Below you may find information about past events, workshops, and programs held at the University's Center for Teaching.

For more information on events, contact the center at: centerforteaching@sewanee.edu.

Quiet Co-Working Hours at the CFT.

Quiet Co-Working Hours in the Center For Teaching

Mondays- Fridays, 8 AM -10 AM and 2 PM - 4 PM

Swipe in with your ID card and be our guests! Right now, we’re reserving the space between 8-10 and between 2-4 on weekdays just for this purpose.

 

When you do, please sign our guest book (which we’ll set out by the candy bowl) and let us know when (and, if you like, how) you used the space. Please sign in whether or not you popped in during these new designated hours.

LUNCH DISCUSSION: INDIGENEITY IN THE CLASSROOM

LUNCH DISCUSSION: Indigeneity in the Classroom

Thursday, November 17, 12:00-1:00 CST, Center for Teaching

with special guest, author and professor, Debra Earling, moderated by Lisa Burner (Spanish). 

 

The Trouble with Textbooks: A Roundtable Lunch Discussion

Tuesday, November 15
12:30pm-1:30pm

Center for Teaching

 

Come to a CFT lunch and hear from three of your colleagues talk about their experiences using Open Educational Resources, low-cost books, or no textbook at all! After our three storytellers, we’ll invite everyone to participate in a roundtable discussion about the cost of taking classes at Sewanee and what we all want to do about it.

TRANS TEACH-IN: TRANSGENDER AWARENESS WEEK (NOV. 13-19)

The Division of DEI has kindly offered to promote the Teach-in and help with organization and logistics. If you are interested, even if you are not sure exactly what you would teach, please contact Matt Irvin, Stephanie McCarter, or Eric Thurman, who are happy to talk over possibilities.

PANEL: INCORPORATING STUDENTS INTO YOUR RESEARCH/SCHOLARLY ACTIVITY AND CREATIVE ENDEAVORS

Wednesday Oct. 26, at 4:00 PM

Center for Teaching, duPont

This program is co-sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Center for Teaching.

TEACHING OPEN HOUSE: HOST SIGNUPS THROUGH NOVEMBER 1

Treat yourself, and carve out an hour to spend learning something from a colleague alongside your students. And open your doors in the spirit of collegiality and common cause!

TEACHERS’ TABLE - TOPIC: ATTENDANCE POLICIES

 

Tuesday October 25, 12:30 PM-1:30 PM  McClurg meeting room 206B (upstairs)

This week you’ll have another chance this year to attend a Teachers’ Table! Join a casual session over lunch time to share ideas and connect with colleagues.

TEACHERS’ TABLE - Topic: Supporting Student Athletes

Thursday October 13, 12:30-1:30  McClurg meeting room 206B (upstairs)

The topic this time will be Supporting Student Athletes. Many, many of our students are here because they want to push themselves not only in the classroom but also on the court, the field, the road, or the pool.

PANEL: Incorporating Students Into Your Research/Scholarly Activity and Creative Endeavors

Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 4:00 in the Center for Teaching

This program is co-sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Center for Teaching.

DISABILITY 101 (RESCHEDULED) HOW TO BE AN ALLY: ETIQUETTE, AND ADA HISTORY WITH MATT BROWN, DIRECTOR OF STUDENT ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES

DISABILITY 101 (Rescheduled) HOW TO BE AN ALLY: ETIQUETTE, AND ADA HISTORY with Matt Brown, Director of Student Accessibility Services

Wednesday, October 5th, 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM

Center for Teaching, duPont Library

This training will be a condensed version of an ally training that has been presented on a national level through the Accessing Higher Education and Disability conference. The training will cover topics such as disability history, accommodation vs accessibility, and disability etiquette.

 

MINI-WORKSHOP: TOPIC: "DEVELOPING AND USING CASE STUDIES TO ENGAGE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS" WITH KATE CAMMACK

Mini-Workshop: Topic: "Developing and using case studies to engage critical thinking skills" with Kate Cammack

Tuesday, October 4th -- 12:30 PM-1:30 PM,

duPont Library, Center for Teaching

Interested in using case studies in your class, but not sure how to get started writing, incorporating, and/or assessing them?

PANEL: TAKE HOME EXAMS

Thursday, September 29

duPont Library, Center for Teaching

 

Midterm exam season will soon be upon us, and Kartik Misra will lead a session to help us with strategies for using take-home exams.

