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Archives: Brown Bag Lunch Discussions, Focus Series Events and
Guest Lectures

 


Guided-Discovery, Cooperative Learning, and Other Radical Tools to Inspire Masses of Disinterested Core Students

Wednesday, April 24, 2002, 3:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m.
Discussion leader: Julian Fleron (Mathematics)

"The focus of my ongoing sabbatical is the development of guided discovery curricular materials for WSC's mathematics for liberal arts course MA0110 - Mathematical Explorations.  I have used this and similar material to develop a highly non-traditional mathematics classroom where there is no lecturing, the dominant form of exploration is guided discovery, and the dominant form of communication is cooperative learning.  Although most students arrive in the course hating mathematics, offered in this way the course has been quite successful.

I would like to share some of these materials with colleagues and give them a sense for how different such a core course can be by going through a 15-minute mock class.  I hope that we can use this experience as a springboard to consider how we can use alternative methods of teaching, assessment, and classroom management to inspire students in our core courses.  In addition to the curricular materials I have developed, I will bring ideas on posters as a learning tool, different forms of notebook quizzes for assessment, etc., and hope that other colleagues will bring their own ideas to share as well."


Using Fast Food Nation in the Classroom
Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 11:30 a.m
George Layng
Teaching Ideas

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, the Campus Book for the 2002-2003 school year, provides some food for thought that is tasty and healthy.  Serving this best-selling study of America's obsession with fast food to your students, though, might not be a simple matter. This discussion can provide you with some suggestions. Prof. George Layng of the English Department, who serves as the coordinator for the Campus Book Committee, will discuss some ways to use the book in a variety of disciplines and for a variety of assignments.
Follow-up Information: Fast Food Nation Teaching Ideas

Poster Idea Swap
Thursday, October 17, 2002   11:30 a.m.
Vanessa Holford Diana, Julian Fleron, Frank Giuliano
Follow-up Information

Curious about how poster presentations can be successfully integrated into your classes?  Interested in hearing about different approaches to assessing posters in large classes?  Do you have experiences using posters that you would like to share? Come join us for this brown bag discussion to generate ideas about all aspects of using poster presentations as part of class assignments.  We have used posters as required assignments in our classes and will be sharing our experiences, our assignments, our assessment strategies, grading rubrics, display ideas, and student reactions.  We hope that you will come share some of your ideas.

From Julian Fleron:


From Frank J. Giuliano:

Many thanks to Vanessa and Julian for sharing all of their great ideas for using and assessing posters in our courses.  We discussed assessment of posters, and I wanted to follow-up our conversation with a few Web sites that have scoring rubrics for posters.  I think the first site is the best one, but they all offer different ways to go about taking some of the subjectivity out of  gradingthese kinds of projects.


Plagiarism Revisited
Thursday, November 7, 2002    11:30 a.m.
Ricki Kantrowitz, Corinne Ebbs, Robert Martin
Follow-up Information

Join administrators and faculty to continue the discussion about the problem of plagiarism at WSC.  How effective is the current policy on academic dishonesty?  What changes would you like to see instituted?  Hear about current episodes of plagiarism, including faculty and administrative action and inaction.  Who advocates for faculty?  Who advocates for students?

Handout: Avoiding Plagiarism  (requires adobe acrobat to read)
http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/Plagiarism.PDF
This two page handout gives clear guidelines to students about when and how to give appropriate credit for information used in papers. This handout was condensed from Purdue University's Writing Lab guide.

 

Testing Wrong Theories
Tuesday, November 19, 2002   12:30 p.m.
Rick Rees
Class Exercises

Critical thinking requires the challenging of ideas.  Unless, however, the student can conclude that at least some challenged ideas are wrong, the true power of critical thinking has not been grasped.  This is particularly important in the sciences, whose strength is in the ability to reject wrong theories, but other disciplines can benefit from this approach as well.  This discussion will explore ways in which this can be used in our classes.  As specific examples from my classes, I offer the following:  a Physics laboratory exercise in which students experimentally test several concepts of Aristotelian physics, and an Astronomy classroomexercise where students test newspaper horoscopes by attempting to identify their(unlabeled) horoscopes for the previous day.

A Trip to Iraq
Wednesday, Jan.29, 2003 11:30 a.m.
John Paulmann (Communication)
Notes from Baghdad

Communications Professor John Paulman recently returned from a four-day trip to Iraq. Join him in the Faculty Center for atimely discussion of his trip.  [If you missed John's presentation, see his summary "Notes from Baghdad" linked above.  See also pictures from his trip.

Follow-up Information:


Using and Evaluating Group Presentations
Tuesday March 18, 2003 12:45 p.m.

Erika Pilver (Political Science) and Kathleen McIntosh (Foreign Languages)

Curious about how group presentationscan be successfully integrated into your classes? Interested in hearing about different approaches to assessing group presentations? Do you have experience using group presentations that you would like to share? Come join us. This brown bag will generate ideas about all aspects of using group presentations as part of class assignments. We have used group presentations in our classes and will be sharing our experiences, assignments, assessment strategies, grading rubrics, and student reactions to these assignments. We hope you will come to share some of your ideas. Follow-up Information:


Can Faculty at a Small State College Compete Successfully for Fellowships & Grants?  YES!
Wednesday March 26, 2003 11:30 a.m.
Ricki Kantrowitz (Psychology), Marsha Marotta (Political Science),
Ruth Ohayan (Foreign Languages), and Robert Ziomek (Development Office)

Faculty who have received grant moneyand have participated in programs such as NEH, Fulbright, and Fulbright-Hays will describe their experiences with the application process.  Faculty who have been reviewers of applications will provide helpful hints.  Robert Ziomek, Executive Director of the WSC Foundation, will be available to answer questions about applying for grants. Please join us to learn about opportunities, as well as to share your stories (successes as well as failures) with your colleagues.  Bring your lunch!

Keeping Old Classes Fresh
Monday April 7, 2003 11:30 a.m.
Emily Todd (English), Mike Engel (Political Science),
Steve Sossaman (English), Mike Young (Physical Sciences)

In a rut? Just been assignedtwo sections of the class you've taught every semester for the last 10 years? Discuss with your colleagues (senior and junior) ways to keep your and your students' interest high when you teach the same courses.

Mara Dodge on Researching and Writing Her New Book, Whores and Thieves of the Worst Kind: A Study of Women, Crime, and Prisons, 1835-2000.

Tuesday, April 8, 2003, 3:45 p.m.- 4:45 p.m.
Discussion Leader:  Mara Dodge   (History)

Mara Dodge will discuss the challenges involved in both the research and writing stages of her new book, Whores and Thieves of the Worst Kind: A Study of Women, Crime, and Prisons, 1835-2000 (Northern Illinois University Press).  She will focus on dilemmas and issues of interest to researchers in a variety of disciplines, and she'll offer some general advice about writing an academic book.

 
Using and Evaluating Advocacy and Community Learning Projects
Wednesday April 16, 2003 12:30 p.m.
Diana Schwartz (Movement Science), Robert Hayes (Psychology), Mara Dodge (History)

"The college seeks to instill among members of its community a sense of social responsibility and citizenship" (College Mission Statement).  Curious about how your colleagues have used advocacy and community service learning projects in their classes? Interested in hearing about different approaches to assessing these projects? Do you have experience with either advocacy or CSL projects that you would like to share? Please join us, and bring copies of your materials that are relevant.


"The Star Cluster NGC 6397: Where has it Been?  Where is it Going?"

Tuesday, April 29th, 2003, at 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Discussion Leader:  Rick Rees   (Physical Sciences)

The Milky Way Galaxy contains about 150 globular star clusters. These clusters, which contain around 100,000 stars each, are the oldest known objects in the universe.  Comparison of century-old photographs of these clusters to modern photographs enables the determination of the cluster's motion through space, the separation of cluster member stars from "field" stars that just lie in the line of sight to the cluster, and an exploration of the cluster's internal dynamics.  This is a status report of such a study of NGC 6397.  Of particular interest is the discovery that the cluster has recently passed through the disk of the Milky Way, an event that may have stripped several stars from the cluster.  For a summary of Rick's presentation on this subject at the 199th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Washington, DC, in January 2002, see
"The Recent Disk Passage of the Globular Cluster NGC 6397".


Teaching Life of Pi:  0r How to Teach a Novel When You’re Not an English Professor
Tuesday Sept. 16, 2003 at 11:30 a.m.
George Layng, English
Teaching Ideas

Life of Pi, the novel by Yann Martel, weaves philosophy, psychology, culture and adventure to tell the tale of an Indian boy’s struggles in a lifeboat after a shipwreck. The prizewinning story, which is the Campus Book at Westfield State for the 2003-2004 school year, is a bestseller across the country and in particular on college campuses.But how useful is the novel if you don’t teach English? And more generally, how can fiction and other imaginative writing be brought into classes that depend on the hard realities of numbers, scientific studies, historical facts and so on? Join us to discuss.

Diversity at WSC: The Dialogue Continues
Thursday, October 2, 2003   12:30 p.m.
Ruth Ohayon, Foreign Languages
Follow-up Information

Students perceive some faculty and staff at the college as insensitive to diversity and difference. We need to pursue a dialogue on the topic, especially at such a crucial time when we are selecting a new college president. Should embracing diversity and difference be a top priority for faculty, staff, and administrators? Should the college devise and enforce concrete policies on this topic? Come debate the issue.


