Commentary Category
CFT Working Group: Preparing Syllabi for First Faculty Job
Jun. 30, 2022—By Ransford Pinto During the Spring semester, the CFT organized a working group dedicated to supporting graduate students and postdocs who will be new faculty in the Fall of 2022 to create their needed syllabi in advance of the upcoming school year. In the four bi-weekly meetings, participants engaged in activities focused on Understanding by Design for...
The CFT Thanks Our Graduate Teaching Fellows
Jun. 28, 2022—By Ransford Pinto The CFT wants to thank our 2021-2022 Graduate Teaching Fellows for their unwavering commitment to teaching values and for completing their 12 months fellowship. To further the university’s teaching mission, our outstanding Fellows remained dedicated to providing optimal pedagogical consultations to other graduate students and postdocs, designed and facilitated Teaching Assistant Orientation for new...
Queer Teaching, Queer Thriving Learning Community
Jun. 21, 2022—By Joe Bandy Throughout the past academic year, the CFT was honored to co-host with the KC Potter Center for LGBTQI Life a learning community to help faculty and staff better support the needs of LGBTQI students. We discussed a variety of topics ranging from faculty well-being to inclusive teaching, from queer pedagogy to student mental health. ...
CFT Celebrates Certificate in College Teaching Graduates
Jun. 13, 2022—By Ransford Pinto Congratulations to all the graduate students and postdocs who completed the Certificate in College Teaching this spring! The Certificate in College Teaching (CiCT), co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching and the Graduate School, prepares Vanderbilt graduate students and postdocs who wish to gain a clearer, deeper, more active approach to teaching and...
Course Design Institute on Inclusive Teaching
Jun. 7, 2022—By Joe Bandy This May, the CFT hosted its second annual Course Design Institute focused on Inclusive Teaching. Instructors and staff from across campus participated in the event, delving into the scholarship on inclusive teaching and applying it via course design work. Over four days, they met with each other in large and small groups, and with...
Course Improvement Grant Spotlight: “Jazz and Global Ensemble Recording of New Works”
Apr. 14, 2022—by Julaine Fowlin Ryan Middagh, Assistant Professor of Jazz and Chair of the Jazz and Global Music Department, talked about his Course Improvement Grant, “Jazz and Global Ensemble Recording of New Works,” in an interview with CFT assistant director Julaine Fowlin. Ryan will be using funds from the course improvement grant to hire a sound...
Course improvement grant spotlight: “Music Classroom Technology”
Feb. 17, 2022—Bethany Nickel, visiting assistant professor of Instrumental Music Education, talked about her Course Improvement Grant, “Music Classroom Technology,” in an interview with CFT assistant director Julaine Fowlin. Bethany’s project was inspired by her experience last Fall with teaching a short unit on music technology in her Instrumental Methods for Juniors in Music Education Course (MUED3010)....
Come Work at the Center for Teaching
Feb. 7, 2022—Each year the Center for Teaching (CFT) hires a number of graduate students as part of its efforts to mentor and train graduate students, including those serving as teaching assistants or instructors of record here at Vanderbilt as well as those interested in developing teaching skills for future faculty careers. The CFT has several positions...
Junior Faculty Spotlight: Adeana McNicholl
Jan. 10, 2022—The CFT highlights the work of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. In this post, Adeana McNicholl, Religious Studies, talks about some of the lessons she has gained from the Fellowship. I am an Assistant Professor of Buddhist Traditions in the Religious Studies department. My research focuses on Buddhism in ancient South Asia and Buddhism in...
Newly Updated Teaching Guide: Personal Devices in the Classroom
Dec. 16, 2021—The CFT first published a guide on considering how to work with wireless devices in the classroom in 2010. Given the rapidly changing digital landscape since then, this guide has been updated to consider how personal electronic devices (especially laptops) can impact learning in the classroom, and how faculty members may design policies and positions regarding their usage. ...