Paul Lai, he/him/his Director of SELA
- pylai@umn.edu
- Phone
- (612) 301-1127
- ORCID iD
-
0009-0000-7435-4408
- Full position title(s)
- Director of Student Experience, Learning, and Accessibility
- Libraries department
- Student Experience, Learning and Accessibility
About
I lead a department of experts in pedagogical support, information literacy, instructional design, user experience, and accessibility. Our approach centers asset-based equity pedagogy, drawing on racially minoritized and underserved students' community and cultural wealth. On a daily basis, we connect with students and activate their prior knowledge and experience. This engagement creates senses of belonging and mattering that are crucial to students' continual learning and growth.
Prior to working at the University of Minnesota Libraries, I championed information literacy and access as a student success librarian and as a public librarian with particular focus on digital literacy, arts and literature programming, and community well-being programming. I also taught students in higher education about language and its uses as a writing center professional in dissertation editing, scholarly writing, and online instructional content management and as a faculty member in literary and cultural studies.
My scholarly interests include student success librarianship and Asian American studies.
Education
Master of Library and Information Science, Saint Catherine University, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Master of Arts, English and Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bachelor of Arts, English Language and Literature, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut