Fostering open exchange about teaching and learning among faculty and staff at Hampshire College
Apply now to work with Cathy Luna, an experienced faculty writing coach, for a six week online writing fellowship (May 19-June 30th). There is an option to continue through July and August. Contact Kristen Luschen at kluschen@hampshire.edu for more information.
Faculty Development grants are supported by several awards from foundations and individual donors and may be used to support the production of scholarship and art, and curriculum development during the academic year. There is a call for Hampshire faculty – look for the proposal application in your email from 4/18
Forbes article on Alicia Ellis’ use of Pinterest
Ask people in academia what they think of social media, and you’re likely to hear laments about the rotting of students’ minds. An epidemic of hasty posting, sharing and up-voting creates the risk that no one wants to think anymore. But Hampshire College assistant professor Alicia E. Ellis has come up with an ingenious way of using Pinterest — yes, Pinterest! — to help her students analyze challenging novels, poems and essays.
Session #1: The art of file-building for reappointment and promotion
Thursday, April 14th, 5:00 p.m. in FPH 108
File-building involves much more that compiling the necessary documents and writing a statement. Come learn about what makes a reappointment & promotion file stand out as well-crafted, engaging, and user-friendly. This session features recent CCFRAP committee members discussing their insights about how to create a robust and well-organized reappointment/promotion file. This session will be relevant for all faculty – from new faculty who are eager to know more about the process to senior faculty who are preparing for a promotion to full professor!
Session #2: Fall 2016 Reappointment Information Session
Thursday, May 5th at 2:00 p.m. in Cole 101
This informational session focuses on the timeline and process for those individuals who will be standing for reappointment and/or promotion in Fall of 2016. While any who are interested may attend, this session will specifically benefit those who would like to consider their preparation and timeline for the upcoming academic year.
Congratulations Karen Koehler on the publication of the Art History Teaching Resources website. This is a great resource.
Dr. Sylvia Hurtad
o, one of the foremost researchers in higher education on diversity and student learning (particularly with regard to STEM), will be visiting Hampshire this Tuesday to give the Race Matters Lecture at 4pm. The lecture will address campus-wide conditions that support student learning, critical dialogue, perspective-taking, campus participation and belonging. In addition, Professor Hurtado agreed to give a lunch talk (noon-1:30pm) specifically focused on classroom teaching and advising. I encourage you to take this opportunity to learn about specific strategies and classroom conditions that would support critical and engaged dialogue.
Space is limited to 30 and lunch will be served. If the session becomes full and you would like to be placed on a waiting list, please email me at kluschen@hampshire.edu. You can register at:
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/5080D48AFAD2EA57-inclusive
Chris Tinson, Assistant Professor of African American Studies, is the 2016 winner of the David Gruber Award for Excellence in Teaching. Professor Tinson’s recommendations described his unique ability to facilitate challenging discussions and utilize student questions to guide learning. In doing so, he provides powerful opportunities for education, healing and student development. He is committed to the well-being of all his students, engaging them with relevant, real-world learning experiences in the fields of African American and Africana Studies. Professor Tinson is continuously innovating his field and teaching, posing the hard questions about race and racism in the United States and internationally to his students and peers. He has also served as a mentor and guide for student activists in the Black Lives Matter movement and the Decolonize Media Collective (DMC).
Karen Koehler, the Marilyn Levin Professor of Architectural and Art History, is the 2016 winner of the David Gruber Award for Excellence in Advising. Professor Koehler received high praise for motivating students to accomplish their best work and for creating a supportive and inspiring community of peers and mentors for her students. She sets high standards and supports her students to achieve their goals. Each of the nominations also mentioned Professor Koehler’s Institute for Curatorial Practice, an innovative program that she created to help both students at Hampshire and others outside of our institution to engage with the field of curatorial studies and get connected to internships and jobs. Her crucial support and mentoring of students extends well beyond their time at Hampshire, as many enthusiastic letters from alumni attest.
Join 5CollDH this Thursday, February 25th at 4:30 PM in Frost Library’s Periodicals Room at Amherst College for another exciting speaker: Ben Chang!
Ben Chang (AC ‘98) is an electronic artist and Associate Professor and director of the Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) program at Rensselaer Polytechnic University (RPI). His work explores the intersections of virtual environments and experimental gaming with contemporary media art.
Using materials ranging from immersive visualization systems to modified surveillance cameras, hacked video games, and antique telegraphs, his work brings out the chaotic, human qualities in technological systems.
Chang’s recent projects include a suite of classic games rewritten for the Microsoft Kinect system, a virtual reality environment about remem- brance in memorial of the Holocaust, and “Becoming,” a computer-driven video installation that interchanges the attributes of two animated figures.
Consider applying to the WPI Center of Project Based Learning’s Summer Institute
Alicia Ellis of HACU received a grant for her class Writing from the Diaspora: Readings in Contemporary Women’s Fiction, which ran this past fall. Professor Ellis used various digital tools that encouraged student engagement with the material and close reading of class texts. She has kindly shared information about the project’s process and tools here. You can also see a video of her presentation at last fall’s Blended Learning Showcase in which she discusses the project (Hampshire login required for video).The other grant recipient under this program is James Miller of CS, who will teach a class this spring called Media in Cars. This class will focus on using digital technology, online collaboration, and project-based learning to explore the past, present, and future of media in cars. There is a website with details about the class and the tools it will use here.
Interested? Have questions? Get in touch!
The deadline for proposals for the Five College Blended Learning Program is January 31st, which will be here soon. Any faculty interested in submitting a proposal will need to meet with Asha Kinney in IT to discuss the project before submitting the proposal. If you are considering this program please get in touch soon!
A listing of grant recipients and their projects can be found on the Blended Learning Program website, and we encourage any interested faculty to peruse this information in order to get a better idea of what kinds of projects this program tends to fund.