Focus Series Even: Information Literacy at
Westfield State College
Wednesday Oct. 8, 2003 at 3 p.m.
Presenter: Corinne Ebbs, Associate Librarian

What information literacy and computer skills do your first year students come to college knowing? Can they interpret a basic citation? Do they know every library has a catalog and what it does? Are they aware thatmost Internet pages have no quality control? This session will provide a brief overview of the concept of Information Literacy, and the results of a survey administered last June to a third of WSC’s incoming first-year students. Discuss how these results could be used when developing course work and research assignments. Follow-up Information:

From Session:

Is Big Brother Watching Us?
Wednesday Oct. 15, 2003 at 12:30 p.m.
Larry Griffith, Computer Science
Follow-upInformation

We have recently received memos about our computer usage. Is our privacy being compromised? Are we being watched? Join in a dialogue with administration and computer staff to see if our concerns are legitimate.


Guest Lecture Series: Good Teaching and Learning: How Do You Know?   Mary Deane Sorcinelli
Thursday October 24, 2003 4:00 pm, Scanlon Banquet Hall B

In this interactive session, participants explored the research based dimensions of good teaching--teaching that promotes student learning. Drawing from this information, we identified personal teaching strengths and areas for improvement and shared some favorite techniques for getting started in assessing student learning and our teaching.  Click on the Center for Teaching at UMass for more of Mary Deane Sorcinelli's work.


What Do You Do When a Class Turns South?
Thursday Oct. 30, 2003 at 12:30 p.m.
Phil Hotchkiss, Mathematics

At some point in our careers most of us have had a class that starts out well, but then the class dynamic changes and the class begins to fall apart. How do we fix things so that the class doesn’t become a complete disaster? What resources are available to us? Join us to share your experiences and hear what others have done.

Teaching at a Time of Declining Resources
Wednesday Nov. 12, 2003 at noon
Jack Loughney, Philosophy

What will the college look like if its faculty, staff, and administrators continue to be subjected to: 1) periodic early retirementpackages,2) annual reduced state support, 3) annually increasing studentfees, 4) increasing student enrollments generally, and in most classes, 5) external and in-system demands for performance evaluations, and other demands to define the institution's value? Come join a discussion on these questions.


Sojourner Truth
December 3, 2003 at 4 p.m.
Presenter: Jacqueline Sheehan, Director, Counseling Center

Jacqueline Sheehan will discuss her new novel, Truth, which is based on the life of Sojourner Truth, the nineteenth centuryabolitionist and human rights activist. Truth began life as a slave in upstate New York, speaking Dutch as her original language. The novel examines the nature of resilience in the human spirit. The author will talk about using history and psychology as a springboard to fiction.

Advising WSC Students for Graduate School
Thursday, January 29, 2004  12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Maureen McCartney, Career Services; Russ Leary, DGCE; Bill Bennett, Geography and Regional Planning
Admit it!  For many of us it's been (quite) awhile since we were in graduate school. What's new? What's changed? (Did you take GRE's back in the days when pencils were used?) What information about the graduateschool process should faculty know to be effective advisors? What are some of the difficulties our students typically have?  Where have our students gone to graduate school? What resources are available on campus?  Join Maureen McCartney, Russ Leary, Bill Bennett (who has offered a number of graduate school workshops for students), and others to discuss this important issue.

Follow-up Materials: From Maureen McCartney (Career Services)
Office of Career Services: Student Information and Resources
Click on Graduate Study on the left-hand frame to access links to materials relating to graduate school.

Using Writing to Help Students Learn: 
Writing as High Stakes and Low Stakes.
Peter Elbow

Wednesday February 4, 2004 3:00 to 5:00pm, Scanlon Living Room.  Refreshments will be served.

Peter Elbow, author of Writing with Power : Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process (Oxford), and Everyone Can Write: Essays Toward a Hopeful Theory of Writing and Teaching Writing (Oxford), and a nationally recognized composition specialist, led a workshop on how we can most effectively use writing in our teaching.  His workshop was designed to help faculty members across disciplines.

Peter Elbow Contributions posted with permission of the author:


Tax Issues for Professors
Wednesday, February 11, 2004   12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Follow-up Sources

It's that time of year again.  How are your taxes coming along?  Do you have questions or advice to pass along? If so, please come to this Brown Bag Lunch to either share your expertise and experiences or to learn more about the tax issues that effect us as faculty.

Follow-up Information:


Guest Lecture Series: Adventure in the Classroom.   Project Adventure
Thursday, Feb 26, 2004 3:30 - 5:30pm, Third World Room.

This was a customized training workshop to introduce faculty to the Adventure in the Classroom model.  Workshop participants experienced the use of challenge and adventure in building an effective learning community. Check out Project Adventure's web site:  http://www.wsc.ma.edu/facultycenter/www.pa.org

Efficient Grading Practices
Wednesday, March 3, 2004    11:30 - 12:30
Phil Hotchkiss, Mathematics

Grading is a huge problem for many of us.  We all struggle with balancing our need to give our students a lot of feedback with our desire to not be overwhelmed by massive amounts of grading.  Join us and share your experiences, both good and bad, in finding ways to efficiently grade assignments and give students the necessary feedback.

Disruptive Students Revisited
Thursday, April 1, 2004  12:30 - 1:30
Suzanna Adams, Counseling Center; Jack Szpiler, Psychology; and Jack Loughney, Philosophy

We will discuss concerns about common kinds of disruptive behavior in the classroom and we’ll share ideas about how best to handle disruptive students.

Better Teaching Through Mentoring and Student Evaluation
Thursday, April 15, 2004    12:30 - 1:30
Emily Todd, English; Kathleen Itterly, Education

Come to a brown bag lunch to generate ideas about how to make effective use of students’ and colleagues’ responses to our teaching.  First, we will share ideas about designing our own end-of-the-semester student evaluations.  What questions and formats elicit useful feedback about our courses and our instruction?  How can we use these self-designed student evaluations to improve our teaching?   (We’ll have sample evaluations available for review.) Second, we will discuss how we can make use of colleagues’ mentoring advice in becoming better teachers.  How could mentoring be improved in general at Westfield State College?  Emily Todd (English) and Kathleen Itterly (Education) will help to lead the discussion.  Please come share your ideas!

Strategies for Writing Letters of Recommendation
Wednesday, April 28, 2004    12:30 - 1:30
Julian Fleron, Mathematics

Come share ideas about ways to write effective letters of reference--efficiently!  We will share organizational strategies and discuss some of the common challenges we face in writing these letters.


College Governance: Who is Really in Charge?
Wednesday, September 15, 2004, 11:30-12:30 p.m.
Larry Griffith (Computer Science and Chair of ACC)

Larry Griffith, chair of ACC (All College Committee), will describe the college's committee structure, opportunities for faculty involvement, and the kinds of issues that get raised.  Learn what items are currently being considered.  Did you know that there is a suggestion to keep one hour per week totally unscheduled to make it easier to find time for meetings?  What's happening to upper-level courses in the core?  How soon will outcome assessments be required for all departments?  Should you run for a position on a committee next year?  Come ask questions and join the discussion.

College Governance--Who Is Really In Charge?
     WSC All College Committee   http://www.wsc.ma.edu/allcollege/

Keeping the Campus Safe/Keeping the Campus Informed
Wednesday,  October 6, 2004, 11:30-12:30
Paul Scannell (Director of Public Safety); Dr. Arthur Jackson (Vice President, Student Affairs);
along with representatives of the college newspaper

An alleged rape off campus, the college newspaper's attempt to report the incident, and resulting thefts of copies of the newspaper promoted much discussion and rumor last year. Should the college community be informed when students commit or are affected by crimes off campus?  What about on-campus crime?  How safe is our campus for faculty and students? Join  and other faculty and staff to discuss this important issue.

Is It Too Late to Teach Our Students to Think?
Thursday, October 28, 2004, 12:30-1:30
Katy Milford, (Education & Reading and Writing Center Writing Consultant);  Joan Rasool, (Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs); George Layng, (English & Reading and Writing Center Director)

Critical thinking is a key strategy for our students as they tackle analysis of a wide range of academic materials.  But what impact is the pressure of standardized testing having on how high school students learn to think?  With high school teaching focusing on the MCAS and the new SAT essay writing test rather than on the development of such critical thinking skills, what can we at WSC do to help students function more effectively in our own classrooms? How is the high school focus on MCAS affecting our students and their learning, and how can we as instructors introduce and integrate critical thinking into our subject matter and our teaching?  Join other faculty and staff to discuss this timely and important topic.  We will share ideas and provide suggestions, strategies, and exercises that faculty members can implement in their classrooms.

Creating a Positive Learning Environment in the Classroom
Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 12:30 - 1:30
Diana Schwartz  (Movement Science)
Follow-Up Information  (Requires PowerPoint Viewer)

Student learning can be enhanced through challenge, optimism, positive emotion, and a strengths-based approach. Learn strategies to maximize the classroom experience for you and your students. Join us to discuss the use of positive psychology. Be ready to share your ideas. 

Follow-up Information:
Creating a Positive Learning Environment
Positive Psychology  (Requires PowerPoint Viewer)http://www.wsc.ma.edu/facultycenter/PPTSchwartz.ppt

Academic Experiences in the Community: Internships, Practica, Co-ops, and Service Learning Projects

Wednesday February 9, 2005 12:30-1:30

The mission statement of WSC refers to the importance of community-based learning in enriching our students’ education and lives.  What is community-based learning at WSC? Who is eligible for an internship, practicum, co-op, Community Service Learning Project, or the Washington Center Program? What are the academic requirements?  How many credits are earned and how many hours at the site are required?  Are there class meetings at the college and site visits by the WSC instructor?  How are grades determined?  What happens if the agency has problems with the student, or if the student has problems with the agency?  Join internship, practicum, and co-op coordinators from many departments to discuss the answers to these questions, to learn what programs are appropriate for your students, and to exchange ideas with colleagues about building internship programs at the college.

