College Confidential

Artificial Intelligence

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on September 30, 2025

Why are we okay with students using ChatGPT "just to brainstorm" when we know that brainstorming is the very engine of human creativity?

Academic Problems and Skills

Why Human Writing Is Essential in the Age of AI

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on August 11, 2025

As college students increasingly use AI to compose their essays, many are wondering: Are writing programs on the chopping block? Here's what ChatGPT "thinks."

Attention

Putting Down the Phone—Students Appreciate the Nudge

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on January 28, 2025

Is it OK for college professors to ask their students to put phones away during class? Yes, if they want them to learn both the content being taught and cell phone etiquette.

Anxiety

Gen Z and Achievement Addiction

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on October 31, 2024

Why young people who seem to have it all suffer as much as those who have too little.

Social Media

College Reading Redux

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on June 24, 2024

If Mom jeans can come back in style with Generation Z, maybe reading can too? Here are three lessons learned from a parent and educator.

Media

The End of Reading

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on May 29, 2024

College students aren't reading anymore, unless you count texts, tweets, and social media comments (but I don't and here's why).

Infidelity

Will ChatGPT Exacerbate Cheating on College Writing?

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on January 9, 2023

Will ChatGBT render college writing instructors obsolete? Will students rely on the AI to write their essays for them? Here's why we don't need to panic.

Attention

The Distraction Problem

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on August 22, 2022

Students report being more distracted than ever, as they stare at their phones with intense and undivided attention. The book Distraction helps demystify this contradiction.

Media

Gen Z and the Struggle with Social Media

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on March 15, 2022

Gen Z is finally getting sick of social media making them sick; let's help them get well.

Sex

Is Verbal Consent the Right Criterion for Consensual Sex?

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on February 4, 2022

Colleges and universities in the U.S. emphasize the need for verbal consent before sex. But that doesn't seem to be working with students who are drinking to the point of blackout.

Media

The Deep Divide Over the "Cleavage Controversy"

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on June 25, 2021

A controversy over sexy school pictures: are we allowing girls to express themselves or encouraging the very thing we say we hate in this society—objectifying the female body?

Bias

Camp Auschwitz Meets Camp College Classroom

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on February 10, 2021

How does a Jewish college student intersect with a rioter wearing a Camp Auschwitz sweatshirt? Through open conversation.

Education

What's It Like Teaching in a College Classroom During COVID?

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on September 4, 2020

Have you been wondering about the college experience this fall? It's alive and well on our college campus, despite some necessary restrictions and creativity from all.

Self-Esteem

Are Gen Z'ers Too in Touch With Their Feelings?

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on August 16, 2020

Have you ever wondered what happened to the self-esteem movement? It's alive but not well. Our youth are more in touch with their feelings than ever before—and it's a crisis.

Anxiety

Young, Anxious Minds Online All the Time

Liz Stillwaggon Swan PhD on May 8, 2020

What's behind Gen Z's nervous breakdown? Is it social media? Cellphone use? Hypersensitivity to the world's problems? Identifying with diagnoses? Yes, all of the above.