Yes, it's one of the most common measures of relationship closeness! psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-...

Very cool to see this measure from relationship science move into poli sci!

The comparison isn't 20 mins driving time versus 40 mins bus time; It's 20 mins primarily focused on driving versus 40 mins where you can do most work or personal enjoyment tasks that can be accomplished while sitting quietly in a chair

My first year, a senior person who was giving a guest lecture asked me “Who is looking out for awards for you?” That was a good impetus to reach out to my mentors and ask them to nominate me. I am trying to remember to be that person for others now

Technoference (how tech gets in the way of building/maintaining in-person social ties) was a major emphasis pre-COVID. Since then, more work has examined benefits to virtual interaction, esp. for people who would otherwise be isolated, & I'm starting to see work comparing the two contexts directly

Some researchers refer to this as "social snacking"-- It feels good in the moment, but does not imbue the full benefits or social "nutrition" that in-person social interactions do

I once had a student explicitly argue that he was the customer to be catered to.

I explained that, if we *had* to use the customer framing, he wasn't the customer but the product. He was being given an education & then a degree that future employers would see value in.

My job? Quality control.

It's less personal, but it does get them moving around, talking to one another, and learning each others' names!

In Stress & Coping, I give each student a slip of paper with a different definition of stress and a bingo boards to complete with classmates' names based on their stress definitions, with objective ("mentions biological response") and subjective ("you think is a bad definition") squares to fill

I have a friend who opens some of his courses with Aron's fast friends paradigm, so they at least get to know one person in the class! He says sometimes he sees them end up choosing to sit next to one another all semester because of it🥰

If we don't laugh, we cry

Maybe we can turn the merch into sandbags that conveniently follow all branding identity guidelines...