(Image courtesy of Teaching Commons)
DePaul’s
2018 Fall Forum on Teaching and Learning is just around the corner. Set for Friday, Oct. 19, this year’s event will address the complexity and challenges of teaching in a time of increasing political polarization. All faculty and staff
are welcome to attend. Additionally, BUILD program participants can register for this event and receive credit.
An essential goal of the fall forum is to gather as a community to identify ways in which we can address these challenges through teaching. As educators within the DePaul community, we are called to promote the intentional dialogue and learning that can help us and our students navigate our highly polarized world. By sharing our experiences and insights, we can improve our efforts to bring awareness to social inequality on campus, develop strategies to ensure successful experiences in racially and socially diverse classrooms, and help each other establish a sense of belonging on campus for all students.
“From topics including Edmund Hansen's concept of idea-based learning to Emily Esfahani Smith's philosophical discussion of the power of purpose, year after year the conference brings faculty together to discuss issues that impact our practices, our principles, and, most importantly, our students,” says Nancy LaFever, an instructor of writing, rhetoric and discourse at DePaul and participant in previous years' forums.
Based on feedback from attendees, this fall’s forum will follow an “unconference” format, giving participants a central role in shaping the day’s events and outcomes. As part of this participant-focused approach, attendees will establish discussion topics and engage in roundtable conversations to identify ways of establishing inclusive, accessible learning environments.
Example discussion questions include:
- How do we create classroom expectations that align with the current level of students’ emotional and intellectual development?
- How does our teaching reflect an understanding of social identity development and help us anticipate tensions that may arise?
- How can we integrate inclusive teaching practices in courses where questions of student identity, background and values may seem irrelevant at first glance?
Teaching in Today's Political Climate
Friday, Oct. 19
9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Lincoln Park Student Center, room 120 A/B