Learning the Fun Side of Law and Finance Thanks to Two New UNK Instructors
A typical course load for UNK College of Business and Technology students includes business law, accounting, finance, and economics. Thanks to two recently hired instructors, students will learn how these courses can be more than just part of the foundation for their future careers. The material in these courses will actually be fun to learn thanks to the innovative ideas and passion for their professions that Jason Kight and Josh Herian will bring to class every day.
Jason Kight began teaching law courses “straight out of law school.” While he has experience working in the legal world as both a law clerk and legal researcher, his passion has always been to share his love of business law with others. It’s his vast experience in the classroom, however, that has provided him opportunities to teach others how legal systems function in practice and where reform is necessary to better align law, ethics, and institutional missions.
As an instructor, Kight believes in making the subject matter interesting. He shares that his students will learn about “cases not included in any textbooks.” He constantly refreshes his lessons to stay in touch with today’s students. He explains how he will tailor his lesson to keep his classes interesting to include exploring case studies related to sports, video games, movies, and other aspects of today’s culture. He’s not afraid to reach back in time though. As he describes cases that he has found that are 300 years old, he explains how his students will learn there are always “two sides” to every story and learn to explore the gray areas of the law.
Jason Kight recognizes that, even though all business students are required to take his course, not everyone will necessarily go into the field of law. For this reason, he plans to invite guest speakers to class and make sure his students are actively involved by using a variety of subject matter. He also plans to give his students the opportunity to explain the coursework to him through his flipped classrooms which he describes as a “guiding-hand approach” to learning.
For Josh Herian, his accounting, finance, and economics introductory-level courses will reach a “wide variety of majors and programs.” Like Kight, Herian understands the need to teach the material in order to allow students to implement what they learn into their chosen fields, but that doesn’t mean he will simply teach from a textbook. He explains how he plans to prepare lessons that will intrigue students by having a “main common thread” to show them how the course material relates back to actual life.
Herian’s experience in the banking profession has taught him that economic principles can be a “framework to understand human behavior.” In order to engage students in the relationship side of the world of finance, Herian plans to invite members of Kearney’s Chamber of Commerce to class to help his students “feel connected to the community.”
Being a mentor has always been part of who Josh Herian is. He views this teaching opportunity as a chance to do more than just impart knowledge. He wants to help his students outside of the classroom too. As a UNK alum, Herian is thrilled to be back on campus. He explains how he had the opportunity to explore teaching as part of his job as a corporate trainer. This is when he discovered that he enjoyed coaching and mentoring. It was this discovery that led him back to UNK where he plans to “give back.” He believes his perspective as a former Loper can be useful as he makes “concepts feel more concrete” for his students as he helps them apply what they learn to the real world.
Kight and Herian both share how they will be proactive in their approach to teaching. Even if the subject matter for a particular lesson doesn’t appear overly exciting on the surface, they both will draw upon their experience to show their students how these concepts apply to aspects of the real world which are of interest to the average college-age student. It is through this exceptional method of using real-life examples that students are already aware of that makes these instructors a perfect fit for UNK’s College of Business and Technology. Using the proven style of experiential teaching that the CBT is known for, both Kight and Herian will use these real-life examples to enhance their student-driven teaching styles to make their classes as fun as they are meaningful.
For both of these new instructors, UNK’S College of Business and Technology feels like coming home. Herian literally will walk back onto the campus that shaped him years ago while Kight is finally returning to his midwestern roots. The friendly atmosphere that Kearney is known for will extend into the classrooms of both these instructors. Students will learn how current and relative both law and the world of finance can be thanks to the interesting, student-centered, and interactive lessons Jason Kight and Josh Herian plan to use.