Strategies for Working with Students with Learning Differences: ADD to Visual Learners, Asperger’s to Tourette’s, and Everything In Between

Monday February 28, 2005 11:30 to 12:30
 Discussion Leaders: Katy Milford (Reading and Writing Center), Jacqueline Sheehan (Counseling Center), and Joe Shinn (Tutoring Center)

Westfield State College is well-known and respected for the support it offers to students with different learning styles and with learning disabilities.  But what strategies can you develop as a professor to work most effectively with these students?  What’s the best way to find out about your students’ learning differences in the first place?  And once you know, how can you adapt your classroom practices and assignments to reach a range of students?  What are the legalities involved in working with students with learning disabilities?  What help can you get from the Tutoring Center, the Counseling Center, the Reading and Writing Center, and other resources on campus?  Come to the Faculty Center to explore these issues, to ask questions of your own, and to share your own classroom strategies with colleagues.

Supporting the Arts at WSC: A Discussion of Frankenstein and its Author
Thursday March 31, 2005 11:30-12:30pm

(WSC production of Frankenstein to be performed Wednesday,
April 27 through Sunday, May 1)

Join Jack Shea and Glen Brewster to discuss the context for the novel Frankenstein, for the play, and for understanding Mary Shelley as one of the most important writers of the 19th century.  Mary Shelley, who published the book anonymously in 1818, was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, feminist writer, and William Godwin, radical philosopher.  We consider this brown bag lunch to be an unofficial event in the Month Celebrating Women. Jack Shea, Theatre Program Director and adaptor and director of the WSC production of the play Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, will discuss the artistic choices involved in bringing the novel to life on the stage.  Glen Brewster, Chair of the English department and student of British Romanticism, will summarize the context of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley’s first novel and describe its transformations from novel to stage to film and to cultural icon.  Come with your questions about Frankenstein and its author, learn about this upcoming theatre production, and show support for the arts at WSC.

Defining Teaching Success: Evaluating and Improving Teaching April 20, 2005 12:30-1:30pm

Discussion leaders: Rod Francis (Geography and Regional Planning), Kathy Itterly (Education), Jack Loughney (Philosophy), and Tim Parshall (Biology)  

At a time when many outside constitutiencies are demanding professors "assess and evaluate" our students' performances, what does classroom success for professors in 2005 require? This session will feature informal sharing of perspectives, models, and methods employed to achieve good results in WSC courses. Topics may include new strategies in response to the changing demographics of students in major or core courses, by the sheer increase in numbers in some sections, by new major requirements of accrediting groups, etc. Come join the discussion and share your ideas and perspectives!

Hurricane Katrina
Teaching and Helping:

Developing a Coordinated Effort on Campus
Thursday September 15, 2005, 12:30-1:30 p.m

Join colleagues from throughout campus to discuss the impact of Katrina on our teaching, on our lives, and on the lives of our students. Learn about what is being done at WSC, both in and out of the classroom. Give suggestions to those who are developing further programs, such as a teach-in being organized for next week. Come and help coordinate and support humanitarian efforts on campus.

 

How to Make Sabbaticals Useful and Rejuvenating

Wednesday September 28, 2005 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Dreaming about your next sabbatical? Whether you are planning your first or your fourth sabbatical, this discussion will give you ideas about how to develop a proposal that will meet your needs, while also meeting the requirements of the college. Talk to colleagues who have had meaningful and rejuvenating sabbaticals, and to those who wish they had used their time in different ways. We have invited colleagues who have had sabbaticals several years ago, those who just returned and still have a "sabbatical glow," and those who are currently on sabbatical to discuss the application process and their sabbatical experiences.

 

Adjuncts Are Not Second Class Citizens!"Wednesday October 12, 2005 12:30-1:30

Adjuncts are a fact of life and they are playing an increasingly important role in the integrity and success of the college. How can we, as faculty, enhance fellowship with our adjuncts and full time temporary employees? Integration into their department and support by the faculty can help create a stronger community for adjuncts and for all of us at WSC. By providing professional support and encouragement, full time faculty can help adjuncts become more invested in their department and in their classes. Please invite the adjuncts in your department to attend.  Come join us for a discussion on how we can work together to achieve these goals. Glen Brewster, from the English department, will be on hand to facilitate the discussion.

Curious About The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time?

Tuesday November 8, 2005 12:30-1:30 p.m.

This year’s Campus Book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, an award-winning novel by Mark Haddon, tells the story of Christopher, a bright, autistic boy, who attempts to solve the mystery of who killed a neighbor’s dog. A cross between a murder mystery and a coming-of-age story, the work raises matters of concern to such areas as psychology, mathematics, criminal justice, education, sociology, women’s studies, and English, but its moving story makes it appealing to those in all fields.  

Curious about what you would do if a student like Christopher showed up in one of YOUR classes?

 

If you are interested in learning more about the novel, exploring ways to use the novel in your class or teaching high functioning college students on the autistic spectrum, then please bring your lunch and join George Layng (English) and Jane Mildred (Social Work) at the next Faculty Center brown bag lunch on Tuesday, November 8th, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

 

Keeping Afloat in a Sea of Grading 
Tuesday, November 29, 2005, 11:30 am-12:30 pm 

Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the enormity of the assessment and evaluation process?  Do you wonder if there is truly an iron-bound correlation between the difficulty of grading and the style meaningfulness of assignments?  What do you do when astudent challenges the grade you assigned?  Do you have suggestions or techniques that you could share with colleagues?  Come to our next Brown Bag lunch to discuss the joys and frustrations of grading. Facilitators: Tom Masterson (Economics) and Buzz Hoagland (Biology).


YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Academic Support Services at WSC

Tuesday, January 24, 2006  

As the semester began, many were wondering how they would meet the diverse academic needs of students in their classes.  During this session, answers to questions such as “ style="font-style: italic">What happens to the progress reports I fill out?”  were addressed.  The man behind the "Joe Shinn program" was introduced.  Here was a chance to meet Joe, as well as representatives from the Tutoring Center, Academic Achievement Center, Reading and Writing Center, Urban Education program, and Student Support Services.  We started this brown bag lunch at noon so that faculty could attend for the entire time or for shorter periods in-between classes.  Discussion focused on places and services on campus where students can receive academic support.  It was a good opportunity to learn how to work with these programs to help students reach their potential.


How Do You Make Group Projects Work?
Thursday, February 9, 2006 12:45 to 1:45, Parenzo 215

We know that students benefit from assignments that require collaboration, but these group projects and presentations can sometimes spell trouble: groups can’t find a time to meet or don’t get along, one or two students do the bulk of the preparation, and sometimes the resulting presentation is  a disappointment.  But when these presentations  do work, they can be excellent learning experiences for students  style="COLOR: black">as well as valuable preparation for collaboration in the workplace.  At their most successful, group projects can transform a classroom of individuals into a community of learners.  During this brown bag lunch discussion, strategies were shared with colleagues about designing successful group project assignments.  Vanessa Diana (English), Tery Griffin (Communication), Melissa Roti (Movement Science), and Emily Todd (English) led the discussion.

Forever Touched
Tuesday, February 28, 2006 12:45 to 1:45pm

Life will never be the same for those who survived last year's devastating hurricane season.  In addition, first responders and volunteers have described being "forever touched" by their experiences. During this Brown Bag Lunch we heard from colleagues who visited the Gulf States recently.  This was an opportunity to learn about the the challenges and the obstacles that face the many people who have had their lives changed as a result of the natural disaster.  Our speakers discussed what they saw, as well as how the experience affected them.  Our conversation facilitators were Catherine Lilly, Phil Hotchkiss, Stephanie Kelley, and Kathy Itterly.  The informative and personal presentation/conversation was welcomed and sobering.

Valuing the Differences: Gender Dynamics in the Classroom
Wednesday, March 22 2006 at 1 pm

Elizabeth Stassinos (Criminal Justice) has recently completed research on the gender content in 101 textbooks for Criminal Justice, Policing and Corrections, and she shared her findings about the various kinds of "othering" of difference (especially of gender and GLBT issues) in these texts.  She opened upa general discussion about gender dynamics between professor and students, students and students, and students and texts.  Topics included the impact of gender imbalance on classroom climate, approaches to teaching emotionally-charged topics, and addressing sexism in the classroom.  This special Faculty Center/Month Celebrating Women brown bag lunch discussion included faculty, and staff.

Discussion with Jack Shea about The Cherry Orchard (the campus play)
Wednesday, April 26 2006 at 11:00 am

The Faculty Center sponsoring a talk with Theatre Arts faculty about The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, this semester's theatre production.  The play, directed by Jack Shea (who facilitated the discussion), opened the evening of the 26th. The last of Chekhov's four masterpieces, The Cherry Orchard is often considered his greatest work. A tragicomedy set on the Ranyevskaya estate in rural Russia, it is the story of a bankrupt family coming to grips with the loss of their ancestral home and the destruction of their beloved cherry orchard, renowned throughout the land for its beauty and its size. A family, a way of life, and a country are in a state of transition and an uncertain future awaits.

This play, first produced in 1904, is surprisingly relevant to today.  Dealing with such complex issues as identity, dislocation brought about by social and economic change, disintegration of family, and land development, the play challenges us to  examine the lives we lead, and the need for change at the expense of irretrievable loss.  This discussion helped all become more knowledgeable about Chekhov and gave greater depth to the performances, April 26 through April 29,  in the Ely Studio Theatre.


