‘Teaching Difference and Power’
When Words Won’t Suffice
Oct. 29, 2014—By Ben Galina, Graduate Teaching Fellow Monday, November 3rd at 7:15pm, our learning community will meet at the Center for Teaching to discuss microagressions. For more information, stop by the CFT, check out our website, or email me or my co-facilitator, Brielle Harbin, for more information.
Upcoming Faculty Teaching Visit with Keivan Stassun, Professor Physics and Astronomy Tuesday, October 7th
Sep. 29, 2014—ASTR 205: Principles of Astrophysics Keivan Stassun is a professor of astronomy and the co-director of the Fisk-Vanderbilt MA-to-PhD Bridge program. In ASTR 205, Keivan Stassun guides upper level undergraduates toward a greater understanding of the origin and evolution of matter as well as the tools and methods of astrophysics. Keivan describes his approach in...
A Reflection on Facilitating Conversations on Difference and Power
Sep. 26, 2014—By Brielle Harbin, CFT Graduate Teaching Fellow Conversations about race are often fraught. The remains of past hurts or misunderstandings fill our words with emotion and implicit meanings. Peeling back these layers often reveals hurt, hurt caused by feeling misunderstood or invalidated. These hurts dwell in all of us, even when they go unengaged. We...
Upcoming Faculty Teaching Visit with Ifeoma Nwankwo, Associate Professor of English Thursday, September 25th
Sep. 18, 2014—ENGL 271: Caribbean Literature Ifeoma Nwankwo is an associate professor of English and founding director of Voices from our AmericaTM, an international public scholarship project linking academic research, K-12 curriculum development, and community engagement. In ENGL 271, Ifeoma brings together literature, film and music produced by Caribbean descended communities in the U.S., Canada, England and...
Teaching, Difference, and Power—with Our Language
Sep. 12, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director I’ve been thinking about the role of language in the CFT’s theme of “Teaching, Difference, and Power.” During the first semester of my first faculty position, fresh out of graduate school, I spoke the language of my dissertation. Beautiful (to me) multisyllabic terms, an elegant (to me) theoretical framework...
Teaching Ferguson
Aug. 30, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director This year at the CFT, through our theme of “Teaching, Difference, and Power,” we turn to the complexities of the roles of difference and power in both what many of us teach and how we all teach. In an earlier post, I explored the notion of “educationally purposeful” ways...
Upcoming Faculty Teaching Visit with William H. Robinson, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Wednesday, September 3rd
Aug. 27, 2014—EECE 277: FPGA Design William H. Robinson is an associate professor and associate department chair of Electrical Engineering as well as a recent recipient of an NSF award to examine the critical factors that leave African Americans as one of the most underrepresented racial groups in engineering faculty positions. In EECE 277, he helps students...
Upcoming Faculty Teaching Visit with Larry Isaac, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Sociology Tuesday September 2nd
Aug. 26, 2014—SOC 216: Change and Social Movements in the Sixties Larry Isaac is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Sociology and editor of the American Sociological Review. In SOC 216, he guides upper level undergraduates toward a greater understanding of social movements in the 1960s. During the teaching visit, Larry’s students will be considering the Nashville...
From the Director: Teaching, Difference, and Power
Aug. 14, 2014—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director Several years ago, I read about a line of research in mathematics education that immediately captured my attention. The research indicated that reminding female students of their gender before they took a math exam tended to decrease their exam performance in a statistically significant way. The reminder could be very...
Just in Time for the Fall Semester – Faculty Teaching Workshops August 18 and 19
Aug. 12, 2014—The Center for Teaching is hosting four Teaching Workshops for faculty next week, just in time for the start of the fall semester. Topics include writing multiple-choice test items, designing effective PowerPoint presentations, facilitating difficult discussions in class, and reducing students’ classroom-based anxieties. All faculty are welcome at these workshops, and two of them include...