 

TEACHERS’ TABLE - TOPIC: ASSESSMENT

Wednesday, September 14, 12:00pm-1:00pm.
McClurg 206B

The topic this time will be Assessment: What has changed in your approach to assessment? How do you talk about it with students? How does assessment help students feel welcome, ready and able to learn?

Student Success Portal Training

The Student Success Portal is a new, user-friendly technology developed to streamline the information available about students registered in your classes and your assigned advisees.

Teacher's Table: Class Participation

Tuesday, August 30, 12:30pm-1:30pm, McClurg Meeting Room 206B (upstairs)
Join a casual session over lunch time to share ideas and connect with colleagues. Our conversation will focus on that sticky wicket, class participation.

TEACHERS’ TABLE - Topic: Wins & Challenges

Our conversation will focus on what has gone well in the classroom this past year and what has been especially challenging. Did you try something new? How did it go?

TEACHERS’ TABLE - Topic: Encouraging Self-Reflection on Learning

How can we, as teachers and as advisors, encourage students to reflect on their learning in individual courses and their academic development over their college years? Lunch is on us!

DEPARTMENT and CURRICULUM ENHANCEMENT PANEL/ROUNDTABLE

Our panelists from Politics and WGS will talk about the work their departments have been doing, the challenges they have encountered, and some of the ideas they have come up with in the process. 

Sharing is Caring - An FTC Workshop

If you are curious about how you can more confidently and efficiently use cloud sharing services (especially in your Google account), join us for a 30-minute refresher (with 30 minutes for individual questions after) on cloud sharing and Google Drive in the CFT or online.

Volunteer for the Celebration of Teaching 2022

The Celebration of Teaching will be a week in late March devoted to crossing disciplines, visiting colleagues’ classrooms, and enjoying getting out of your zone so we can all appreciate the good work that professors do day in and day out.  This works if faculty are willing to have a couple of visitors in class. Any discipline, any rank, and level of experience - we want it all!

TEACHERS’ TABLE Topic: Rigor

Join a casual session over lunch time to share ideas and connect with colleagues. With all the flexibility that faculty nation-wide have added to their courses during the pandemic, some voice concerns about “rigor.” What is at the heart of these concerns?  How do we feel about rigor?

ROBERSON PROJECT TOOLKIT

Have you ever wished you knew more about the Roberson Project, or wanted to talk about it in your classes but not known where to start? The Roberson Project is hoping to create a “toolkit” of resources for faculty to use in the classroom, but they need your help in determining what kind of tools would be most useful.

TEACHERS’ TABLE Topic: Classroom Participation

Join a casual session over lunch time to share ideas and connect with colleagues. Is student energy in your classrooms starting to wane? Have some students consistently avoided engaging? The topic for discussion will be classroom participation.

STUDENT PANEL on MENTAL HEALTH in the CLASSROOM

The Order of the Gown has organized a student panel to share some experiences and perspectives on mental health issues in the classroom at Sewanee and discuss what strategies faculty might consider for students who need support.

Harm Reduction in the Classroom with Dr. Carlton Green, U Maryland

None of us in higher education intentionally sets out to harm others in our roles as instructors, yet we are all capable of harming others. Once aware of such an injury, how do we recover the relationship? This workshop will cover important steps to repairing when we make a mistake.

TEACHERS’ TABLE Topic: Discussing Difficult Content in the Classroom

The topic for discussion will be leading classroom discussions of challenging material. We’ll discuss what has worked well and what has not proven successful.

TEACH & TELL: Reacting to the Past with Leslie Todd and Amy Patterson

(RTTP) is an active learning pedagogy of role-playing games designed for higher education. Come along and hear about the experience of Sewanee faculty who have used RTTP in their own teaching!

TEACHERS’ TABLE Topic: Structuring Effective Independent Studies

Join a casual session over lunch time to share ideas and connect with colleagues.  The topic for discussion will be how to make the most out of an independent study. 

INCLUSIVE TEACHING: The Little Things Count!

Making our classes more inclusive is an ongoing process: there's always more to be done, and it's never too late to start! 

CONTENT REVIEW through IMPROV

And now for something completely different!  Improv offers a fun, interactive way to reinforce and review course content and major concepts while promoting collaboration and active listening.

