Academic Learning Communities

The Center for Faculty Development and Excellence (CFDE) is calling for participants for Academic Learning Communities for 2024-2025.  

Academic Learning Community- Spring 2025

Call for Faculty Participants

“Creating a Culture of Peace: Fostering Respect and Embracing Difference through Value Creation Education”

Conveners: Lydia Fort, Theater Studies, and Simona Muratore, French and Italian
 
This transformative learning community explores how “value creation” pedagogy can empower educators to cultivate environments of mutual respect and understanding.  Value creation pedagogy is a teaching method that encourages students to use their skills to create something of value for their communities. The goal is to help students develop skills like motivation, self-confidence, and empathy. Value creation pedagogy emphasizes the development of students as universal citizens, fostering within them the values necessary for constructive engagement in a diverse and interconnected society.
 
We will delve into Tsunesaburō Makiguchi (1871-1944) and Daisaku Ikeda’s (1928–2023) educational philosophies. Makiguchi, founder of author of The System of Value Creating Pedagogy, held the belief that education serves as the cornerstone for attaining both individual and societal well-being, resiliency and deep fulfillment. He advocated that happiness, and satisfaction emerges through a transformative journey of generating value within one's personal life and interactions with the environment. Ikeda continued the legacy of Makiguchi by demonstrating his commitment to addressing global challenges and empowering individuals to become agents of positive change. His advocacy for dialogue as a means of resolving conflicts and fostering mutual understanding has led to the creation of the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue in Boston, serving as a beacon of hope for building a more harmonious world.

Session Topics

Session 1: Understanding the philosophy of value creation and its relevance to modern education 
Session 2: Incorporating Makiguchi and Ikeda’s principles into pedagogical practices 
Session 3: Leveraging education as a tool for social change and community building by fostering dialogue and empathy 
Session 4: Reflecting on personal teaching philosophies and aligning them with the ideals of value creation education 
Academic Learning Communities are informal seminars that are intended to:
  • engage faculty, graduate students, post docs, and staff in collaborative explorations of innovative research and teaching topics;
  • bring guest speakers to campus to enhance the curriculum and learning; and/or
  • help disseminate important research discoveries and innovative learning strategies to the broader community.

Particulars

  • The Seminar will meet from 5:30-6:45pm on January 28, February 18, March 18, and April 15 and will include pre-workshop readings which will be available over winter break.
  • Possible outcomes of the Academic Learning Community include: the development of an annual two-day workshop for faculty and doctoral students that teach across all the Emory schools and/or other annual workshops.
  •  Each meeting will balance presentations by the facilitator or invited speakers with group discussions of relevant readings and presentations by seminar participants.
  • Up to 20 participants will be accommodated and will include faculty, graduate students, post docs, and staff from across the university. 
 
Apply here
The deadline for application is Friday, November 22nd.
Selections will be announced in early December.
 

Fall 2024 ALC Calls for Participants

Education Abroad: Inclusive and Equitable Student Programming


Conveners Kenya Casey, Deputy COO, Task Force for Global Health, & Hong Li, Teaching Professor, Chinese, REALC  

This Academic Learning Community, designed for Emory faculty and staff who lead and support global activities, highlights proven strategies for inclusivity within international education, ultimately asking the question: “What role can faculty/staff play in helping to curate spaces for transformational identity development within international education?” As leaders of education abroad programs, faculty members' commitment to equity, diversity and inclusivity is critical to the well-being of the program's most marginalized students. Accordingly, this community will highlight opportunities, challenges and solutions related to international education at multiple stages throughout the process: 

  • Outreach, Partnerships, and Marketing 
  • Pre-departure / Orientation session 
  • In-country 
  • Post-trip / Reflection

Topics for the 4 sessions

  • Faculty-led programs: Focus on recruitment, retention, and the examination of various modules and practices.
  • Role of language and cultural competence: Integrate into all types of programs, including the Pre-departure Identity Toolkit. 
  • Strategies and best practices for supporting students while abroad: Implement reflection exercises, engaging local resources, mental health, etc.
  • Engage returnees: Encourage reflections, recruitment, and sharing of experiences.

Particulars

  • The Seminar will meet sometimes in person, sometimes hybrid, and sometimes online from 12:00 noon-1:30 on the following Fridays: September 13th, October 11th, November 8th, and one more time (TBD) once the ALC starts.
  • Possible outcomes of the Academic Learning Community include
    • Enhanced Understanding of Inclusivity and Strategies for Equitable Program Design: Participants will develop a deeper understanding of inclusive practices in international education and their impact on student engagement and program design. They will identify proven strategies to create equitable and inclusive international programs, addressing the needs of marginalized students.
    • Collaborative Leadership Skills: Participants will cultivate collaborative leadership skills necessary for fostering partnerships and engaging in discussions that promote inclusivity within global activities.
    • Comprehensive Program and Student Support: Faculty and staff will learn to create supportive structures across all phases of international programs, including effective pre-departure and orientation sessions that prepare students for diverse cultural environments, best practices for providing in-country support that fosters inclusion and addresses the needs of all students, and strategies to encourage meaningful post-trip reflections that integrate learning experiences and promote ongoing dialogue about inclusivity.
  • Each meeting will balance presentations by the facilitator/s or invited speakers with group discussions of relevant readings and presentations by seminar participants.
  • Up to 20 participants will be accommodated and will include faculty, graduate students, post docs, and staff from across the university.

Apply here 

The deadline for application is Friday, August 30. Selections will be announced in early September. 

