Past Events and Programs

Teaching to Transgress, by bell hooks

Are you wondering if your classroom practices unwittingly support, as hooks states, "White supremacist capitalist patriarchy?” Would you like to challenge essentialist notions that you have been taught are good but that are really just perpetuating capitalist white supremacy and instead engage teaching to transgress? Are you ready to confront your own teaching practices and ...

The Basics of an Inclusive Hybrid Course (New)

How can we include all students in our hybrid classes, so they feel valued and have a sense of belonging? Join this 1-hour workshop to learn ways in which we can use inclusive designed teaching practices to remove obstacles and provide equitable chances for success. You will take away helpful tips to apply immediately to ...

The Commons’ Sustainability Launch Event 

Goodbye, coffee pods and chip bags. Hello, sustainable snacks! The Faculty Commons is aligning with sustainability initiatives all over campus to offer teachers plastic-free, guilt-free refreshments when they stop in to rest, work, or socialize. Join for a demo of our new coffee machine, participate in snack-tasting and a sustainability trivia game, and hear about ...

The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Join facilitators John Passmore (Interior Design) and Deborah Leblang (Art) to discuss Jane Jacobs' influential book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" and the recent documentary "Citizen Jane: Battle for the City.” Both the book and the film provide a scathing critique of mid-century urban renewal policy, as well as offer a positive ...

The Differences between Hybrid and Blended Learning (New)

Join us and learn about differences between hybrid learning and blended learning. This offering will focus on the different hybrid learning models, the benefits of each for students and faculty, and challenges of each that we need to be aware of as we transition. You will take away helpful tips to achieve your learning outcomes ...

The Future is Now: Reflecting on Successes and Challenges of Hybrid Modalities

Have you been teaching in a hybrid modality and feel like you have strategies to share? Are you moving to hybrid teaching and wondering how to get started? Have you struggled moving from one hybrid modality to another? Join us for a discussion, brainstorming, and problem-solving session focused on teaching in various hybrid modalities. In ...

The Gangster We Are All Looking For: Lessons from a Young Vietnamese Refugee (NEW)

Through weekly discussion of lê thị diễm thúy's novel “The Gangster We Are All Looking For,” we will explore a range of topics, including but not limited to the immigrant/refugee experience, trauma/PTSD, family dynamics, and the barriers faced in education, work, and stability by immigrant/refugee communities. Engaging in such discussions will provide faculty and staff ...

The Importance of Course Design – Spring 2022

The faculty in this workshop winter quarter encouraged us to offer it again so more of their colleagues could participate. So, now is your chance! The last two years with remote instruction have challenged how we, as instructors, teach effectively. In the beginning of the pandemic, we scrambled to post our entire courses online as ...

The Meaning of Mentoring— Discussion Group for Faculty and Staff

Have you wondered what it would be like to either be a mentor or have a mentor? Have you wanted to increase your understanding and skills in mentoring to develop personally and professionally? Facilitated by experienced faculty mentors Jill Lustig, Nancy Lane, and Archana Alwar, this hybrid workshop for faculty and staff meets online and two times face-to-face to discuss the nuances, ...

The Ministry for the Future

With so little progress being made to address the climate crisis and with no shortage of post-apocalyptic visions in film, television, and literature, where can we find the hope necessary to imagine a future where our society actually overcomes the climate crisis? Kim Stanley Robinson's latest novel The Ministry for the Future attempts to fill ...