(DePaul University/Jamie Moncrief)
A spring tradition at DePaul for more than 20 years, faculty and instructional staff are invited to share what works in the classroom with their peers at this year's Teaching and Learning Conference on May 11. The event is free and open to all DePaul faculty, staff and students.
The theme of this year's conference, "Exploring the Power of Purpose," invites attendees to reflect on a sense of personal meaning and connection to social purpose as educators. What impact does a sense of purpose have on the way instructors teach and engage with students? And how they can help students discover and use their own knowledge, skills, and abilities in ways that not only benefit themselves but also the common good?
Almost 50 DePaul faculty and staff will present 30 concurrent sessions on topics such as:
- What are the benefits of exploring and finding one's purpose in the context of teaching and learning?
- How can attention to teaching and learning help to realize DePaul's Vincentian Mission?
- How can we, as educators, find our own sense of purpose?
- How can your teaching support the common good?
This year's keynote speaker, Emily Esfahani Smith, has extensively researched and
written on the concepts of purpose and meaning. Her first book-length treatment of the subject,
The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life that Matters, offers a theory of meaning involving four pillars: belonging, purpose, storytelling, and transcendence. She draws from the social sciences as well as examples from literature and the lives of others to explain how we can create communities and institutions where meaning is shared and valued.
DePaul Teaching and Learning Conference: Exploring the Power of Purpose
Friday, May 11
8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Lincoln Park Student Center, room 120 A/B