Michael Cunningham

Background

About Michael Cunningham

From 2022 to 2025, I taught the fundamentals of Seismic Learning, a learning management system that helps sales reps hone skills, connect with buyers, and win deals. I used outcome-driven instructional design and storytelling techniques to create engaging experiences that start customers on the road to product mastery. I also worked as a knowledge manager (read: product librarian), writing documentation to help customers use the Seismic platform. By stripping out needless complexity, I wrote self-service articles that helped customers quickly solve their problems and realize the full value of their investment in Seismic's products. Before joining Seismic I enjoyed a 10-year career at Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas) where I worked as a reference and instruction librarian. I coached students on their research skills, taught information-literacy workshops, wrote research guides and tutorials, and published original research. In 2018, I was awarded tenure and promoted to the rank of associate professor. I also served a four-year term as director of the university's First-Year Experience program. In this role I hired and supervised adjunct instructors. I provided curricular leadership and budgetary oversight, and managed the program's administrative particulars. I also planned, organized, and facilitated annual workshops supporting the professional development of program faculty and peer mentors. On four occasions I was an FYE instructor of record, once in a course I co-designed about the cultural history of monsters. My writing has appeared in Centipede Press; Broken Pencil magazine; ROMchip: A Journal of Video Game Histories; First Monday; Portal: Libraries and the Academy; the Charleston Advisor; the San Antonio Express-News; and VGMO: Video Game Music Online.