Focus Series Event

Making the Case:  Assembling Materials for Tenure, Promotion, and Post-Tenure Review
Thursday, May 4, 2006 from 3:30 to 5:00 pm

Although there is no one way to put together tenure, promotion, and post-tenure review applications, this session on assembling materials for tenure provided general guidelines and ideas.  From 3:30 to 4:15, Joan Rasool (Sr. Vice Presidcnt of Academic Affairs) and Gerry Tetrault (MSCA Chapter President) shared their perspectives.  From 4:15 to 5:00, faculty members who have extensive experience with our tenure and promotion process (including Kim Tobin, Carl Grobe, Phil Ettman, John Jones, Corinne Ebbs, Julian Fleron, among others) answered questions and offered suggestions about how to prepare materials.  With evaluations a part of life throughout our teaching careers, this workshop was helpful for all faculty, pre- and post-tenure.


Helicopter Parents: The Role of Parents in Their Children’s College Education

Wednesday October 4,  2006, Noon to 1 p.m. Discussion Leaders: Suzanna Adams (Counseling Center),
Kathi Bradford (Residential Life), and Kristie Knotts (Tutoring Center) Have you fielded a call from a parent about a student’s grade or an advisee’s course schedule? Are you finding that parents are becoming more involved in your students’ academic and social lives?  Across the country (and at WSC), college officials refer to these hovering parents as Helicopter Parents; they keep in constant contact with students through instant messaging and cell phones and are ready to rescue their college-age children at a moment’s notice.  At this brown bag lunch, faculty learned more about the characteristicsand implications of these Helicopter Parents.  They had a chance to describe their own experiences, asked questions about the college’s policies for working with parents, and shared ideas about this new generation of students appearing in our classes.  Many representatives from Academic Achievement, Residential Life, Student Affairs, and the Tutoring Center attended the discussion and shared their insights.


Portfolio Assessment:
Using Student Portfolios Across the Curriculum

Tuesday October 17, 2006 12:45 to 1:45

Discussion Leaders: Lisa Plantefaber (Biology) and Melissa Roti (Movement Science)

Have you heard about using portfolios as a grading method but you're not sure how to introduce them in your classes?  Or have you already used portfolios and would like to share ideas with other faculty members who are also requiring them?  Recently, many departments on campus have begun to use portfolios to assess students and programs, and people have been reporting successes, as well asacknowledging some difficulties with the portfolio system.  Come debate the pros and cons of portfolio assessment at this brown bag lunch.  We'll talk about different types of portfolios, share ideas about how to help students develop portfolios, and discuss challenges in evaluating them.vFaculty members from across the subject spectrum will share their experiences.  Bring your lunch and join the discussion!

Engaging Students II

Wednesday November 1st,  2006 12:00 – 1:00

Thanks to all your hard work, your courses have gotten off to a great start.  It’s now approaching the middle of the semester.  What can you do to keep the momentum going?  Come to hear stories and ideas from colleagues who have developed strategies that immerse students in active learning.  They will also offer suggestions for those times when nothing seems to be working.  This promises to be a lively Brown Bag featuring input from the following professors:  Julian Fleron (Mathematics), Frank Giuliano (Physical Science), Kathy Itterly (Education), John Paulmann (Communication), and Jack Szpiler (Psychology).  Bring your lunch and join the discussion!

Using Web Pages and the Internet in Your Teaching

Thursday, November 16th,  2006 11:30 - 12:30
Discussion Leaders: Buzz Hoagland (Biology) and Chris Hirtle (Information Technology)

Are you curious about how to make better use of web pages and the Internet in your teaching?  Come tothe next Faculty Center brown bag lunch discussion to hear Buzz Hoagland speak about the web pages he has designed especially for his classes, and to get information from and ask questions of Chris Hirtle about the resources the college can provide.  We will also share ideas about using various Internet sites in our courses and talk generally about effective uses of technology in classroom teaching.  Bring your lunch and join the discussion!

Guest Lecture Series: Mentoring: Reflection, Regeneration, and Retention.
Dr. Karen Cardozo, Amherst College
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 from 3:15 to 4:45pm, Faculty Center.

Informed by her research on diversity, mentoring models and feminist practice, Dr. Karen Cardozo will inspire new and senior faculty to seek and provide the mentoring we need across campus and in our professional communities. She will share strategies for viewing mentoring a) as part of our ongoing development as teachers and researchers, b) as reflection and development of our teaching and learning, and c) as part of our ongoing efforts to diversify our faculty.

    Professor Cardozo has an M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Harvard University and a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  She has worked in multiple capacities with the University's nationally recognized Center for Teaching and also served as a dean of student and academic affairs at Mount Holyoke College.  Last year she was a research associate at the Five College Women's Studies Research Center, where she advanced her dual interests in American trauma studies and metaprofessional issues.  Her recent and forthcoming articles address the cyclical structure of trauma narratives, experiential learning in the humanities,racial identity in the classroom, and problems with the dissertation stage of graduate education.  She has taught a wide variety of literary and cultural studies courses and, by next semester, will have taught on all campuses of the Five College consortium.


What Does It Mean to Be College Educated? 
Co-Sponsored by the Review of the Common Core Committee

Monday, December 11th and Tuesday, December 12,  2006
11:45 - 1:15
The Review of the Common Core Committee (ROCCC) and the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning is co-sponsoring a brown bag lunch during which we will explore this question: "What Does It Mean to Be College Educated?"  To allow as many people as possible to attend the discussion, we will schedule the lunch twice: once on Monday, December 11, from 11:45 to 1:15 and again on Tuesday, December 12, from 11:45 to 1:15.  Our hope is that these brown bags will bring together people from different departments to continue the discussions about the common core and undergraduate education that ROCCC began during visits to individual departments this semester.  Please try to attend some portion of one of these lunchtime discussions.  We're eager to hear from as many people as possible and look forward to a lively discussion.


Technology-Enhanced Teaching & Learning I: WebCT and Virtual Course Environments

Wednesday March 7, 2007 12:30 -1:30pm.

Discussion Leaders: Lynn Zayac (CIT), (Counseling Center), Melissa Roti, (Movement Science),
Kathleen McIntosh (Foreign Languages & Literature), and Elise Young (History).

How do you prepare, design, and teach in a virtual course environment? What are the differences between teaching online versus face-to-face (F2F)? How do you develop an online learning community? What are some online instructional techniques that help address various learning styles? Come hear faculty discuss their experiences with enhancing a F2F course with an online component and with completely online courses.

Technology-Enhanced Teaching & Learning II: Clickers

Tuesday April 10, 2007 12:30 -1:30pm

Discussion Leaders: Ted Welsh (Mathematics), Mike Young (Physical Science) and Lynn Zayac (CIT)

Engage students, assess learning, gather data or enhance presentations with "Clickers" (Audience Response Systems). Students are issued small remote clickers, each with a unique ID number, which allow them to respond to multiple choice questions during a lecture. Immediate results provide the instructor with feedback about the students' understanding of concepts and content knowledge. This instant feedback engages students in active learning and improves class attendance and participation. Based on student responses, theinstructor can customize instruction or use responses as a basis for class discussion. Come hear faculty discuss their experiences with Audience Response Systems.

Want a Better Campus Book Program?

Wednesday April 25, 2007 12:00-1:00pm

Discussion Leaders: George Layng and Catherine Doyle


Since it began in the Fall of 2000, the Campus Book program has brought together students, staff, and faculty to discuss such award-winning works as Fast Food Nation, Life of Pi, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Helped by the occasional visit of an author, the annual campus book has served as a way to unite the campus through stimulating conversation.But clearly there is a lot of untapped potential. Compared to similar programs at other colleges, more authors and other guests could be brought to campus. Additional programming could be developed. And more people could participate in reading each year's selection. To make improvements, we need your help. So what would you like the Campus Book program to be? What ideas do you have for making it better? If you would like to learn more about the program-and offer suggestions for how to make our program better-thenplease come to a Faculty Center Brown Bag discussion on Wednesday, April 25th from noon to 1 p.m. George Layng from English, the former coordinator of the program, and Catherine Doyle, the director of Ely Library and current coordinator, will participate.

Virginia Tech: Continuing the Conversation

Wednesday May 2, 2007 12:00-1:00pm

Discussion Leaders: Elizabeth Stassinos (Criminal Justice) and Tammy Bringaze (Director, Counseling Center)


Join us for an open discussion of the incident at Virginia Tech and what improvements we might make in addressing related issues of mental health, school violence and academic, social and psychological resources on our campus. Please come ready to listen and discuss how to improve the environment on campus for helping vulnerable students, improving communication between faculty, staff and administration, and challenging our nationwide culture of violence through our teaching and our advocacy of education for marginalizedstudents. Elizabeth Stassinos (Criminal Justice) and Tammy Bringaze (Director, Counseling Center) will act as facilitators.


Focus Series Event

A Women’s Studies Affiliated Faculty panel discussion about resistance to
feminism among our students in WS offerings.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Panel tentatively will include: Maddy Cahill, Vanessa Diana, Jennifer DiGrazia, Jack Loughney, Kathleen McIntosh, Margot Hennessy, Roth Ohayan, Erika Pilver, Shoba Rajgonal, Elizabeth Stassinos (chair)

This event is linked to an additional Westfield faculty panel discussion of an article by Jane Mildred, and Ximena Zúñiga (UMass, Amherst): "Working with Resistance to Diversity Issues in the Classroom: Lessons from Teaching Training and Multicultural Education," to be held at a UConn conference, "Situating Gendered Violence within a Global Context." The topic there will be "Not me!?Feminisms and feminists in the classroom: An interdisciplinary roundtable discussion by Westfield State College faculty and students on the issue of resistance to feminism in the classroom."

Focus Series Event

Tenure, Promotion & Post-tenure Review
Thursday, May 10th, 2007 4:00 – 5:30pm

Discussion Leaders: Dr. Joan Rasool (Vice President, Academic Affairs), Prof. Julian Fleron (Chair, Promotions Committee),
and Cheryl Stanley (Member, Promotions Committee).

