Hello, all:
As you’ll see below, we’ve got a variety of luncheon events in the coming months! Before I get to those, however, I’d like to announce two writing accountability groups. The purpose of these groups is to support faculty and staff in pursuing their writing and research agenda by carving out time and space designated for writing so that this work doesn’t simply get swallowed by all the other tasks demanding our attention.
The first group is Junior Humanists Write, scheduled for Thursdays from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM in Payne 212 (generally). Anyone interested in attending should email Diego Millan or Beth Staples to get on/be on their email list in order to receive lunch. This group will always meet at that time, and hopefully in that room.
The second group is the Harte Center Writing Accountability Group. It meets on Fridays from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM starting next week, Friday, 23 September. This group meets in either Leyburn Library 119 or 109 (announcements will be sent out each week). Light snacks will be served. No registration is necessary. Contact Paul Hanstedt with any questions.
Please note: There is no official programming for these groups. The point is simply to create an opportunity to refresh our minds by diving into some of the work that rejuvenates us. Bring your laptop (or notepad), pop in your earbuds (or not), and allow yourself the gift of time to write.
Below are the Harte Luncheon events for the term. To register for any of these events, please go here. Have questions? Reach out to Brittany Rose or Paul Hanstedt.
Wicked Conversations | What the Heck IS a Wicked Problem Anyway? | Session #1
Tuesday, September 27th | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Leyburn 119
As a means of priming everyone for the work of the General Education Implementation Committee, the Harte Center is running a series of informal sessions on wicked problems and their implications for course design, teaching, and student work. This first session takes a 10,000-foot view: what is a wicked problem? What wicked problems will our students face? What wicked problems exist in our disciplines and fields—and what does it mean to bring those problems into our classrooms?
Finding the Balance: Supporting Student Wellbeing and Student Learning Session # 1
Thursday, September 29th | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Leyburn 119
The pandemic taught us many lessons about higher education, one of which was to pay attention to the well-being of our students, many of whom are struggling much of the time. As the world shifts to a “new normal,” how do we balance that need with our desire to ensure that our carefully-designed courses are challenging and impactful and that student learning isn’t undermined by any number of uncontrollable personal circumstances? This highly interactive workshop—co-sponsored by the Harte Center, the AIM program, and University Counseling—will explore a number of complex scenarios as a means of prompting all of us to find solutions that meet all of the needs of our students, reflect our individual work in the classroom, and achieve the mission of a liberal arts college.
This session will be offered at two different times, each exploring a different set of scenarios. Come to one or both—we want to hear your voice!
Finding the Balance: Supporting Student Wellbeing and Student Learning Session # 2
Friday, October 7th | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Leyburn 109
The pandemic taught us many lessons about higher education, one of which was to pay attention to the well-being of our students, many of whom are struggling much of the time. As the world shifts to a “new normal,” how do we balance that need with our desire to ensure that our carefully-designed courses are challenging and impactful and that student learning isn’t undermined by any number of uncontrollable personal circumstances? This highly interactive workshop—co-sponsored by the Harte Center, the AIM program, and University Counseling—will explore a number of complex scenarios as a means of prompting all of us to find solutions that meet all of the needs of our students, reflect our individual work in the classroom, and achieve the mission of a liberal arts college.
Creating Opportunities for Effective Peer Response in Our Classes
Tuesday, October 11th | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Leyburn 119
We all know that peer-to-peer instruction can be incredibly powerful. Done well, students will learn both from receiving feedback and from providing it. Done poorly, it can leave both students and instructors frustrated.
This session is designed to provide some core concepts for faculty interested in bringing peer responding—for papers, for posters, for oral presentations, for anything, really!–into their classes. Attendees will come away with useful tips, but also with a sense of the range of possibilities available to them as they seek to implement this powerful learning tool.
Wicked Conversations | Exploring Wicked Teaching | Session #2
Thursday, October 20th | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Leyburn 119
As a means of priming everyone for the work of the General Education Implementation Committee, the Harte Center is running a series of informal sessions on wicked problems and their implications for course design, teaching, and student work. This second session explores the implications of bringing a wicked world into our classrooms: if our students are to have the competencies and capacities to solve these problems, what does that mean for our teaching? For our day-to-day practices? For the assignments we give students?
Please note: Attendees of this session needn’t have attended the previous wicked conversation.
“I Wish Somebody Had Told Me…”: Helping First-Gen Students Navigate Washington and Lee
Tuesday, November 8th | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Leyburn 119
For those familiar with the ins and outs of college life, attending a small liberal arts college can be a dream come true. For those less familiar with the unwritten codes of the academy, the dream can feel more like a labyrinth: confusing, even hostile. This session begins with a panel of current first-gen students describing their experiences adjusting to the culture of W&L. Next, we’ll have a brief presentation on the supports and resources available to students who might find the transition to college challenging, followed by an open-ended discussion: what can we steps can we take—as individuals, but also as an institution—to make sure that all of our students can navigate the complexities of college life?
Leading Difficult Conversations in the Classroom
Tuesday, November 15th | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Leyburn 119
Given the fraught nature of this moment in history, how can we have some of the difficult conversations necessary for preparing our students for the complexities of life after graduation? Are there ways to have these conversations that are both civil and productive without whitewashing realities that demand our attention? What’s more, are there ways to structure our classes so that our students understand not just how to have a productive conversation, but why—and further, that allows them to understand how, they might move into the world as deliberative, thoughtful ambassadors for meaningful, powerful change in a nation desperately in need of such citizens?
Please join us in the first of what will be an occasional series sponsored by the Harte Center.
Wicked Conversations | Exploring Wicked Course Design | Session #3
Tuesday, November 29th | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Leyburn 119
As a means of priming everyone for the work of the General Education Implementation Committee, the Harte Center is running a series of informal sessions on wicked problems and their implications for course design, teaching, and student work. This third session will explore aspects of course design: if we want to graduate students who can respond to complex problems with a lot of moving parts, what are the implications of that for, say, text selection, or syllabus construction? Where and how does grading play a part? How do we hand agency over to students to allow them to develop their own skills?
Please note: Attendees of this session needn’t have attended either of the previous wicked conversations.
Again, please click on the event title(s) to register.