Teaching in Today's Political Climate (2018)

Friday, October 19, 2018 | Lincoln Park Student Center Room 120 AB

#FFTL2018 | go.depaul.edu/fftl2018

This year’s Fall Forum on Teaching and Learning addressed the complexity and challenges of teaching in a time of increasing political polarization. Based on feedback from previous attendees, this year’s forum followed an “Unconference” format, which gave participants a central role in shaping the day’s events and outcomes. As part of this participant-focused approach, attendees  established discussion topics and engaged in roundtable conversations to identify ways of establishing inclusive, accessible learning environments. 

Example discussion questions included:  

An essential goal of this Fall Forum was to gather as a community to identify ways in which we can address these challenges through our 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.

Materials

Slides from Lightning Rounds

• Slides (and annotated slides) from MJ Davidson
  
• Slides from Ruben Parra
• Slides from Dick Farkas

Participants' takeaways

• View from Twitter
  
• View from Padlet
  

Photos & Video

• View photos on the Teaching Commons Facebook Page
  
• View Video of Welcoming Remarks and Morning Lightning Round (requires Campus Connect authentication)

Unconference Overview 

The Fall Forum will begin with a 45-minute “lightning round” that includes a series of 6-minute presentations followed by roundtable discussions in which attendees will be able to expand on the topics introduced by the presenters. After lunch, attendees will identify additional topics for further discussion and self-organize into groups to share teaching challenges and identify solutions. The unconference will conclude with participants sharing key takeaways from each roundtable discussion with the larger group. 

Agenda