As the year comes to an end, we know many of you are beginning to think about compiling your materials as part of the Tenure/Promotion/Post-Tenure Review process. To aid you in this endeavor, the Faculty Center is sponsoring a question and answer style Focus Series event. Dr. Joan Rasool (Vice President, Academic Affairs) and a MSCA representative will be on hand to provide suggestions and answer questions. They will be followed by a panel of faculty members, including Julian Fleron (Chair, Promotions Committee) and Cheryl Stanley (Member, Promotions Committee), who will provide further expertise and guidance. We are looking forward to seeing many of you there!


Opening Day Workshop:
Tuesday, September 4, 2007

The Art of Leading Class Discussions
Come to this Faculty Center workshop to share ideas about how to lead engaging and productive class discussions. The session will highlight the strategies that WSC faculty use to spark and sustain effective discussions, but we will also share tips gleaned from pedagogical literature about structuring class discussions. Of course, we will leave plenty of time for everyone to exchange ideas during what we hope will be a lively discussion about discussions.

Opening Day Workshop: Let the Games Begin
Tuesday, September 4, 2007


Games and gaming principles can be utilized in and out of the classroom not only to generate energy, interaction, and fun, but also to meet a variety of educational objectives. For example, games can be used to review for exams, introduce or reinforce important concepts, or create metaphors to enhance understanding. Please join us at this Faculty Center workshop to discuss game design. We will share a variety of examples, along with tips on how to develop games specific to your needs.



Brown Bag Lunch Discussion: Continuing Scholarship in Creative Disciplines
Friday, September 7, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm


Discussion Leaders: Sabine Klein (English/Theatre Arts Program) and Elinor Parker (English/Theatre Arts Program)

As an artist--whether a painter, musician, writer, poet, director, or designer--how do you effectively present your creative artistic work as continuing scholarship? When working in a creative discipline such as art, music, writing, and theatre, how do you convey the quality, relevance, and significance of your work when compiling your reappointment, tenure, promotion, and post-tenure review materials? Come and discuss your experiences with presenting creative work as continuing scholarship.We hope to explore the nature of continuing scholarship in creative disciplines, as well as methods for communicating the breadth of that scholarship. Bring your lunch, and join the discussion!

 


Taking Stock: Ideas for Designing Midterm Course Evaluations
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
12:45 - 1:45 pm

Discussion Leaders: Sue Dutch (Academic Affairs Administrative Fellow; on leave from Psychology), Katy Milford (Education and Reading and Writing Center), and Leah Nielsen (English)

When we receive our student evaluations at the end of the semester, we can reflect on our teaching generally but we can't do anything to improve that particular class. Besides, the changes suggested by a past group of students might not necessarily work for the next group. But conducting midterm course evaluations gives us the chance to check in with our students and to use their responses to make some changes in the middle of the semester. Come to this brown bag lunch to look at sample midterm evaluations, share ideas about designing our own midterm evaulations, and discuss what to dowith students' feedback once we have it. We'll also talk generally about midterm reflections on our teaching: how do we decide what to change and how do we go about making thoughtful changes? Bring your lunch, and join the discussion!


Designing Effective Assignments and Assignment Sheets

Thursday, November 1, 2007
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (please stop by at any point during the discussion!)
Discussion Leaders: Katy Milford (Reading and Writing Center), Corinne Ebbs (Library), and Oliver Zeff (Library)

How can we offer clarity along with challenge in our assignments? Often, students are bewildered when they begin an assignment: they get confused (not inspired!), for example, by the multiple options we give, or they're at a loss about what, specifically, we're asking them to do or about how to incorporate outside sources. Join representatives from the Reading and Writing Center and the Library for a discussion about best practices for designing assignments. Come hear suggestions about wording for assignments and design details, and share your own ideas and experiences writing effective assignments. (Feel free to bring sample assignments to share during the discussion.)

Here are potential areas for discussion:

  • Creating the abstract for the assignment: clarity, wording, and examples
    Formatting the assignment sheet (including font size and spacing)
    Requiring outside sources for the assignment
    Considering other aspects of assignments that trip up students (too many hints and suggestions, for example, that are often read as directives)
    Offering specific assistance for learningdisabled students (audio books, providing extra prompts on a separate page, notingresources for writing/process support [RWC, reference librarians, etc.])
  • Evaluating the success of an assignment after the grades are in


Faculty Center Focus Event
Travel and Teaching: A Panel Discussion
Sabbatical Wednesday, November 7, 2007
3 pm to 4 pm


Come to this panel discussion to hear from three of our own faculty members who have recently returned from sabbatical travels around the globe--India, Australia, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Connie Daniel (Economics), Ricki Kantrwotiz (Psychology), and Jane Mildred (Sociology and Social Work) will each speak about their research and teaching experiences abroad, and then we'll open it up for questions and an informal discussion about the ways in which sabbatical travel and research can inform and enrich our teaching at Westfield.

Connie Daniel (Economics) will speak about the three months she spent in India studying the effects of outsourcing on the country. She visited five different cities and toured companies engaged in Business Process Outsourcing, as well as companies with call centers. Sponsored by ICFAI University in India, Connie lectured at five of the university's campuses and also met with many high-level executives and a few CEOs from India. She will speak about these experiences and touch on how they have changed how she teaches International Business, Organizational Behavior, and Business Policy and Strategy.

Ricki Kantrowitz (Psychology) will speak about her experience as a visiting professor at the Center for International Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia, as well as her travels to speak and attend conferences in Taiwan and India. Throughout her travels, she met many scholars and practitioners working in the field of global mental health. She was able to share her expertise and to learn from other scholars about major issues in international mental health, including policy and service development, as well as clinical research and practice. Her experiences in these countries will inform how she teaches such courses as Cross-Cultural Psychology and Women and Mental Health, as well as how she works with students in the undergraduate and graduate counseling courses.

Jane Mildred (Sociology and Social Work) will speak about her sabbatical in the United Kingdom, where she focused on childhood studies, as it is being taught in England and Scotland. She spent the first part of her sabbatical as a guest reader at the Cambridge University Library, and then she traveled across the United Kingdom to visit childhood studies programs and to interview leading childhood studies scholars in sociology, anthropology, social work, psychology, and geography. Childhood studies is a new area that stands in opposition to traditional views of children and childhood in psychology, education, and other fields, and so Jane’s qualitative research abroad has helped her learn how to teach childhood from a critical/social justice perspective.


Internationalizing the Campus
Thursday, November 15, 2007
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m

Discussion Leaders: David Bakuli (Economics and Management), Brad Knipes (Economics and Management), and Ruth Ohayon (World Languages, Multicultural, and Gender Studies)

As part of International Education Week (November 12-18), the Faculty Center is hosting a discussion about the various ways that we can internationalize our campus and our courses. We plan to address the following questions, among others, during the discussion: 1. What do we mean by internationalizing the campus? 2. What resources are available out there that we can tap into? 3. What can you do, as faculty or staff, to internationalize your course or the campus? 4. Who is doing what on campus with respect to internationalizing the campus? Please bring your lunch and your ideas and join the discussion!

Negotiating Race and Racism in the Classroom (and Beyond)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Last semester, the Faculty Center held a screening of the documentary “Behind the White Curtain,” a student-produced film about race at Westfield State College, and afterwards hosted a discussion about this movie. This brown bag lunch is intended to follow up on last semester's discussion by giving faculty and staff a chance to talk about racially-charged moments both inside and outside the classroom. Although we plan to spend some time talking generally and sharing perspectives from faculty and staff on campus, we also hope to share specific ideas and strategies about interventions. We will present a few examples or "case studies" to facilitate a discussion about methods for turning moments when race "enters" the classroom (or other situations on campus) into real learning opportunities for all—students, professors, and satff. During the conversation, we’ll also discuss issues/problems associated with teaching materials that highlight race/racism in predominantly white classrooms, as is the case in the majority of WSC classes, and we'll talk about how to improve learning environments for all. Finally, we’ll ask what work we as teachers (no matter what our discipline) and members of the larger campus community need to do to further prepare us to deal well with issues of race and racism. We intend this to be an honest dialogue about these issues and we welcome all voices. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion.


Facebook, YouTube, Wikis, Blogs: Using the Internet in Our Teaching
Monday, February 4
Noon to 1 p.m.

Discussion Facilitators: Buzz Hoagland (Biology), Leah Nielsen (English), and Kathleen Baldwin (English)

Our students spend many hours each day connected to the Internet, and we often complain about the misinformation they find there. But how might we re-imagine our use of new media in our teaching? This brown bag lunch discussion is intended to bring faculty members together to share creative ways for using the Internet in our classes and for helping students learn through contributing to the Internet knowledge space. We'll talk about how to make use of the sites students frequent (Facebook and YouTube, for instance), but also how to empower students to create blogs and contribute to wikis. Come share your experiments with the Internet in your teaching! Bring your lunch and join the discussion.


“But where are the data?”: Qualitative Research Methods and the Production of Knowledge
Tuesday, February 12, from 11:30am to 12:30pm

Discussion Facilitators: Susan Leggett (Communication) and Jane Mildred (Social Work)

Qualitative researchers frequently encounter challenges to the legitimacy of their work. If you teach research methods, conduct or might conduct qualitative research, or are just interested in the topic, please join Susan Leggett (Communication) and Jane Mildred (Social Work) in a conversation about issues and trends in qualitative methods. Susan and Jane will share examples from their own work and offer ideas about how to teach action research, participant-observation, and other ethnographic methods. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion.



