Welcome to season 3 of Faculty 101, a podcast that offers a listen into the pursuits and perspectives of Husker faculty.
Hosted by Mary Jane Bruce, these stories explore how our faculty got here, what they’ve learned along the way, and why they do what they do at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Whether helping to secure U.S. presidential inaugurations on the National Mall or game days at Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, the threat-assessment expertise of Mario Scalora is in high demand. In this episode, the professor of psychology and director of the Nebraska Public Policy Center talks with Bruce about his efforts to put decades of research into practice.
The podcast joins Scalora as he helps coordinate security and puts in 30,000-plus steps before a Husker football game, where staff emphasize respect and compassion to make fans feel comfortable reporting suspicious activity. While there, he lets Bruce in on a few of the many activities that local and campus police, event security and undercover officers conduct to ensure a safe experience.
Later, Scalora tells Bruce how a chance encounter with a colleague drew him to the field of threat assessment. And he describes how the field’s views on violence have evolved over the past several decades, allowing experts to better identify warning signs and intervene before violence occurs.
In the episode’s final minutes, Scalora explains what it means to vote with feet instead of thumbs, shares a few tips for travel safety, and discusses how “the Nebraska way” distinguishes it from the East Coast.
Faculty 101 episodes will be featured here on Nebraska Today, but you can also subscribe via iTunes and Stitcher. Additional podcast delivery systems will be announced as they come online.
As always, we welcome your feedback. If you like the podcast, please subscribe and share it via a favorite social media channel. You can also offer us feedback and story ideas by sending email to nebraskatoday@unl.edu or calling 402-472-8515.