GRADING for GROWTH with Anne Duffee

“Grading for Growth” refers to a grading scheme (sometimes referred to as specifications grading, mastery grading, or standards grading) in which student work is assessed directly on whether the assignment’s standards have been met satisfactorily, with potential for reassessment when deemed unsatisfactory.

QUEERNESS in the CLASSROOM

Student representatives from the Q&A House, Spectrum, and the Order of the Gown will share some experiences and perspectives on queer identities in the classroom at Sewanee and discuss what faculty can do to make our classes inclusive for all of our students.

TEACHING WORKSHOP FELLOWSHIP for EARLY-CAREER FACULTY

The Nielsen Center for the Liberal Arts at Eckerd College in Florida invites applications from early-career faculty at small liberal arts colleges for a sustained learning community.

The VOCATION of the LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATOR

The Nielsen Center for the Liberal Arts at Eckerd College in Florida is hosting a national virtual conversation on the liberal arts educator.

STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH with Ashley Liston-Avnaim

Ashley Liston-Avnaim, Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, will share some data and perspectives on some of the mental health challenges Sewanee students are facing this semester and what faculty might be able to do to help.

DEPARTMENT and CURRICULUM ENHANCEMENT PANEL

We're all thinking about what it might mean to enhance our curricula right now, but did you know that the CfT offers grants each spring to support departments in undertaking this work?

GRADUATE SCHOOL: Advising Students and Writing Recommendation Letters

Don Asher, author of Graduate Admissions Essays, has interviewed thousands of graduate students and admissions directors to determine the strategies that are most successful in getting students into graduate programs.  For faculty, he will provide guidance in advising students about graduate school options and in writing effective letters to support their applications.

HONORING NAMES: A Simple Way to Promote Belonging

This webcast from Academic Impressions goes further to discuss a brief history and negative impact that mispronouncing names has on international students and individuals who are given names that are not common in North America.

A FEARLESS FRAMEWORK for INFUSING INCLUSION

How can equity and inclusion be infused throughout all courses we teach? What can inclusive pedagogy look like in the classroom across disciplines? 

New Tools for Student Research

Do any of your classes require students to conduct independent research?  In this session, Sewanee research librarians Linnea Minich and Courtnay Zeitler will showcase some of the work that they have been doing over the past year to help students get the most out of the research process.

Faculty Flash Presentation Showcase 2021

Join us for the 3rd annual Faculty Flash Presentation Showcase! Our faculty will give four minute presentations on their current research.

Discussion on COMPS

Have you ever wondered how other departments and programs structure their comprehensive assessments?   Is your department poised to consider changes to your comps process?  Come join the discussion to exchange some ideas. 

IN THE CLASSROOM with the VICE-CHANCELLOR

Before Reuben Brigety took on the role of Vice-Chancellor, he was a professor engaging with students in and out of the classroom.

WEBINAR with MAYS IMAD - Leveraging the Neuroscience of Now: Toward Healing & Recovery

A webinar with Mays Imad on trauma-informed teaching and learning will focus on the critical opportunities that tragic suffering and loss present to educators. 

DISCUSSION with CIA VERSCHELDEN

Dr. Cia Verschelden, author of Bandwidth Recovery: Helping Students Reclaim Cognitive Resources Lost to Poverty, Racism, and Social Marginalization, will talk about strategies and interventions that help students regain cognitive resources to learn and thrive. 

THE UN-SESSIONS: Less is More

Since burnout is such a significant concern for so many of us, we thought about hosting a CfT session on the topic, but then we realized that loading on another Zoom meeting might not be the best way of dealing with an overload.  Instead, we present: the CfT un-sessions!

Student Perspectives Survey Results

What is it like to be a student these days?  What is getting in their way as learners?  What is helpful?  What do they wish we knew?  We’re surveying a sample of students to find out.

Sewanee’s Variations on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

At Sewanee, we have people engaging in such inquiry in a wide variety of ways.  In this session (with the help of a few special guests) we aim to acknowledge what is being done and encourage more engagement.

Executing Plan B: What to do when classroom plans get derailed

We hope you have never had a classroom projector fail to shine, a Google doc that wouldn’t share, a Brightspace feature that could not be coaxed into the light.   But you probably can imagine a tech-related crisis during class and the panic that comes with it!  Adam Hawkins will lead this session on “what to do!”  Come for the war stories and the creative fixes!