Navigating an Undergraduate Education through Advising
Wednesday, February 27 Noon to 1:30 pm

With the advising season upon us (it begins March 3!), the Faculty Center will be hosting a discussion on the challenges and opportunities of advising. Come share ideas with Carlton Pickron (Academic Achievement) and faculty and staff from departments across campus. Specifically, we’ll discuss making advising sessions meaningful, even given the time constraints we all face during the advising period. This is a great opportunity to hear from a variety of colleagues about different approaches to the advising process. Bring your ideas, questions, concerns--and lunch!



Faculty Center Focus Event: Research in Whiteness Studies
A presentation by Robin DiAngelo (Education Department)
Thursday, March 6 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 pm

Racism is among the most charged issues facing us today and all members of society are shaped by it. However, most research that addresses race has traditionally focused on the racially “different,” leaving White perspectives, experiences and identity normalized and unexplored. Scholars of Color have long challenged White scholars to turn the “gaze” back on ourselves, and Whiteness Studies have arisen from this challenge. The research Dr. DiAngelo will present at this Faculty Center event is grounded in Whiteness Studies and concerned with the racial disconnect between the teaching force (over 93% White) and the students they teach. Dr. DiAngelo uses Critical Discourse Analysis to explore how a group of White pre-service teachers engaged in an inter-racial dialogue about racism with students of Color.

Follow-up Information:
Research in Whiteness Studies Powerpoint (Requires PowerPoint Viewer) http://www.wsc.ma.edu/facultycenter/whiteness-diangelo.pptRobin DiAngelo, PhD., is Assistant Professor of Multicultural Education at Westfield State College. She comes to WSC from the University of Washington. She was appointed by the Mayor of Seattle as the co-lead of the City of Seattle's Race & Social Justice Initiative. Her research is in White racial identity development, and she has published recently in the periodicals Teachers College Record, Radical Pedagogy, and InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies. Her essay "I'm leaving!": White fragility in racial dialogue" appeared in the collection Inclusion in Urban Educational Environments: Addressing Issues of Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice (edited by B. McMahon & D. Armstrong).

Students' Use of Technology: What It Means for Our Teaching
Dr. Charles Dziuban
Director of the Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Central Florida
Thursday, March 27th
Scanlon A

Workshop 1: 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.-Teaching Students in the Digital Age Workshop
Workshop 2: 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m- Technology Enhanced Education Opportunities and Challenges

Follow-up Information:
The Generations, Reactive Behavior and Information Fluency in the Digital Age (Requires PowerPoint Viewer)
Charles D. Dziuban and Patsy D. Moskal
http://www.wsc.ma.edu/facultycenter/generations.ppt
Technology Enhanced Education – Opportunities and Challenges Powerpoint (Requires PowerPoint Viewer)
Charles D. Dziuban and Patsy D. Moskal
http://www.wsc.ma.edu/facultycenter/techenhanced.ppt

Video of Dr. Dziuban's presentations:
Workshop 1 The Generations, Reactive Behavior and Information Fluency in the Digital Age http://www.wsc.ma.edu/facultycenter/Dziuban1.wmv
Workshop 2 Technology Enhanced Education - Opportunities and Challenges
http://www.wsc.ma.edu/facultycenter/Dziuban2.wmv

Charles Dziuban is Director of the Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Central Florida (UCF) where has been a faculty member since 1970 teaching research design and statistics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Since 1996, he has directed the impact evaluation of UCF's distributed learning initiative examining student and faculty outcomes as well as gauging the impact of online courses on the university. Chuck has published in numerous journals including the Internet in Higher Education, the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, and the Sloan-C View. In 2000, Chuck was named UCF's first ever Pegasus Professor for extraordinary research, teaching, and service and in 2005 received the honor of Professor Emeritus. He has co-authored and edited numerous books and chapters on blended and online learning including Handbook of Blended Learning Environments, Educating the Net Generation, and Blended Learning: Research Perspectives, of which he is the co-editor. In 2005, Chuck received the Sloan Consortium award for Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning by an Individual. In 2007, he was appointed to the National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Policy Council.


Teaching During Wartime: Addressing the War in Iraq in Our Classrooms
Dr. Mara Dodge (History)
Wednesday, April 2, 1 to 2 pm

The Iraq War has just marked its 5th year, longer than any war in modern US history aside from Vietnam. Its impact has been devastating. Although a majority of Americans now oppose the war, public debate and visible opposition have been muted (unlike Vietnam). How can we address issues posed by the war in our classrooms and in diverse disciplines? What specific strategies, teaching/ learning activities, and/or readings have proven most effective? Come to an informal sharing of ideas.

Specifically, Dr. Dodge will talk about her experience this semester teaching the standard (WSC core) US history survey course “backwards” – beginning with the Iraq War and concluding with the Civil War (1865-2008). Assigned books included Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq and What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It. Student reactions to both books were extremely positive and debates lively. One of the dilemmas of a broad survey course (155+ years) is how to provide students with a strong enough foundation in contemporary history to make sense of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while doing justice to earlier eras and domestic politics. Although Dr. Dodge will be sharing her experiences teaching the US history survey, this brown bag aims to bring together faculty/staff interested in exchanging ideas and teaching about the war from a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives.


Dealing with Plagiarism

Wednesday, April 9, 2:00 to 3:00 pm
Facilitated by Rob Bristow (Academic Affairs), Corinne Ebbs (Library), and Ricki Kantrowitz (Psychology)

What do you do when you suspect plagiarism? What are some of the dilemmas you face? Come to this session to learn college procedures for handling charges of academic dishonesty and to share ideas about resources for detecting plagiarism. We also urge faculty members to come to this session with their own examples of the gray areas they encounter when dealing with plagiarism cases. How much “borrowing” is too much? What is our role as teachers in helping students avoid plagiarism in the first place? To what extent has our students’ use of material from the Internet fundamentally changed their attitudes toward intellectual property? Come with your questions and with your ideas and strategies for dealing with plagiarism—and come hear perspectives from colleagues in Academic Affairs, the Library, and various academic departments.



Campus Community and Safety: An Update and Open Discussion

Monday, April 14, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
Facilitated by Tammy Bringaze (Counseling Center), Sue LaMontagne (Student Affairs), Michael Nockunas (Public Safety), and Elizabeth Stassinos (Criminal Justice)

Last year in the wake of Virginia Tech, College community members came together for an initial brown bag lunch to discuss safety concerns and collaborative ways to identify and connect with at-risk students. One year later, we revisit the discussion. Join members of Student Affairs, Counseling Center, and Public Safety staffs as they update faculty and staff on the steps the college has taken towards enhancing emergency response and campus safety. After these updates, we will open up the discussion to further brainstorming ideas around this critical campus and national issue. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion.


Integrating Global Perspectives in Our Courses
Thursday April 24, noon to 1:30 pm

Following on last semester's brown bag lunch entitled "internationalizing our campus" and this semester's many exciting initiatives to develop international education at the college, this Faculty Center brown bag lunch discussion will focus on how we can make our existing courses at WSC more engaged with global issues. Come learn from colleagues and share your own ideas about internationalizing our courses--anything from pairing up students with "pen pals" from another country to redesigning whole courses to incorporate more international content and pedagogies. Some of the faculty and staff who went on the Dubai/Qatar trip will be at the lunch to offer their thoughts on this subject, and at least one of the consultants from Global Education Solutions will also be there to participate in the conversation. The discussion should give us all lots of ideas to explore over the summer as we prepare for the coming academic year. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion!


Assembling Materials for Reappointment,
Tenure, Promotion, and Post-Tenure Review

Monday April 28, 3:30 to 5:00 pm

As the semester comes to an end, we know many of you are looking ahead to compiling your materials over the summer as part of the reappointment, tenure, promotion, and post-tenure review process. To aid you in this endeavor, the Faculty Center is sponsoring its annual discussion about preparing materials for portfolios. Come ask questions and hear suggestions from faculty members who have participated in the evaluation process. At least one representative from the MSCA Executive Council will also be on hand to answer questions. We are envisioning this as a fairly informal discussion, with plenty of time for participants to share resources and strategies and to ask questions. Light refreshments will be served.

 

Academic Libraries in the 21st Century

Facilitated by Corinne Ebbs (Interim Director of Ely Library)
Monday, September 15, 11:30 to 12:30

Come hear Interim Library Director Corinne Ebbs’ 20-minute presentation on the changing role of the academic library in the 21st century (this is the same presentation she gave at the Long-Range Planning Committee meeting focused on the Ely Library renovation). Following the presentation, there will be plenty of time for discussion about issues facing academic libraries. Come ask questions and share your own reflections on what students and faculty of this century look for in a library. Bring your lunch, and join the discussion!

Faculty as Stewards of Higher Education

Faculty Center Focus Series Event
Discussion facilitated by Dave Smailes (Political Science),
Erika Pilver (Political Science), Amanda Kirk (Political Science), and Marsha Marotta (Academic Affairs)Tuesday, September 23 2008,
2:15 to 4:00 pm

Especially as we embark on how to handle unsatisfactory relations with the current governor about our MSCA Agreement and with concerns about our Massachusetts neighbors and fellow voters considering a ballot initiative to eliminate the state income tax revenue, Elizabeth Preston (Dean of Faculty), Ken Haar (MSCA Chapter President and Computer Science/Education), and Jack Loughney (Philosophy and Liberal Studies Coordinator) will present a Faculty Center panel to address some key roles higher education faculty play, especially in public institutions. Beginning with brief presentations, they expect to start a discussion about under-played or misunderstood roles professors (and librarians) play in American institutional life.


Teaching the Election
Discussion facilitated by Dave Smailes (Political Science),
Erika Pilver (Political Science), Amanda Kirk (Political Science), and Marsha Marotta (Academic Affairs)

Monday, September 29, 11:30 to 12:30

Teaching the Election” is a brown-bag session that brings together members of the Political Science department to lead a discussion on the ways many different disciplines can use the current presidential election (or any election) as a vehicle for education. Following a brief presentation, we’ll share ideas on how participants have used, or can use, elections as a pedagogical tool. Please bring your lunch, and join the discussion!