Data tools for promoting equitable outcomes in courses

Convener: Chris Beck

The overall goal of this Academic Learning Community is to build on the work of the “Data-Driven DEI at Emory” ALC that took place in Fall 2022, with a special focus on DEI in the classroom. Multiple colleges and universities across the country have developed data tools for use by faculty to better understand the students in the courses as well as the outcomes of students in their courses. The goal of these data tools is to promote equitable outcomes for all students in courses. Based on the experience of faculty and administrators from other institutions, it is important to develop these data tools in-house through intentional discussion of what data are available and what tools might be helpful in affecting change. In addition, these discussions should include consideration of what training should be made available or required of faculty to have access to these tools and leverage the findings to implement change in their classes. In this ALC, we will start by reading articles about how different institutions have used data tools to bring about change at their institutions. Then, we will consider tools developed at other institutions to determine how their structures could be adapted for Emory to be most useful for faculty. The final session will consider the faculty supports that are needed for using potential future data tools for the biggest impact.

Topics and tools to be addressed include

  1. Using data tools to promote equitable outcomes in courses
  2. Understanding degree pathways to determine critical courses for progression to a degree
  3. Course dashboards
  4. Assessment Toolkit and Course Equity Reports
  5. Canvas Gradebook Analyzer
  6. Faculty Supports – Implicit bias, data privacy, and inclusive teaching

Particulars

  • The Seminar will meet with a hybrid format from 12:00 noon -1:30 pm on the following Fridays: September 20, October 4, October 18, November 1, November 15, December 6. Lunch will be provided for in-person participants.
  • Possible outcomes of the Academic Learning Community include: defining priorities for data tools to develop for Emory, specifications for those tools, and guidelines for faculty implementation of new tools.
  • Each meeting will balance presentations by the facilitator with group discussions of relevant readings and exploration of data tools by seminar participants.
  • Up to 20 participants will be accommodated and will include faculty, graduate students, post docs, and staff from across the university.  

Apply here

The deadline for application is Friday, August 30. Selections will be announced in early September. 

Reading Israel/Palestine and Academic Freedom in the Classroom

Conveners: Pamela Scully and Rick Doner

In Spring 2024, we, Professors Doner and Scully, facilitated a one-credit reading course on the history of Palestine and Israel for some twenty students. It was a very successful model and students seem to have found it useful. We also learned a lot, both about the substance of the conflict and pedagogical approaches to it. Faculty asked if we would do something similar. We have also had discussions with various faculty about pedagogy and politics in the classroom. Thus, this ALC. The ALC is open to all faculty as well as any staff who are teaching.
The goals for the ALC 
  • To provide a learning space for faculty who would like to learn about Israel/Palestine from an historical and empirical standpoint. 
  • To provide a space to discuss issues of academic freedom and politics in the classroom. We come at this from different disciplinary and political perspectives, but in the context of learning about Palestine and Israel, we think this offers an opportunity to learn about key themes in the conflict and to grapple with the opportunities and limits of politics in the classroom. 
Readings
  1. Ian Black, Enemies and Neighbors: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017
  2. Paolo Freire, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, selections; 
  3. Teresa Piacentini, “An uncomfortable classroom: The power of politics in pedagogy,” Jan 31, 2023, LSE Blog
  4. Other pedagogical readings as emerge
 
We will read chapters of the assigned book for the first three meetings. We will then devote a meeting to supplemental readings about politics and pedagogy in the classroom. We will reassess then what the final two meetings should concentrate on. We hope to organize a dinner for participants at the end of the ALC.
Academic Learning Communities are informal seminars that are intended to
  • engage faculty, graduate students, post docs, and staff in collaborative explorations of innovative research and teaching topics;
  • bring guest speakers to campus to enhance the curriculum and learning; and/or
  • help disseminate important research discoveries and innovative learning strategies to the broader community.
Particulars
  • The Seminar will meet on six Fridays from 3:00-4:30pm; 9/6; 9/20; 10/4; 10/18; 11/1 and 11/15.
  • Each meeting will balance presentations by the facilitator or invited speakers with group discussions of relevant readings and presentations by seminar participants.
  • Up to 15 participants will be accommodated and will include faculty and any staff who are teaching, from across the university. 
 
Apply here
 
The deadline for application is Friday, August 30. Selections will be announced in early September. 

Academic Learning Communities (ALCs) are seminars that provide opportunities for faculty to discuss topics related to their research, teaching, and intellectual lives. These seminars meet 4 to 6 times a semester for 1.5 hours and include common readings that are posted on Canvas. Each ALC comes with a $2000 stipend.

  • Conveners are responsible for identifying topics and readings, uploading readings to Canvas, and communicating any specifics about the ALC to participants. 
  • CFDE staff are in charge of recruiting/organizing participants, reserving rooms, and providing snacks.   

ALCs can focus on research, teaching, or areas of more general interest in higher education. Past ALC topics include: “Academic Integrity and the Changing Landscape of Higher Education,” “Building a Community of Healthcare Simultation Educators,” and “Creating Relational Accountability Through Indigenous Studies.” The goal of an ALC is not only to develop a more robust intellectual community at Emory around a topic but also to develop some “output.” For example, as a result of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning ALC, we built a better relationship with IRB on SoTL projects, and as a result of the Mass Incarceration ALC, we pulled together resources on faculty and graduate students who research and teach about incarceration in the south onto one webpage. 

Proposals include: 

  • Your topic 
  • A preliminary list of faculty members you would like to invite 
  • Whether you would like to lead your ALC in Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 
  • How many sessions you would like (from 4 to 6 in a semester) 
  • What format your ALC will be in: in person, Zoom, or hybrid
  • What each session would focus on 
  • Ideas for readings 
  • “Goal” or “output” for the ALC  

Previous Academic Learning Communities

Archived descriptions of Previous Academic Learning Communities between 2012 and 2023 are available for review.