Hey there! I’m Dr. Leslie Madsen, and I design meaningful learning experiences, both digital and analog.
I’m endlessly curious.
My interdisciplinary liberal arts education, scholarly research, wide-ranging personal interests, and decades of diverse professional experiences have provided me with opportunities to grow my knowledge and skills.
The result? Every position I’ve held has been outside the confines of the formal training I’ve pursued. Others have asked, “How do you know so much about so many things?” I’m an engaged, lifelong learner who listens to, talks with, and learns from all kinds of people—face to face, through books, on podcasts, and through all kinds of formal and informal education.
In 2023-24, I’m seeking new opportunities.
I’m in my 14th year with my current employer, and while I value the institution, people, and opportunities, I have that midlife itch to apply my expertise and experience in new contexts—but especially with organizations on the cutting edge of their fields, and especially if they sit at an intersection of the following:
- social justice, especially if intersectional;
- conservation and/or climate change;
- helping stakeholders learn new things they can apply meaningfully in the world; and
- technology, especially emergent technologies and/or digital storytelling.
However, I’m being very discerning and selective as I approach this change—and an organization’s mission, vision, culture, and community impact matter more to me than the specific job I’m doing.
You can read more about what I’m looking for on my Hire Me page.
Even if you’re not hiring right now, I’d love to do an informational interview with you if your organization hires people who have a broad skill set in learning, development, communication, and tech. I’d like a better understanding of what possibilities are out there, as well as in what directions I should be focusing my growth. What experiences and knowledge I should seek in the coming year?
I have extensive experience in all kinds of education.
In higher education. . .
I’m a professor, public historian, digital humanist, and faculty developer.
As a professor, I’ve taught in fields as diverse as museum studies, history, American studies, education, literature, and writing. During grad school, I had the good fortune to expand my horizons by serving as a teaching assistant in biotechnology/genomics and technocultural studies.
I’ve designed 25 of my own higher ed courses from the ground up, and I’ve taught classes that take place in person, remotely and synchronously, and fully online and asynchronously.
I’m also the associate director of a university teaching center, where I support faculty development and instructional design across disciplines, faculty ranks, and career stage. Since early 2015, I’ve been leading a team of instructional designers, faculty developers, and faculty associates in the Center for Teaching and Learning at Boise State University. Together, we help faculty both apply established, evidence-based instructional practices and develop emergent ones.
In informal education. . .
I have developed, delivered, and evaluated informal learning experiences, both digital and analog. Among my experiences are:
- developing, installing, and maintaining exhibitions at a hands-on science center.
- developing, installing, and maintaining an exhibition of live insects, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as accompanying hands-on activities, for the Insect Pavilion at the California State Fair.
- developing interpretative signage for the California State Fair’s Demonstration Farm.
- developing and/or delivering in-class, hands-on science experiences that I brought to students in urban, suburban, and rural schools.
- evaluating a science center’s bilingual outreach events for families.
- providing instructional design and development support for a participatory digital storytelling project for the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.
- developing place-based, experiential learning in environmental science focused on watersheds.
- with undergraduate and graduate students, crafting diverse digital exhibitions on:
- how irrigation canals shaped the history of Boise’s Central Rim neighborhood
- Idaho women’s arts and crafts, with representative artifacts from museum collections
- the experiences of women in the U.S. West, as told through an artifact collection of women’s shoes.
- founded, directed student contributions to, and for several years maintained the Boise Wiki, which tells the story of Boise past and present.
But I’m as much a learner as an educator.
I have been a lifelong learner in diverse professional contexts—and outside of them.
Other professional experiences
I deeply enjoy acquiring new skills and exploring other fields of knowledge and practice. I’m a quick learner who adapts easily to new environments and contexts. In addition to the experiences listed above, I have:
- supported faculty in learning and using both enterprise and emergent technologies.
- coordinated marketing for an urban symphony orchestra during the intense year it sought a new conductor.
- wrote donor solicitations at all levels—from annual funds to naming rights for a performing arts center and a world-class environmental research station—for a major university’s development department.
- served as a staff writer for a publisher of two urban, weekly newspapers.
- worked as an assistant editor for an publishing company specializing in social studies for English-language learners.
- served both individual and small-business clients as a freelance writer and editor.
- across positions, I have planned and facilitated events ranging from workshops to new faculty orientation to a fundraising gala. I’m skilled in designing welcoming, meaningful events that are offered digitally (synchronously or asynchronously) or in person.
Research and writing
My research has been as diverse as my other professional experiences. My interest in science centers led me to research into the intersection of gender and science centers, which in turn led to my dissertation on the roles women scientists played in shaping U.S. natural history institutions—primarily the Smithsonian and museums, gardens, and zoos in California—between 1880 and 1960.
In recent years, I have written about how digital technologies are democratizing the practice of history. Online, you can read my book chapter “‘I nevertheless am a historian’: Digital Historical Practice and Malpractice around Black Confederate Soldiers,” as well as my essay “Engendering Online History: Wikipedia vs. Ancestry.com—Historianship at a crossroads.” I have written for The Blue Review, and one of my pieces there, on universities “disrupting” themselves from within, was picked up by the London School of Economics.
Language proficiency
A native English speaker, in school I spent three years studying Spanish and 3.5 years studying French. I can still read some French, and I’m open to restoring my French-language skills. I’m actively renewing my acquaintance with Latin American Spanish. View a sample of my writing in Spanish: Estoy aprendiendo español.
Areas of interest and growing expertise
My many personal and professional interests, experiences, and relationships have led me to develop additional areas of knowledge. While I’m not yet an expert in these fields, I’m rapidly growing my knowledge and, when feasible, skills related to them. I’d jump at an opportunity to apply my skills and growing knowledge within an organization that focuses on these topics.
Agriculture
Food access and justice, especially in urban food deserts; urban farming; organic, regenerative, and/or no-till farming; agriculture’s relationship to climate change, including remediation and adaptation; pollinators; sustainable irrigation; watershed conservation and preserving water quality; farmers’ mental health; and creative entrepreneurship on small farms by people of all backgrounds. I’m also reading and listening to Black American and Indigenous American voices on farming, agricultural impacts on the environment, seed sovereignty, and access to farmland.
Horticulture
Floriculture; botanic gardens, historical and present-day; organic, no-till, and regenerative gardening; flower farming, especially the “slow flower” movement; vegetable gardening; food forests; permaculture; pollinator habitats and corridors; gardens and climate change; and garden styles and design. I’m also reading and listening to Black American and Indigenous American voices on gardening, seed-saving and seed sovereignty, and conservation.
Mental health and neurodivergence
I’m very interested in how people with a wide range of mental health challenges or cognitive differences navigate a world that isn’t built for them, and I aim to universally design learning environments to benefit such folks. As an educator and team leader, I have developed some expertise in depression (both dysthymia and major depressive disorder); ADHD—its gifts and challenges; cPTSD (esp. as a result of the pandemic); neurodivergence, broadly defined; the mental health of mid-career or midlife professionals; and the mental health of students and faculty in higher ed.