but I can’t make it for them! |
| Wesleyan students? | Active! |
| Biggest thrill? | SCUBA diving |
| For fun? | Karaoke |
| The best? | Family fun (e.g., from traveling to walks on the trail to holiday gatherings). |
| Favorite book? | Whatever I happen to be reading at the moment (right now that is A New Earth). |
| Favorite band or artist? | Stevie Wonder |
| Favorite movie? | When Harry Met Sally |
| Favorite quote? |
"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing – that's why we recommend it daily." — Zig Ziglar
"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality– tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one Directly affects all Indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality." — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. |
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| Psychology faculty at Illinois Wesleyan are committed to undergraduate teaching and to basic and applied research, often collaborating with students. |
