The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) will present its second annual Distinguished Guest Lecture in Jesuit Pedagogy, featuring M. Shawn Copeland, Ph.D., associate professor of theology at Boston College. Copeland is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards, including Barry University’s Yves Congar Award for Excellence in Theology, and the author of two books. She describes teaching in the Ignatian tradition as “accompaniment,” whereby one takes up a position beside one’s student. Her lecture on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. in the 12th-floor Lounge/Corrigan Center at the Lincoln Center campus will sketch some dimensions of accompaniment in teaching and service learning.
]]>Fordham’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) will host two special events on March 25 and 26designed to help faculty members answer that question.
The agenda includes a Friday, March 25 lecture, “Researching the (Disconnection): Developing Advanced Language Proficiency in the Foreign Language Literature Class,” by Richard Donato, Ph.D., associate professor of linguistics and chairman of the Department of Instruction and Learning at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education. The lecture will be held at 3 p.m. in Campbell Commons, on the ground floor Campbell Hall.
On Saturday, March 26, Donato will offer a hands-on workshop for faculty members on “making language, literature and culture connections.” It will take place at 10 a.m. in the O’Hare Special Collections Room in the William D. Walsh Family Library.
Donato is the recipient of several awards in foreign language research and teaching.
“This is the first of what we intend to be a yearly series of foreign language pedagogy workshops,” said Erick Kelemen, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of English and assistant director of Fordham’s CTE. “Moreover, we hope the event provides a model for other faculty units to develop programming with the CTE as well, on those topics that they want and need.”
Kelemen added that these workshops very possibly include some “crossover appeal for professors in English and in classics, and to people in the Graduate School of Education.” The event is co-sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (MLL).
The CTE was launched at Fordham in 2008 as a comprehensive resource center for the University’s faculty, aimed at helping faculty foster ideas, find support and share or receive guidance and mentoring. Kelemen said that plans are underway to sponsor a workshop with the Gabelli School of Business, and that new initiatives to tailor more department-specific faculty workshops are welcome.
“We’d like to get the word out that the CTE is here to provide support, connections and to lay groundwork for faculty to run their own pedagogy development programs,” he said.
For more information, contact the CTE via email ([email protected]) or on the web or email Susan Dudash, Ph.D.
]]>The center, designed by a planning committee made up of University faculty and administrators, was created to help propel Fordham to even greater national prominence among higher education institutions, said Stephen Freedman, Ph.D., senior vice president for academic affairs/chief academic officer.
“This is not a center that was given to us. It’s something that we wanted; that we asked for over time,” Freedman said. “It’s a place for us to grow together as colleagues and in which all of us can integrate our work.”
The CTE will provide three main resources for the University’s faculty:
- A Web site, in which faculty can use to find information on topics as diverse as writing a syllabus to using a Smart Board in class.
- An ongoing series of discussions and symposia about different aspects of teaching pedagogy. The first discussion, on students in crisis, is planned for next month and will be led by John Cecero, S.J., Ph.D.
- Individual consultation designed to help faculty share best practices and classroom techniques.
Anne Mannion, Ph.D., associate professor of history, has been tapped to direct the center.
“This goes to the core of what we’re about at Fordham,” Mannion said. “We’re talking about the idea of how you go about the art of teaching. We’re helping faculty find their own voices and get out of their comfort zone.”
Christopher Toulouse, Ph.D., visiting assistant of political science, will serve as the program coordinator for CTE.
“Technology has clearly changed teaching,” Toulouse said. “We’re aware of our students’ expectations and we’ll be helping faculty make connections with the facilities and technology the university provides.”
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The Regional Educational Technology Center (RETC) is dedicated to serving and researching the professional development needs of educators striving to improve student and teacher performance. The center’s award-winning programs serve educators across grade levels and contexts, providing in-class and distance learning opportunities. These efforts span K-12, adult education and higher education settings. Programs engaging K-12 educators particularly emphasize educational technology. The RETC was established, in part, through a $9 million grant as part of the New York State’s Higher Education Applied Technology Legislation of 1995. For the most current information about Fordham’s RETC events, visit the RETC website, www.retc.fordham.edu, and view the e-newsletter.
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