FCTL Events Calendar

Upcoming Workshops

RITL Workshop: Reparative Humanism in Higher Education: Examining & Recasting Agreements that Govern Teaching and Learning

The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to partner with the Rhode Island Teaching & Learning (RITL) network to offer a unique opportunity for faculty from across the different Rhode Island Higher Education Institutions to meet and learn about a common topic that impacts institutions across the State.

This workshop will:

• delve into the intricate relationship between trauma, burnout, healing, and our collective human experience, with a special emphasis on the wellbeing of faculty within the academic sphere
• explore how trauma can impact our connection to our intrinsic humanity and discuss the critical pathways to healing that are necessary to reclaim our complete sense of self and community wholeness
• discuss the concept of reparative humanism, a philosophical approach dedicated to mending the human condition through the adoption of humanistic principles

These principles advocate for recognizing the “whole” person and emphasize personal autonomy, self-determination, interconnectedness, social responsibility, and the innate worth and dignity of every individual. Our conversation will expand this concept to highlight the imperative of supporting faculty well-being in higher education, asserting that the well-being of the entire academic community, including faculty, is essential for achieving a truly inclusive and nurturing educational environment.

Each institution is limited to a certain number of participants. Contact fctl@ric.edu for application information; applications close Wednesday, May 1.

Date, Time, Location

• Monday, May 20 from 10 am–2:30 pm
• Bryant College (details forthcoming)
• Facilitated by Dr. Mays Imad, Associate Professor of Physiology and Equity Pedagogy at Connecticut College

Difficult Conversations Workshop

The American Democracy Project (ADP), the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL), and the Office of the President are sponsoring a second Difficult Conversations Workshop. The two-day workshop will be held May 15–16, (two full days, breakfast and lunch will be served each day). Additionally, we are planning follow-up opportunities for those who participated in the first cohort of the workshop last year, and we'll be in touch soon about those!

This year, we are expanding the cohort to include faculty, staff, and students from all five schools. Also, we have broadened the scope to allow participants to choose from two tracks: A classroom-focused, and a campus community/event focused. 

Track A: Dialogic Classroom Workshop (2 days)

This training is designed for faculty and staff who teach in a classroom context. The workshop supports instructors in creating a more open, connected, conversational culture within the classroom. Evidence shows that the dialogic classroom supports: students’ connection to course content, readings, and lectures; a greater willingness to speak and engage new ideas; a willingness to ask genuinely curious questions of others; a greater sense of belonging in class and on campus. The workshop will address the following learning objectives:

• learn how to establish the conditions for the dialogic classroom through the use of agreements, preparation, design, and the use of space - both virtually and in-person
• build connections and trust between students to support difficult classroom conversations
• structure difficult dialogues in the classroom and design dialogue questions to invite narrative, value-based discussion, and complexity.
• use dialogue as a pedagogical tool for reflection, connection to the topic, and the development of conviction and intellectual humility
• use curricular activities as a pathway to more engagement and dialogue throughout campus and local community

Track B: Facilitator Training for Staff, Faculty, and Students (2 days)

This training is designed for anyone who is interested in designing and facilitating dialogues on campus, outside of the classroom. This workshop will support facilitators as they lead campus dialogues in response to campus, local, or world events, and conversations that are integrated into on-campus programming, such as film screenings, guest speakers, and theatre/arts productions. This workshop will address the following learning objectives:

• gain a basic understanding of what makes dialogue across deep differences difficult as well as skills to support more constructive conversations across differences
• learn a basic framework for designing conversations that include many voices, cultures, and perspectives
• build competence and confidence to begin a dialogue, facilitate, and intervene in groups to support authentic and respectful communication or mutual understanding
• build skills to design dialogue questions that foster connection to each other, to a common stimulus (art, film, theatre, lecture series, etc.), and in response to a difficult topic or current event

Contact fctl@ric.edu for application information.

Past Events

Lunch 'n Learn: How Do I WID When There Are So Many Bodies in the Room?

In this presentation, Dr. Mary Baker (Anthropology) and Dr. Mike Michaud (English, Writing Board) will team up to discuss the challenges of adapting WID curricula when there are 25+ students in the room. In particular, they’ll focus on how to use writing as a tool to teach course content and assess student learning without creating additional workload for the instructor. 

Date, Time, Location

• Friday, March 7, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
• offered via Zoom

Lunch 'n Learn: Did AI Write That?

Join Dr. Mike Michaud (English, Writing Board) in this discussion session. We’ll share experiences with and strategies for managing AI in college writing assignments. Faculty who teach WID classes are especially encouraged to attend, but the event is open to all RIC faculty who assign, teach, and grade writing.

Date, Time, Location

• Friday, February 23, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
• offered via Zoom

Lunch 'n Learn: Behind the AI Curtain: Friend or Foe?

Learn the shocking truth with RIC’s own AI expert, Dr. Timothy Henry (CSIS, Cybersecurity Institute). Get a behind-the-scenes look at how AI works. Brainstorm with him and other faculty on ways to use it in classes.

