Asa Olson, PhD

Asa is an instructor for the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. He is a former assistant professor of Modern Languages at Southern Arkansas University with multiple awards for teaching literature and writing, including two awards for excellence in teaching and two awards for using instructional technology. He has published articles on pedagogy, instructional design & technology, and history of education. His work has been published in Educause Review, The Teaching Professor, Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, and Criticism. He has training in online instruction, accessibility, and Universal Design through Quality Matters and CAST/UDL-IRN.

At the Bakken Center, Asa assists instructors with course design and integration of instructional technology. He leads the Bakken Center's comprehensive course consultation process for its academic programs, faculty development sessions, and resource development for its Wellbeing Enhances Learning (WEL) Model.

Asa is passionate about teaching and helping others teach. He has taught courses on writing and literature, as well as the innovative SEED (Seeking Educational Equity through Diversity) course at UW-Madison. He is passionate about literature and the arts. Besides teaching literature courses, Asa worked with folk artists for four years at the Wisconsin Arts Board, where he developed digital educational materials for a secondary-school audience. At the Bakken Center, he teaches courses about the role of literature and narrative in wellbeing, including narrative-related interventions and narrative medicine.