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The Mindful PhD: Revisiting Boice
Mar. 21, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director I’ve been preparing a one-week summer workshop in humanities pedagogy for a few post-docs starting their positions this fall. My partner in this development is one of our Graduate Teaching Fellows, Jessica Riviere, who just dotted her i’s and crossed her t’s for graduating (or “walking”) in May. The confluence of...
STORYTELLING AND THE CRAFT OF TEACHING: Unlocking Your Passion, Monday, March 31st
Mar. 19, 2014—We are delighted to announce that story-teller Clare Murphy, on tour through the United States, will be performing at Vanderbilt on April 1st at 7:00pm in Wilson Hall 126. In conjunction with her visit to Vanderbilt, she is offering a very special workshop: STORYTELLING AND THE CRAFT OF TEACHING: Unlocking Your Passion Monday, March 31...
TAing to Thousands: A Graduate Student MOOC Panel
Mar. 19, 2014—What is it like to serve as a teaching assistant in a course with thousands of students? On February 24, 2014, the Vanderbilt Institute for Digital Learning, Center for Teaching, Graduate School, and Jean & Alexander Heard Library co-sponsored a panel of graduate students (and one undergraduate student) who have served as Teaching Assistants for...
Setting Expectations and Resolving Conflict in Graduate Education
Mar. 18, 2014—Professors Rique Campa and Judith Stoddart, Michigan State University, will lead an interactive session for faculty, teaching an interest-based approach to setting expectations and resolving conflicts among graduate students and faculty. The discussion will focus on ways to identify common interests that can help construct mutually satisfying options. This will be a “train the trainer”...
The Mindful PhD: The Continual Unfolding of Our Work
Mar. 14, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director This week was an especially stressful time of the semester. Some of you are looking forward to spring break, but Vanderbilt’s was at the very beginning of March. The week after break–or, as we often call it, “break”–is hard for instructors and students alike. We see the home stretch in...
A Look at Student Learning Across Campus
Mar. 12, 2014—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director Original research by first- and second-year undergraduates conducted within a biology lab course. Original short stories written for a Spanish course. MRI machines built by engineering students in a design course. Video documentaries created by future teachers to explore social and philosophical aspects of education. Handcrafted creations in which theatre...
The Mindful PhD: About Time
Mar. 7, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director This work of mindfulness–in essence, focusing awareness on the present moment–has me noticing more clearly how I experience time. Despite the best efforts of clocks and schedules, time is a subjective, varying, and malleable phenomenon. In October’s “Stories of the Slow Professor,” I wrote about it from the perspective of how...