Date, Time, Location

• Friday, February 16, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
• offered via Zoom

Understanding Diverse Learners Video Club

It’s like a book club, but with videos! You’ll have a week to watch a set of videos. This set focuses on: (a) Reaching neurodiverse students, (b) Creating a sense of belonging for BiPOC students, (c) Strategies to create an inclusive environment for gender variant students, and (d) Designing courses to enhance student veteran success. Each video runs approx. 20-50 minutes (total time is just shy of 3 hours). At the end of the week, we will hold a group meeting to discuss the videos and help brainstorm specific ways to implement the strategies in your courses. This will be offered three times during the semester to help accommodate different scheduling needs (you only participate in one of the weeks). Each group can decide whether they want the meeting day to be virtual or in-person. The available weeks are:

• Week 1: Watch videos between February 2-9. Meeting date is Friday, February 9 from 12:00-1:00 p.m.
• Week 2: Watch videos between February 21-28. Meeting date is Wednesday, February 28 from 12:30-1:30 p.m.
• Week 3: Watch videos between March 18-25. Meeting date is Monday, March 25 from 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Choose Your Own AI Adventure

This event is a special opportunity for faculty from CCRI, RIC, and URI to meet in virtual space and explore the uses of AI in the classroom. Participants will be able to choose from among various workshops geared toward using AI to support their teaching and their students’ learning. Examples of workshops offered include: Developing a course (writing a syllabus, developing assignments, etc.); Preparing lessons (creating PowerPoints, interactive learning); Supporting student success (teach students how to use AI in their studying); Maintaining Academic Integrity, etc. Save the date -- additional details are coming soon

Date, Time, Location

• Thursday, January 11 from 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
• offered via Zoom

Design Your Syllabi to Motivate and Engage Students

As you prepare for the semester, consider adjustments in your syllabi to support student success. Several topics will be covered to create a more inclusive syllabus that promotes greater equity and motivation for students. The focus is on strategies that can be more easily implemented before the semester starts. You are encouraged to bring along any syllabus to revise during the session.

Date, Time, Location

• Tuesday, January 9 from 9:00–10:30 a.m. on Zoom, and repeated on
• Tuesday, January 9 from 1:30–3:00 p.m. on Zoom

TILT Assignments for Greater Student Success

“TILT” is an evidence-based technique for making assignment expectations more understandable and transparent to students, which helps them produce better work as a result. Faculty can TILT any assignments in any discipline, whether it involves writing, presentations, solving problems, science labs, group work, reflections, and more.

Date, Time, Location

• Monday, January 8 from 10:30–11:30 a.m.
• offered via Zoom

Course Policies: Flexibility with Accountability

Course policies establish an instructor’s expectations for students; however, at times, they may conflict with students’ needs for flexibility. This session explores ways to build flexibility into your course that support emergent student needs while still allowing the course schedule to proceed as planned.

Date, Time, Location

• Monday, January 8 from 9:00–10:00 a.m.
• offered via Zoom

Engaging Students in Asynchronous Courses

This session highlights three key areas to consider when planning asynchronous courses to enhance student engagement: Engaging students with content, Engaging students with other students, and engaging students with the instructor. It does not address the use of Blackboard, but examines best practices and provides tips that you can implement before the semester starts.

Date, Time, Location

• Thursday, January 4 from 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• offered via Zoom

Mini Course Design Institute: Foundations of Inclusive Course Design

Join the FCTL for our new Mini Course Design Institute on the Foundations of Inclusive Course Design. It will cover several basic areas that will help you either revise an existing course or create a new course based on best practices in inclusive teaching and learning. Among the topics covered are: introduction to inclusive course design, a robust learning objective framework for more significant and enduring student learning, learning assessments, inclusive course policies, and syllabus design. The information is relevant for any course modality (in-person, asynchronous, hybrid), and faculty who complete all sessions in the institute will receive an FCTL certificate on Foundations of Inclusive Course Design.

Date, Time, Location

• Wednesday, January 3 from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
• in person and on campus for this session

Please Note: Seating is limited for the in-person January session. The Institute will be offered multiple times throughout the year and additional modalities will be available.

Past Events

Workshop: Prepare for January’s Early Spring Session

Are you teaching during the Early Spring session? Learn how to adapt a 15-week course to a 3-week session in January. 

Date, Time, Location

• Monday, December 18 from 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
• offered via Zoom
• will be repeated in later Spring for Summer session courses

Advising Workshop: Hope for Students’ Futures

The arrival of the Hope Scholarship brings tremendous opportunity for our students. However, students need guidance on maintaining eligibility, which further elevates the importance of advising. In this workshop, we’ll cover advising practices that are crucial to helping students navigate the eligibility requirements of the Hope Scholarship. Fortunately, the advice we give for the Hope Scholarship coincides with best practices in academic advising, so all faculty advisors are encouraged to attend. This workshop is facilitated by: Mark Medwid (Director of Faculty Advising), Chris Da Costa (Director, Office of Academic Advising), Lindsay Petrarca (Asst. Director, Office of Academic Advising).

Date, Time, Location

• Wednesday, October 25 from 12:30–2:00 p.m.
• hybrid: in person or virtual

Conference: New England Faculty Development Consortium (NEFDC)

The FCTL will sponsor a team of 4–6 RIC full-time faculty to attend the NEFDC conference in October. The theme of the conference is Breaking Convention in Teaching and Learning: "Teaching and learning everywhere is experiencing dramatic disruption, forcing educators to rethink what it means to prepare students for an uncertain future. While some disruptions certainly present opportunities for justice, change also introduces new challenges. How do we intentionally disrupt taken-for-granted conventions of higher learning rather than feeling as though the disruptions are happening to us? What practices have we put into place that work in disrupting conventions?"

We are recruiting a team of RIC faculty interested in attending the conference, incorporating the information into their classes, and sharing the information with other RIC faculty at a future FCTL event (e.g., panel discussion, teaching showcase, or other similar event). Full-time faculty must attend the event in-person, briefly meet with the RIC team before and after the event, and share what you’ve learned in an FCTL teaching roundtable, teaching showcase, or similar event.

Date, Time, Location

• Friday, October 20 from 8:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
• College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA)