Paying Attention to Attention: Iona University Launches “Attentional Campus Initiative” with Strother School of Radical Attention
New Rochelle & Bronxville, N.Y. – As TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube solidify their places at the forefront of digital media – fighting for our focus every click, swipe and scroll along the way – the conversation surrounding the nature and uses of human attention has never been more important.
That’s why Iona University is thinking about attention differently.
Through a new partnership with the Strother School of Radical Attention (SoRA), Iona proudly launched its Attentional Campus Initiative as part of a two-day faculty winter symposium held earlier this month. An "Intro to the Study of Attention,” led by SoRA co-founder and Princeton University professor D. Graham Burnett, was followed by an attention workshop for the Iona faculty cohort led by SoRA facilitators.
“Iona is on the cutting edge of enormously important, innovative thinking about campus culture and educational endeavor in this watershed moment — both A.I. and the relentless dynamics of online life are radically changing intellectual life and the demands on colleges and universities,” Burnett said. “By centering human attention in and beyond the classroom, Iona is taking bold steps across the curriculum to serve its faculty, students, and the flourishing future of our minds, our communities, and ultimately our democratic society.”
A distinguished scholar and leading voice on the history and science of attention, Burnett has been widely published in outlets such as The New York Times, New Yorker, The Economist, The Guardian and a variety of scholarly journals.
Burnett first sparked conversation across the Iona community last year, presenting both in Bronxville and New Rochelle as part of the University’s Presidential Speaker Series. During his talks, Burnett underscored the dangers of “human fracking” and articulated the value behind the development of what he refers to as “attention sanctuaries.”
These ideas were further argued in Burnett’s recent Op-Ed in The New York Times, titled “The Multi-Trillion Dollar Battle for Your Attention is Built on a Lie.” This January, Burnett and The Friends of Attention also released their first book, “Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement,” which Iona faculty have been among the first to preview.
EXPLORING ATTENTION
As students were still readying to return to campus, an intimate group of Iona faculty gathered in Iona’s newly renovated Gabelli Center for Teaching & Learning to delve into the winter symposium and explore the topic of attention.
During the lecture portion of the event, Burnett challenged the audience to not only reflect on how an individual may struggle with attention, but to examine how the world interacts with varying attention spans in a society heavily influenced by easy access to digital media. As the presentation shifted to an immersive exchange, Burnett encouraged the audience to explore attention’s place in higher education.
SoRA co-founder and program director Peter Schmidt also led faculty in several attention-based thought exercises, challenging participants to see how they interact with their own attention and with that of others, as well as how these interactions are relevant to the practice of teaching and learning.
Tricia Mulligan, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, said the aim of the symposium was to explore how attention and development have shifted, how trust and interest can be intentionally built in the classroom, and how faculty might design learning experiences that recognize and enrich the realities today’s students face.
“Across higher education, we’re all experiencing how much harder it has become to hold student attention. Not because our students are disengaged or unmotivated, but because they are living—and learning—in a world that is engineered to fragment focus. Constant connectivity, rapid-paced digital environments, and the pressure to always be available means learning now competes with phones, notifications, and a culture that makes sustained attention feel almost countercultural,” Mulligan said. “And this challenge isn’t just about students. It’s about us, too. Our own attention is under pressure, and that matters, because how we attend shapes how we teach.”
LEADING CONVERSATIONS
The symposium also featured presentations from Iona faculty members. A discussion titled “Adolescent Development and Attention in the Digital Age,” led by Dr. Christy Solorio of the Nursing Department, examined the shift in adolescent attention patterns in recent years, addressing how growing up in rapid-paced digital environments has affected the engagement of college-aged learners.
Additionally, Dr. Ivy Stabell of the English Department and Rob Kissner of the Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation led a two-part session titled “Building Interest, Trust, and Attention in the Classroom.” Participants explored practical, experience-tested strategies for fostering student engagement across disciplines, leaving with adaptable strategies that can be applied in their own classrooms.
Iona’s Attentional Campus Initiative will feature monthly workshops and conversations for both faculty and students that will run in collaboration with SoRA. The first term will culminate with the dedication of a new Upper Green on Iona’s New Rochelle campus, which President Seamus Carey, Ph.D., has announced will be a device-free space.
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of 55,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Nursing & Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona also continues to be recognized in prestigious national rankings. Most recently for 2025, Iona has been named one of the nation’s best colleges by The Princeton Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and others. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report recognized Iona as one of top for social mobility in the country, while Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ranked an Iona degree in the top 6 percent nationally for long-term return on investment. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business, meanwhile, is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just 6 percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review once again named Iona to its “Best Business Schools for 2025,” recognizing both its on-campus and online MBA programs. Connecting to its Irish heritage, Iona also opened a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland, located on the historic 400-acre Westport House Estate. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.