Fall 2004

1.) August 19, 2004. Participation in the New Faculty Orientation.

2.) September 3, 2004. Workshop for new faculty: the culture of Sewanee, its students, general questions following the first week of classes.

3.) September 17, 2004. Afternoon workshop led by Pete Smith, Professor of Theatre Arts: Voice work and teaching as performance. Followed by reception for all faculty. At a Center for Teaching luncheon last spring, Prof. Pete Smith led us in a lively discussion of teaching as performance. He mentioned the possibility of leading a workshop on vocal technique, and the Center for Teaching is happy to announce that this idea has come to fruition. Pete proposes to do several things:

a) Brief overview of teaching as performance: helpful hints to make your class more effective.
b) Emphasis on vocal techniques: how to render our speech and our reading of text and lecture notes more interesting (75-minute session).
c) Presentation of the season at the Tennessee Williams Center: what our colleagues in the Theatre Arts are planning this year.
d) From 5:00 to 7:00, a reception in honor of the Theatre Arts, for Sewanee faculty and their significant others, including those who are not participating in the afternoon workshop, hosted by the Center for Teaching.
The workshop from 3:00 to 5:00 will be limited to 20 people, so email me now if you wish to participate. I will also maintain a waiting list. If gobs of interested folks can't get in, Pete is willing to do a repeat performance in the spring.

4.) September 30, 2004. Reinhard Zachau, Professor of German and German Studies, presents data on articulation between high school and college language studies ( Results of a National Articulation Survey). Where do our students come from? What courses did our students take in high school and what motivated them to continue their subject in college? Reinhard Zachau participated in a national survey to find out more about why students choose their subject, what interests them and what kind of courses they would like to see in college. The results of this national articulation survey of students of German are interesting not only to teachers of German or other languages, but to all undergraduate teachers who want to find out more about their students' background and interests and why.

5.) October 6, 2004. Session for new faculty: Larry Jones, Associate Dean of the College, will lead a discussion of grading at Sewanee. I have set this up to precede most of your grading for the mid-semester, which falls on October 13 (grades are to be submitted two days later). Greatly facilitating our conversation will be the recently published record of grades from last semester.

6.) October 7, 2004. Session for new faculty: Eric Hartman, from the Dean of Students office, will present us with a profile of Sewanee students. He provides very helpful information about who our students are and how they think!

7.) October 26, 2004. Bethany Lohr, Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology and Counselor, will talk about learning disabilities and how we deal with students’ difficulties in class at Sewanee.

8.) November 12, 2004. Dave Spaulding, Director of Counseling Services: a luncheon discussion of results from his study of alcohol use and students’ stresses in general.

9.) December 3, 2004. Pradip Malde, Professor of Art and Art History, will talk about how he has reworked his Art 103 class, thanks to an Innovative Teaching Initiative grant. Pradip changed the way he teaches the "principles of working with photography, video, digital and interactive art." I encourage you to come in order to glean new ideas about using technology in class and re-working your own teaching techniques.

Easter Semester 2005

1.) January 26, 2005. Participation in the New Faculty orientation. Luncheon provided by the Dean.

2.) Tuesday, Feb. 1, 12:30-2. McClurg Meeting Rooms B/C. Pamela Macfie, Professor of English, will report on the results of her Innovative Teaching Initiative. She retooled her course on Shakespeare last semester to emphasize stage and film performances of his plays.

3.) Thursday, Feb. 3, 4:30. Convocation Hall (RIGHT?). Rick Gordon will talk about service learning. Open to the public.

4.) Friday, Feb. 4, 12-4. Hearth Room/Sewanee Inn. Rick Gordon will lead a workshop for faculty members, giving us ideas about how to incorporate service learning in our courses. Reservations through Jim Goodmann.

5.) Thursday, Feb. 17, 12:30-2. McClurg Meeting Rooms B/C. Charles Brockett, Professor of Political Science, will lead us in a conversation about how to deal with political discussions in our classes and to discuss general concerns about political bias. He will bring up such topics as how to express our own political and religious opinions and how to encourage discussion among students.

6.) Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2-4:30. Convocation Hall (right). Sid Brown, Assistant Professor of Religion and co-sponsorship by the Lilly Foundation and the Center for Teaching: Faculty workshop led by guest speaker Bahia Yackzan. How do bias, stereotype, and power relate to teaching? The workshop will enhance the ability of each participant to recognize his/her own biases and the source of these biases more clearly. Further, methods will be introduced to develop skills in interrupting both blatant and subtle forms of misuses of power and redirect efforts toward better learning. Faculty will leave with a greater awareness of warning indicators of bias and with practical, immediately applicable techniques, including new learning strategies, that apply both in and out of the classroom. Contact Sid Brown.

7.) Wednesday and Thursday, March 2-3, 12:15-2. McClurg Meeting Rooms B/C. “Research into Teaching.” Luncheon series led by several Sewanee faculty members. The topic explores the link between our research and the classroom. What do we work on and how does that work apply to our teaching? Do we share our own findings with our students? Do they participate in our research? Are there topics that are just too technical to present to undergraduates?
Presenters:
Wednesday: Deb McGrath (Biology) and Rob Bachman (Chemistry)
Thursday: Celeste Ray (Anthropology), Troy Prinkey (Spanish), Betsy Sandlin (Spanish--she is focussing on the use of blogs)

8.) Wednesday, Mar. 23, 12:15-2. McClurg Meeting Rooms B/C. Laurie Ramsey will lead a luncheon discussion of how to incorporate speaking skills in our classes: How do we encourage our students to become articulate and prepared for defending arguments and speaking in public? Should we have a formal "speaking requirement" in the curriculum?

9.) Thursday, Apr. 14, 12:30-2. McClurg Meeting Rooms B/C. Richard O'Connor will report on recent classroom research: How do Sewanee students tend to study?

10.) Friday, Apr. 22, 12:15-2. McClurg Meeting Rooms B/C. Jennifer Michael will report on the results of her Innovative Teaching Initiative. She audited Humanities 202 last spring, conducted research on students' reactions to the course, and is now co-chairing and teaching HUMN 202.