2019-2020 Lunch Hour Reading/Discussion Club
Spring 2020 Book Groups
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"How Humans Learn" Discussion Group
"How Humans Learn"
By Joshua Eyler
Have you ever wondered what drives students to learn? A profound interest in the topic? A personal connection? The desire to overcome previous challenges? Joshua Eyler informs us that it is all of these things and more. Eyler has identified five themes from combing through learning research studies that appear to drive student learning, curiousity, sociality, emotion, authenticity, and failure. This group will use the book as a guide to explore these five themes in the context of research, classroom observations, and instructor insights. Joshua Eyler will be the keynote speaker at the UW System Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning (April 16-17, 2020).
Facilitators:Heather Pelzel, LEARN Center and Biological Sciences & Meg Waraczynski, Psychology
Space is limited
Books provided by the LEARN Center.
Tuesdays 2:00-3:00, Room TBD
Meeting times/dates:
January 28, February 11, February 25, March 10, April 14
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Connected Teaching Discussion Group
"Connected Teaching"
By Harriet L. Schwartz
The relationship between teacher and students essential driver of teaching and learning. Schwartz applies Relational-Cultural Theory to teaching and learning in higher education and asserts that “At a time when many aspects of the faculty role are in question ... the role of teachers is as important as ever and evolving profoundly.” Join us in discussing our lives as teachers and how connection and relationship is part of our teaching.
Facilitators: Barbara R. Beaver, Psychology
Elena Levy-Navarro: Vice Chair
Space is limited
Books provided by the LEARN Center.
Mondays 12:00-1:00, Room TBD
Meeting dates: January 27, February 10, February 24, March 9, March 16, April 6
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White Fragility & Crucial Conversations Discussion Group
"White Fragility"
By Robin DiAngelo
&
"Crucial Conversations"
By Kerry Patterson
This group facilitates workshop sessions that practice conversations about race and racism in the classroom. We are using two books; "White Fragility" and "Crucial Conversations." In the first book, antiracism educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people'. DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively. The 2nd book "Crucial Conversations" is used as a primer for strategizing antiracism conversation, in the classroom and elsewhere.
Facilitators: Crista Lebens, Philosophy and Religious Studies & David Reinhart, Philosophy and Religious Studies
Space is limited
Books provided by the LEARN Center.
Tuesdays 3:30-4:30
Room TBD
Meeting dates: February 4, February 18, March 3, March 17, April 7, April 21
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Fall 2019 Book Groups
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Tools for Teaching Diverse Students Discussion Group
"The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys"
By Dr. Eddie Moore, Dr. Marguerite Penick-Parks, and Ali Michael
You will:
- Develop learning environments that help racially diverse students feel a sense of belonging, nurturance, challenge, and love at school
- Change school culture so that racially diverse students can show up in the wholeness of their selves
- Overcome your unconscious bias and forge authentic connections with our racially diverse students
While the book’s title singles out white women and black boys, Dr. Penick-Parks says it truly is a tool for all teachers to work with students of all backgrounds. “It simply comes down to good teaching,” she said. “I just think it’s an important discussion for all of us to have”
Facilitators: Ozalle Toms, PhD
Space is limited
Book and refreshments provided.
Wednesdays 12:00-1:00 pm, Location UC 261
Meeting times/dates:
September 11, 25, October 9, 23, November 6, 20, December 4, and 18
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Creating Self-Regulated Learners Discussion Group
"Creating Self-Regulated Learners"
By Linda B.Nilson
In Creating Self-Regulated Learners Linda Nilson explores the importance of helping students learn how to step back from content specifics and self-diagnose their own learning processes, efficiency, and effectiveness.
How you learn content is almost as important as learning the content itself, and Nilson provides a long list of specific assignments and activities that instructors can add to their courses to provide students with opportunities to improve these metacognitive and self-regulatory behaviors. If you are interested in helping your students become better learners and/or in exchanging teaching ideas with colleagues, this group is for you!
Facilitators: Dr. Jessica Bonjour, Associate Professor of Chemistry and
Dr. Wesley K. Hough, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Space is limited
Book and refreshments provided.
Tuesdays from 11:00am-12:00pm, UC 069
Meeting dates: September 17, 24, October 1, 8, 15 and 22
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Best Practices in Higher Education: The AAUP Redbook
"Policy Documents and Reports" aka 'the Redbook'
By American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
Come learn about the best practices in higher education. The following is a preliminary list of issues that we will consider. We're happy to revise and/or expand this list based on the group's interest:
- What is academic freedom anyway, and why should you care?
- What is tenure, and why is is necessary for the public good?
- What is faculty governance and why is faculty goverance necessary for a quality higher education?
- What are the best practices for the evaluation of faculty members and consideration surrounding faculty work?
We will read documents from the AAUP Redbook that will answer these questions and reflect on the importance of these policies to the university today. Open to all members of the academic community.
Facilitators: Margo Kleinfeld: Chair
Elena Levy-Navarro: Vice Chair
Space is limited
Book and refreshments provided.
1st and 3rd Wednesdays from 12:30-1:30pm, UC 069
Meeting dates: September 18, October 2, 16, November 6, 20, and December 4
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Erasing Institutional Bias Discussion Group
"Erasing Institutional Bias: How to Create Systematic Change for Organizational Inclusion"
By Jana, T. and Mejias, A.D.
Erasing Institutional Bias will help people tackle structural bias regardless of their positional power. Eliminating systemic bias can seem an insurmountable task from the vantage point of an ordinary individual, yet Jana and Diaz Mejias empower readers to recognize that each of us has the ability to affect systemic bias through a deliberate, coordinated effort. Institutional bias afflicts all industries—including business, education, health care, government, tech, the arts, nonprofits, and finance and banking.
The purpose of the reading group is to have time to read and discuss ideas and topics brought up in this book. This book was recommended to me at a recent American Association of Physics Teachers meeting (Jan. 2019) as a good resource for increasing awareness on diversity issues.
Facilitators: Steven Sahyun
Space is limited
Book and refreshments provided.
Thursdays from 12:00-1:00pm, UC 068
Meeting dates: September 12, 26, October 10, 24, November 7, 21, and December 5
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Black Faces, White Spaces Discussion Group
"Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors"
By Carolyn Finney
Why are African Americans so underrepresented when it comes to interest in nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism? Bridging the fields of environmental history, cultural studies, critical race studies, and geography, Finney argues that the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the "great outdoors" and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces. The book draws on a variety of sources from film, literature, popular culture, and historical events and it highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns.
Facilitators: Jonah Ralston, Sustainability Fellow &
Laura Porterfield, Educational Foundations
Space is limited
Book and refreshments provided.
Mondays from 2:00-3:00pm, UC 068
Meeting dates: September 16, 23, 30, October 7, 14, 21, 28