Brown Bag Lunch Discussion
Our Students, Alcohol, and Academics: Plugging into Prevention

Thursday, October 2, noon to 1 p.m.
Discussion facilitated by Nancy Bals (Athletics), Brian Cahillane (Counseling Center), Chaitali Brahmbhatt (Residential Life), and Tara Kavanaugh (Health Services)

How much do our students drink and in what ways does their drinking affect their performance in our classes? Come hear directly from people on campus who have been involved in learning more about our students' drinking practices (and the effects of their drinking on academics). The discussion facilitators will highlight data gathered from students in the spring of 2007 about student drinking at Westfield, briefly describe warning signs that students are drinking too much, and share information about current prevention efforts on campus. Following this brief presentation, there will be plenty of time for discussion and questions. With the semester well underway and the advising season right around the corner, this brown bag is a great opportunity to learn about resources that will help us in our work with students who might be getting into trouble with their studies. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion!

Faculty Center Workshop
“Using Case Studies in Teacher Preparation”

Volker Ecke and Christine von Renesse
Friday, October 3, 2008 10:10-11:30 AM

We would like our future elementary school teachers to be able to investigate and understand their students' thinking. How can we all help them practice that art? In this workshop, we illustrate how we may use elementary classroom case-studies in written and video format in order to explore with our future teachers how elementary school students think, to discover what they already know, to pin-point what exactly they are still struggling with, and to help them progress towards the "big ideas" we would like them to learn. We are also interested in learning how case studies are being used by other colleagues and to hear what your experiences have been. Please join the conversation! In the process, we may discover something about our own learning and thinking, as well. All are welcome! No prior mathematics knowledge is assumed for this workshop. This workshop is based on the "Developing Mathematical Ideas Leadership Institute" that Christine von Renesse and Volker Ecke attended with the support from the College's Innovative Pedagogical Initiatives (IPI) grant program.

Supervising Capstones: Joys and Frustrations
Tuesday, October 7 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Discussion facilitated by Glen Brewster (English Department) and Ricki Kantrowitz (Honors Program Chair and Psychology)

For students, capstones—independent research or creative projects—can be the most rewarding experiences in their undergraduate and graduate education. But how do we, as professors, help students embark on meaningful projects and guide them toward becoming excellent independent researchers and scholars? Also, should more (or all?) of our students have the experiences of working on capstone projects? This brown bag lunch offers an opportunity to hear from two faculty members who have supervised many departmental, honors, and graduate-level capstone projects. Our discussion will range over the following topics: Getting off to a promising start. Helping students focus their projects (including creative projects) Working with students throughout process—coming up with effective meeting schedules, assigning manageable research/writing tasks, intervening when students get off-track. Addressing challenges in supervising capstones—in particular, we will share ideas about how to avoid common pitfalls. Helping students prepare to share their work at conferences This discussion should be especially helpful to people who are beginning to work with students on capstones at the start of this academic year, but it should also be more broadly relevant to all faculty who might be considering ways to integrate more independent research into their courses or capstones into major requirements. Please bring your lunch, and come ask questions and share your own experiences working with students on capstones, as well as your views on the place of capstones in undergraduate education.

Collaboration and Camaraderie: Learning Communities at WSC Wednesday, October 15, 11:30 to 1:00 p.m. and
Thursday, October 16, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
(The focus of the discussion will be the same each day-- please join
us on whichever day works best for your schedule.)

Discussion facilitated by the faculty members involved in the Learning Communities pilot program Interested in teaching a learning community? Want to find out what a learning community is? Want information on writing a proposal for a learning community? Have experiences to share? If so, please join members of the Learning Community I^3 grant for an informal conversation about our experiences planning and teaching fully integrated team-taught courses. In addition to providing basic information on how you can get involved in WSC Learning Communities, we'll share how learning communities have changed and challenged our ways of being in the classroom. Hope to see you there!


Faculty Center Focus Event: Advising is Teaching Presented by Laurie Simpson (Academic Advising Center) & Ojae Beale (Department of Academic Achievement) Monday, October 20 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Faculty Center, Parenzo 215

Academic advising is critical to helping students reach their academic, personal, and professional goals. Contact with advisors improves students' educational experiences, and research even shows that good advising helps a college's retention efforts. Because WSC faculty advising loads have increased in recent years, many faculty have less time available to spend with their advisees. At this session, the staff from the Academic Advising Center will share techniques that will help advisors make the best use of the time they do have with advisees. The Academic Advising Center staff will also hand out quick-reference advising materials. This session should be useful not only for faculty new to advising but also to everyone who is interested in getting tips about the advising process in order to make the upcoming advising period go well. Refreshments will be served, and it's fine to stop by for a short time, if you can't stay for the whole session. Remember that advising begins on October 20th and runs through November 7th

Roundtable Discussion
Manifestations of Race in the Media
Facilitated by Guest Lecture Series presenters,
Frederick Gooding & Khalid Patterson

Date: Thursday, October 23rd
11:30-1:30





Creating and Maintaining International Linkages
Roundtable Discussion and Lunch with Rachel Burcin and Angela Keiser from UNESCO's Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project
Thursday, October 30
1 p.m. to 2 p.m

As part of this year’s Guest Lecture Series, Angela Keiser and Rachel Burcin will be speaking about the UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project: Breaking the Silence (TST). Before they give their late afternoon presentation, though, they will have lunch with interested faculty and staff in the Faculty Center. This is an opportunity to speak informally with Rachel Burcin and Angela Keiser about the international links that this project maintains among faculty and students from around the world. Come hear about the program they have helped to develop and the challenges they have faced in working on an international initiative of this magnitude.

RSVP to Emily Todd (Faculty Center Coordinator, etodd@wsc.ma.edu) if you intend to attend this lunch, so that we can ensure that we order enough food. Rachel Burcin is Graduate Programs and Immigration Coordinator of the Robotics Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University. In this capacity, she develops international technology programs and promotes multi-cultural collaboration. These programs also include K-12 programs that utilize technology tools to promote intercultural exchange, learning about our community and the world, and learning to find and tell our local stories. She is founding co-director of the International Linkage Program of the Institute for International Studies in Education, University of Pittsburgh.

Angela Keiser was, until recently, the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance & Abolition's Special Projects Coordinator for the UNESCO Transatlantic Slave Trade Education Project: Breaking the Silence (TST), an innovative global curriculum initiative aimed at breaking the silence surrounding the magnitude and New World impact of the transatlantic slave trade. This project forges new triangular links among faculties and students in over 20 countries in Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean. .



Political History of the Great Boston Fire of 1872

Research Presentation by Dave Smailes (Political Science)
Monday, November 3
3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

“The Great Boston Fire of 1872” is a largely forgotten event, even for most Bostonians, but the fire changed the future of the city and made modern Boston possible. Join Dave Smailes of the Political Science department for a research presentation on the fire and its political and economic consequences. Professor Smailes is completing a book on this topic, so this is a chance to hear a preview of his findings. . .



Veterans in the Classroom: Best Practices for Working with Veterans and Servicemembers

Discussion facilitated by Sean-Michael Green (DGCE) and
Success Niles (Student Life)
Thursday, November 13 noon to 1 p.m

This brown bag will be a chance for faculty and staff to discuss issues that have arisen or may arise with military veterans on campus. For example, we will discuss some of the ways that experiences in the military--ranging from boot camp to combat service--can influence behavior and perception, in both positive and negative ways. We will also discss how to build a community of inclusion and how better to serve veterans on campus. We are sincerely hoping for ideas and insights from our community on these topics, and everyone is encouraged to attend. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion.



Students and the Decline of Reading
Discussion facilitators: Sandy Berkowitz (Education), Lori Desrosiers (English),
and Kathy Itterly (Education)
Wednesday, November 19, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

A year ago, the National Endowment for the Arts released a study that showed a decline in reading among Americans: people read less often, the report declared, and they read less well. If this is true, what does it mean for our work with our students? Join Education and English professors for a discussion about how reading fares these days among parents, children, and college students. Are people reading more or less every day? How do our students’ experiences with reading before they come to college affect how well they read when they enter our college-level courses? During the course of the discussion, we will not only share our understanding of students’ reading practices (including reading online) but also share strategies for helping students read more successfully in our courses. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion!

Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum
with Marijoan Bull (GARP) and Trudy Knowles (Education)
Thursday, December 4, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

"Going Green" and sustainability are more than just the latest buzzwords. Sustainability will be a defining theme of the early 21st century and thus incorporating this issue into the curriculum supports the college's core mission of educating for meaningful citizenship. At this brown bag, we will discuss why we believe it is critical to integrate sustainability across the curriculum and how it can be done. We also seek feedback on this initiative and other aspects of the college's recently adopted Sustainability Plan. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion!

