E10: Reflecting on Ways to Humanize Our Courses

Graduate students working within the constraints of a given course and expectations of a traditional academic career, may experience a lack of sense of agency. Listen to advice that former graduate students have on ways in which graduate students can continue developing their agency to pursue careers and work of their choice within and outside of academia. We also discussed the value of having grad student TA and instructors in higher ed as well as ways in which they can be better supported in the second part of the 2-part conversation CTL’s graduate professional lead Preston Cumming and I had with the co-editors of the book Teaching Gradually: Practical Pedagogy for Graduate Students, by Graduate Students.Teaching Gradually, Pedagogy by and for graduate students was conceived at Cornell University's Center for Teaching Innovation and how lessons shared by graduate students have impacted the co-editors Dr. Kacie Armstrong, visiting assistant professor of Psychology at Bowdoin College; Dr. Lauren Genova, assistant professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware; Dr. John Wyatt Greenlee, medieval historian turned professional cartographer, running his own business surprisedeelmaps.com; and Dr. Derina Samuel, the Associate director of graduate student development and the international teaching assistant program in the Center for Teaching Innovation, at Cornell University. At the end we also discussed our current inspirations when thinking about education taking place within and outside academia, linked below:What the best college teachers do by Ken Bain (Harvard University Press)Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom by Viji Sathy & Kelly A. Hogan (West Virginia University Press)Teaching to transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks (Routledge Publishing)Radical Hope: A teaching manifesto by Kevin Gannon (West Virginia University Press)Historians at the Movies Podcast by Jason Herbert Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Graduate students TAs and instructors form the backbone of the teaching mission of the university, however their roles and pathways into academia are often unclear for the undergraduate students that they teach. In this episode, listen to former graduate students turned educators within and outside of academia, discuss their pathways into teaching, how the book Teaching Gradually, Pedagogy by and for graduate students was conceived at Cornell University's Center for Teaching Innovation and how lessons shared by graduate students have impacted the co-editors as well-as educators across the country. Teaching Gradually was released in October 2021 by Stylus Publishing Company (Acquired by Routledge/Taylor and Francis group in 2023) as a compilation of short 2000-word essays on practical pedagogy contributed by graduate students across universities in Canada and the United States.Dr. Kacie Armstrong is now a visiting assistant professor of Psychology at Bowdoin College, Dr. Lauren Genova is an assistant professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware, Dr. John Wyatt Greenlee is a medieval historian turned professional cartographer, running his own business surprisedeelmaps.com where he takes requests to make custom maps and Dr. Derina Samuel is the Associate director of graduate student development and leads the international teaching assistant program in the Center for Teaching Innovation, also known as the CTI, at Cornell University. Dr. Preston Cumming is the Graduate Professional Development Lead at CU Boulder, and joined in for this two-part episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Kevin Gannon in-person to discuss his motivation for working in education development as a tenure-track professor of History, what are key principles of inclusive pedagogy, why it is important to continue this work despite pushback from peers, administrators and legislation, how to support students in current times and as instructors how to continue our work with radical hope! We also chatted about his upcoming work - a volume of essays on campuses in crisis and a book titled “Zombie Ideas” in higher education. Our conversation draws from Dr. Gannon’s book titled Radical Hope: A teaching manifesto, published by the West Virginia University Press in the Teaching and Learning in Higher Education series.Dr. Gannon currently serves as the Director of the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence and Professor of History at Queens University of Charlotte, in North Carolina. His writings have also appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vox, CNN, and The Washington Post. In 2016, he appeared in the Oscar-nominated documentary 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay. You can find his writings and other updates on his website thetattooedprof.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are in conversation with Dr. James Lang or Jim as we will refer to him to discuss small teaching, its relevance in higher education, the importance of contextualized knowledge in deep thinking and what small teaching practices are applicable in the age of online learning and AI. This episode's discussion revolves a lot around Jim's book on Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (2nd Edition, Jossey-Bass, 2021), which emphasizes how to "spark positive change in higher education through small but powerful modifications to our course design and teaching practices.” Jim has written extensively on various aspects of teaching in higher education. He is the author of six books, the most recent of which are Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It (Basic Books, 2020) and You can find more of Jim's writing on his website: https://www.jamesmlang.com. Some other books and people referenced in this podcast include:Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby and James LangConnecting in the Online Classroom Rebecca A. GlazierEducator and Philosopher, John Dewey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode marks a transition and new season with a new host - Dr Rachana Bhave, currently working as the Equitable Assessment Specialist at the CTL. In honor of Black History month, both Dr. Bhave & Dr. Scott come together to talk with guest Dr. Antar Tichavakunda (Asst. Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara) about how to cultivate Black joy in the classroom and on university campuses, how social worlds of black students are created, sustained and in some cases threatened in historically white institutions. The conversations are based on Dr. Tichavakunda's book titled Black Campus Life: The Worlds Black Students Make at a Historically White Institution. You can find more of Dr. Tichavakunda's works on his website, at www.tichavakunda.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us in this exciting episode as we introduce our newest team member, Dr. Rachana Bhave! We dive into captivating discussions about the evolving world of teaching and learning in college. This includes Dr. Bhave's personal influences, motivating learners, and small steps to embrace AI in the classroom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Mays Imad, co-author of The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching. We explore the profound impact of humanizing courses and growing our capacity to teach through reflection and navigating trauma. Our discussion sheds light on ways we can transform the educational experience for instructors and learners by fostering a more empathetic and inclusive learning environment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Helen Meskhidze recently completed her Ph.D. in Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of California, Irvine. At UCI, She was a graduate instructor applying trauma-informed practices using empirically-based approaches. In this episode, we define trauma-informed pedagogy and five core principles. These include safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. Join us in learning how you can take steps to build more inclusive learning spaces that tend to the emotional needs of students who are learning and living through trauma. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Dewsbury is an Assoc. Prof. of Biology and Assoc. Dir. of the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University. He is also the Principal Investigator of the Science Education and Society (SEAS) research program, a team blending research on the social context of teaching and learning, faculty development of inclusive practices, and programming to cultivate equity in education.In the episode, we discussed student-centered inclusive teaching practices during the academic term. These include building trust, relationship-building, validation, and equity-mindedness in online and in-person courses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us in this special conversation with two of the four co-authors of The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching! We discuss the book's first section, which explores course design, relevance, rigor, and syllabus design to bring racial equity to college classrooms--regardless of course modality (i.e., in-person, online, or hybrid). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.