The Video
The 20-minute Toxic Friday video is based on an interactive theater script developed in 2014 at the University of Alaska Anchorage. It is intended to be used as a prompt for productive discussions by faculty and others about how best to address faculty bullying in academic departments. The characters are composites; their interactions are based on the real experiences of many faculty members we interviewed on our campus and beyond. Our research tells us these scenarios—and others more and less subtle—are disturbingly common in the academic world.
Your Toxic Friday companion book includes extensive information about faculty bullying, discussion questions, essays, resources, and suggested activities for use after viewing the video.
On this page you will find links to:
- the discussion questions and suggested activities for use after viewing the video;
- the Toxic Friday video dramatizing one morning in an imaginary American Studies department;
- an excerpt from a talk-back session, in which the actors remain in character and respond to questions from a live audience; and
- six individual scenes for targeted discussion about the issues raised in each.
We suggest you:
- Review the discussion questions and suggested activities.
- Screen the 18-minute video and talkback session.
- Engage in a facilitated discussion (or private reflection) about the issues raised
by these two videos, using the discussion questions and/or suggested activities from
the Toxic Friday book.
- See Tips for Facilitators (.pdf)
- Revisit individual scenes and discuss (or reflect) using the questions tailored to those scenes.
Download the Discussion Questions and Suggested Activities (pdf)
Watch The Video