DISCUSSION: MAKING THE MOST OF OFFICE HOURS

Office hours can be a means of building community in your classes as well as achieving your course goals. Join us to share what has or hasn’t worked and to explore other options.

DISCUSSION SESSION - Online Discussions and Breakout Groups

Maybe you’re trying to make your online discussions more engaging or your breakout groups more effective?  Key to these online class logistics is planning!  Join us to share what has or hasn’t worked and to explore other options.

DISCUSSION SESSION - Assessment and Grading

Thinking about how you might adjust your assessment of student work this spring?  Want to float some ideas?  We are making a virtual space for that, and we’ve invited a few ringers to participate too.

FACULTY PANEL - Online Exams

Final exams are hard enough, and this term, they are online.  How does one orchestrate this when the exam includes identifications? Translations? Equations?

FACULTY PANEL - Tweaking Simulcast Classrooms

Amy Patterson, Sean O'Rourke, and Emily Puckette will share their experiences using student assistants, virtual whiteboards, and other techniques.

Lunch Session (October 20)

We’ll open with a discussion of Betsy's report on the experience of our remote students this fall and considerations for the spring.

Faculty Panel - The Modified Tutorial Model

Faculty who are currently implementing different variations on the tutorial model will share what they have learned in the process.

BURNOUT: How to Identify and Address It

Join Drs. Ashley Liston-Avnaim and Nicole Noffsinger-Frazier, to learn more about the clinical symptoms of burnout for the first half of this session, then break into groups with colleagues to discuss ways to address it.

FACULTY PANEL - Teaching in this Political Climate

While we may be isolated by COVID and focused on our academic work, the political climate is nearly impossible to ignore. 

FACULTY PANEL - The Pros and Cons of Various Teaching Modes

How do you plan to teach your classes next semester?  Maybe you’re interested in a tutorial style?  Wondering about switching from a tent to a hybrid room?  Perhaps you just want to tweak your online courses?

GRADUATE SCHOOL ADVISING: Facilitated by Don Asher

This event is for faculty advising students who are considering graduate or professional school.

WATER COOLER for Faculty Teaching (fully or partially) Online

How is it going building community online?  Keeping students engaged while remote?  Enjoy your lunch break with colleagues who are also teaching online to share experiences and ideas. 

Brightspace Grading and Tests Workshop

Come join our faculty support staff for two Brightspace grading and test workshops next Thursday and Friday (Sept. 24-25).

Water Cooler Discussions for Faculty Teaching

Join us Thursday, September 17, for in-person or line options to discuss faculty teaching.

STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH with ASHLEY LISTON-AVNAIM

Ashley Liston-Avnaim, the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, will share her perspective on some of the mental health challenges Sewanee students are facing.

FACULTY PANEL: New Tools & Tips to Share

Looking for a few good ideas for your classes? 

BYOC&C (Bring Your Own Chair & Chat)

Take a mid-day break and join us for some F2F time with colleagues!

Solidarity Session over Lunch

Join us for lunch time with colleagues!  Grab your virtual picnic blanket, and Zoom on over to join one of the very well-distanced small groups to enjoy conversation over lunch.

Practicing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Higher Education

Practiced under many different names, culturally relevant pedagogy is an approach to teaching that purposefully challenges androcentric, Eurocentric, and heterocentric knowledge.

BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair & Chat)

Join us for some F2F time with colleagues!

Brightspace Deep Dive Workshops

The University's faculty support staff offers longer, tool specific workshops on our new LMS D2L/Brightspace beginning July 16. 

Changing the Game: Radical Course Design and the Grading Question

In this two-week mini-course facilitated by Dr. Stephanie Batkie, we will revise assignments to create transparency around grading and experiment with a number of alternative grading schemas, while also gaining experience with BrightSpace.

Move My Blackboard Course Into Brightspace!

As we prepare to make the transition from Blackboard into Brightspace, the University IT staff needs to hear from you!

Workshop: Getting Started with Brightspace

Welcome to our new Learning Management System, Brightspace! In this session the faculty support staff will cover the basics of using the new system.

It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way: Rethinking Grading and Assessment in Hybrid Course Design

This is a two-week, online mini-course that will discuss how to approach grading and assessment in the hybrid or remote classroom.

Course (Re)Design Experience: July 6 - July 10

This year our Course (Re)Design Experience will occur over a period of a week, and we will focus on helping you develop your courses through the framework of “backward design" while keeping in mind the logistics of inclusive instruction in remote settings.

Workshop: Creating Videos with Panopto

Faculty Technology Coordinator Adam Hawkins will be covering setting up Panopto (downloading the software and logging in) and the basics of making videos (including editing and adding captions).  In addition he will demonstrate how to import Zoom recordings.

Opportunities Through the CFT

The CfT panels and the sessions led by external consultants have highlighted a number of areas where we have ideas to share and we have questions to ask.

Workshop: Using Virtual Whiteboards with Emily Puckette and Cynthia Gray

We will demo some options available (using Zoom's built-in whiteboard and a tablet/app combo) and provide step-by-step instructions for using a tablet and the app Notability as a virtual whiteboard.

“Bridging the Distance” webinars offered by the Appalachian College Association

Sewanee is a member of the ACA which is offering these webinars on a range of topics such as student engagement and motivation online. You can see the list of options here.

Webinar “Better Students Engagement during Covid-19”

This webinar is offered by the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the leaders are highly recommended by Betsy Sandlin.

Workshop on Teaching Writing: Online Possibilities

This workshop is intended to offer participants some practical ideas for how to work with writing instruction in an online or hybrid environment.

Office Hours with Prof. Jennifer Thompson

This is an opportunity to follow up on Prof Thompson’s presentation (May 13) when she discussed “Is there a right way to teach online?”

Panel & Discussion on the Remote Experience, Round II

With Al Bardi, Stephanie Batkie, John Marshall, and Jason Rosenberg.

Facilitating Meaningful Online Interactions

Fisher and Anna will provide an opportunity for faculty to reflect on teaching remotely and to develop strategies for maintaining connections with colleagues and with students.

A Framework for a Community of Learners in Online Environments

With her background that combines a small liberal arts college setting and the scholarship of teaching and learning, Dr. Chick will share her experience in remote teaching.

Panel & Discussion on the Remote Experience

What techniques, tools, or practices did you adopt that you would use again?

Is There a Right Way to Teach Online? with Prof. Jennifer Thompson

Join us for a workshop about teaching online.

Stories from Remote Land

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…  Tell us your stories! We are hosting a virtual “teach & tell.” 

Join the CFT Advisory Board

The Center for Teaching is looking for one new member for the Advisory Board to serve a five-year term beginning this fall.

The Politics of Teaching English Grammar

The teaching of ’Standard English’ has long been a method of establishing and consolidating cultural power in and out of the classroom.

Teach & Tell: Making Connections Outside the Classroom

At this Teach & Tell, Kate Cammack will share her experiences incorporating a service-learning experience into her laboratory course (PSYC350 Drugs & Behavior).

Conversation with Civic Engagement Faculty Fellows

Mark Hopwood and Eric Keen will share their experiences teaching new civic engagement classes.

Teach & Tell: Susanna Weygandt

She will share her approaches to designing student assignments, which are inspired by her previous work on a Digital Humanities (DH) project designed for using historical Soviet literature in the classroom.

A Panel on "Small Teaching"

This panel of participants in the FLC will discuss what they learned and their experience in putting these ideas into practice.

Celebrating Faculty Publications

The Friends of the Library invite you to attend a faculty panel where recently published Professors will share experiences about their research and projects.

Finding YOUR Place -Teaching in FYP

We hope to demystify teaching in the program and to discuss time requirements, course ideas, and any other questions you might have about how you can join us.

A Celebration of Teaching!

The Center for Teaching is excited to announce its second annual Celebration of Teaching Week!

CARE Team Panel - Tuesday, January 28

When you register a concern about a student via the online Student of Concern report or email them to a Dean directly, what happens next?

The CraFT Newsletter - November 2019

Check out our latest issue The CraFT! The Center for Teaching's newsletter on practices, pedagogues, research...and more.

Conversation with the Coaches

What can coaches learn from faculty? And what can faculty learn from coaches?

Developing Competencies and Skills in the Classroom and Beyond

The Office of Integrated Advising and the Career Center invite you to a conversation about competencies and skills our students develop through our curriculum and co-curricular experiences.

Mentored Creative/Scholarly Activity with Students in the Arts and Humanities

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship and the CfT offer an event intended to encourage, guide, and inspire arts and humanities faculty to involve students in the creation of original scholarship beyond what is already happening in the classroom.