Exploring Racial Identity, White Privilege, and Racism
A Workshop for WSC Faculty and Staff
with Robin DiAngelo and Anika Nailah
Tuesday, January 13, 9:30 to 3:30 (Lunch will be served)

Co-sponsored by the Faculty Center and Office of Multicultural Affairs Although we have certainly made gains in race relations over the last 50 years (President Elect Obama is a cogent recent example), U.S. society is still deeply stratified along racial lines. Disparity in healthcare, income, education, and the criminal justice system are all correlated with race, and schools and neighborhoods in the U.S. continue to be highly racially segregated. A recent student film project, “Behind the White Curtain,” highlighted this issue at WSC as students of color shared their experiences on our predominately white campus. Yet most academic courses that study racial difference focus on people of color, leaving white perspectives, experiences, and identity unquestioned and unexplored. This workshop will shift the focus and provide an opportunity for all participants to reflect on what their racial identity means within a society that is infused with segregation and racial disparity. We will take an in-depth look at the dynamics of power, privilege, internalized oppression and internalized dominance, and explore the ways in which all of us may unknowingly be participating in racism, regardless of intentions. We will also explore how we might create a more racially inclusive climate at WSC. Through lecture, discussion and experiential exercises (and without guilt or blame), we will explore:

  • How racial identity is socially constructed
  • How racism is perpetuated regardless of intention
  • The collective (rather than solely individual) experience
  • Our roles as members of our racial groups
  • Barriers to white awareness
  • Breaking out of the cycle of oppression
  • Being effective allies

This workshop will be facilitated by an inter-racial team. It is designed for people of all races who feel ready and willing to engage in a process of theoretical engagement along with personal reflection and challenge. The curriculum is grounded in a recognition that we all have the potential to be actively engaged in the elimination of racism.

Anika Nailah is a Black Writers Alliance Gold Pen Award Nominee. Her book, Free and Other Stories, was chosen as one of the best short story collections of 2002 by Black Issues Book Review and was selected for inclusion in The New York Public Library's 2003 Books For The Teen Age List. Her work is also included in Gumbo: a Celebration of African American Writing. She founded Books Of Hope, a Boston-area program that encourages young people to write, self-publish, and sell their own books. She has taught at Cambridge College and Wheaton College and has trained both youth and adults in New Mexico, New York, Hartford, Washington, DC, Boston, The Berkshires, and Western, MA in various aspects of race relations.

Dr. Robin DiAngelo is an Assistant Professor of Multicultural Education at Westfield State College in Massachusetts. She teaches courses in Multicultural Teaching, Inter-group Dialogue Facilitation, and Cultural Diversity & Social Justice. Her research is concerned with the challenges of an increasingly white teaching force and an increasingly diverse student population. She has been a workplace consultant and mediator in race relations for over ten years. She was recently appointed to co-design, develop and deliver the Mayor’s Race and Social Justice Initiative anti-racism training for the City of Seattle. She has been honored twice with the Student’s Choice Award for Educator of the Year. Recent publications include The Production of Whiteness in Education, My Race Didn’t Trump My Class: Using Oppression To Face Privilege.

Release Time: Creating Standards for the Awarding of Alternative Professional Responsibilities
Thursday, January 29
1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Discussion facilitated by Melissa Roti (Chair APC) and fellow APC members

The Academic Policies Committee is currently working on creating a more standardized policy for the awarding of release time. While some load reductions are specifically defined, Article XII.D. makes provision for release time to be determined by the Vice President. There are some stipulations to the release; however, the amount of release granted has remained undefined in the State-Wide Agreement. Please join us to discuss what has been granted for release time in the past; what you would be interested in for release time in the future; and how you would like to see the process made more standardized, fair, and transparent. We eagerly look forward to your input! If you cannot attend this discussion, but would like to contribute, please send your suggestions to APCcomments@wsc.ma.edu.

Service Learning at Westfield State College

Tuesday, February 3
1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Discussion facilitated by Ken Magarian (Director WSC Community Service), Michael Konig (President’s Fellow), Ken Haar (Advancement and College Relations Fellow), and Susan Leggett (Communication Department)

We would like to begin a collective conversation with regards to the meaning and purpose of service learning and to better understand the remarkable engagement efforts already being made by our faculty and staff. We are hoping that this discussion offers faculty and staff the opportunity to begin to conceptualize possible support models for our current and future service learning efforts. Those who are interested and those who are currently involved in service learning teaching are encouraged to attend and provide their input. The facilitators will provide some material on service learning definitions, some best practice examples, and suggestions on how to develop service learning courses. Attendees are welcome to bring materials to share successes (or struggles) with colleagues. Or, forward materials via email to facilitators who will copy and distribute. If you cannot attend the Brown Bag but would like materials or follow-up emails please contact Ken Magarian, Ken Haar, or Michael Konig. Please also see also the attached, “Tips for Developing a Service Learning Course.”

Tips for Developing a Service Learning Course.doc

“So, how was it?": Reflections on Teaching a J-term Course

Tuesday, February 10, 11:30 to 12:30

Discussion facilitators: Dan Price (Criminal Justice) and other trip-leaders and course assistants

Come to this brown bag to hear directly from the faculty and staff who planned and taught J-Term courses during the winter break. As you may know, faculty and staff led trips to Mexico, England, Ghana, Morocco, and Italy, and, at this brown bag, many of the trip-leaders and course assistants will talk briefly about their programs and the highlights of their experiences. Then, the rest of this informal discussion will be devoted to Q&A about the J-Term experience. If you're planning a J-Term for May or June, or if you're considering proposing a J-Term course in the future, this session will be an excellent chance to ask questions and learn from others' experiences. We also hope that this brown bag discussion will contribute to ongoing conversations about internationalizing the campus. Please bring your lunch and join the discussion!

Using Writing to Teach Science

Workshop led by Dr. Jan Pechenik (Tufts University)
Co-sponsored by the Faculty Center and the Reading and Writing Center

Thursday, February 12, 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Dr. Jan Pechenik (Invertebrate Zoology and Marine Biology, Tufts University) is the Director of the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Program at Tufts University. His workshop entitled “Using Writing to Teach Science” will provide a forum to discuss some of the challenges of incorporating writing into science courses. In particular, he will discuss the following:

  • Designing effective writing assignments for your course
  • Using writing to promote learning—without killing ourselves in the process
  • Techniques for grading writing assignments

Although Dr. Pechenik’s field is Biology, his workshop is designed to be of interest to faculty members not only in Biology but also in Physical Science, Geography and Regional Planning, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Movement Science. Given Dr. Pechenik’s leadership role in WAC efforts, his presentation will also be relevant to other faculty members interested in writing across the curriculum issues. Dr. Pechenik is the author of A Short Guide to Writing About Biology (now in its 6th edition, Pearson Longman Publishers), and he has facilitated workshops on writing in the sciences at many institutions, including Eastern Connecticut State University, Harvard University, Plymouth State College, Smith College, Swarthmore College, and Wellesley College, among others. For more information about his work, please see his webpage http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/faculty/pechenik/CV.asp

The WSC Curriculum Committee: Its Structure, Process, and Paperwork

Thursday, February 19, Noon to 1 p.m.

Discussion Facilitators: Jim Carabetta (Computer Science and Curriculum Committee Chair), Liam Harte (Philosophy and Chair of Curriculum Subcommittee B), and Dave Laing (Movement Science and Chair of Curriculum Subcommittee A), and Volker Ecke (Curriculum Committee Webmaster)

Come to this session to learn about all aspects of the college’s Curriculum Committee. If your department intends to make any curricular changes--anything from changing course titles or prerequisites to proposing a whole new major--this session will be a particularly useful orientation to the Curriculum Committee’s structure and process. Jim Carabetta (Chair of the Curriculum Committee) and the current chairs of the subcommittees will first talk about the committee structure, with its two subcommittees, and will discuss what takes place in these subcommittee meetings and what happens at the full meetings. Then, they will introduce you to the paperwork involved in submitting proposals to the Curriculum Committee, including where the right forms can be found, important considerations for filling out the paperwork properly, and the correct way for it to be submitted. Come with your questions about anything to do with the Curriculum Committee!

How to Make the Most of Your Advising Sessions

Workshop for faculty and staff led by Laurie Simpson (Academic Advising Center) and Azanda Seymour (Academic Advising Center)

Monday, February 23, 1:30 to 3:30 and Tuesday, February 24, 2:30 to 4:30

The academic advising season is suddenly right around the corner—it begins on Monday, March 2 and ends on Friday, March 27. Last semester, the Academic Advising Center (AAC) led a workshop that introduced faculty to theories about effective advising. This semester’s workshop is intended to give faculty practical strategies and hand-on experience with the advising process. Through a variety of activities, workshop participants will address possible advising scenarios and discuss the best resolutions to advising dilemmas. Please feel free to bring your own advising scenarios, dilemmas, and questions to the workshop, and hear what advice the workshop leaders and participants give you! This should be a fun and informative session and should make the advising season easier all around.

Faculty Center Visiting Scholars Program

Schedule for Professor Özlem Sensoy's Visit to Westfield State College,
2/25-2/27


Imagining Islam on TV and in Textbooks

Wednesday, February 25
2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Faculty Center, Parenzo 215

This presentation looks at the relationship between social institutions (specifically media and schools) in the social construction of knowledge about “others.” The first part will trace the history of the visual representation of Muslim women in Western cultural productions from classical paintings to Bugs Bunny, Jeannie, Britney, and the Bratz dolls; the second part of the presentation will consider opportunities for doing “representation work” with students.

Using Popular Culture and Media in Teaching: Pedagogical Opportunities and Dilemmas

Thursday, February 26
9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Faculty Center, Parenzo 215

In this discussion, Professor Sensoy will share ideas for linking field study and data collection activities with students (such as visits to the toy store, drug store, grocery store, viewing of cartoons, music videos, online gaming, etc) in order to address complex and substantive issues in the curriculum, including “key concepts” such as representation, hegemony, social power, and the “isms.” Please bring your own ideas and questions!

Islamophobia: The Arab and Muslim “World”

Thursday, February 26
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Faculty Center, Parenzo 215

In this discussion, Professor Sensoy will engage faculty and staff in a conversation about issues related to the experiences of Arab, Middle Eastern (or perceived to be) students across K-16 contexts. Topics such as profiling, the “Christmas problem,” veiling, prayer space, and other questions might be raised. Professor Sensoy has been working on two book projects related to teaching and Muslim students in K-16 contexts, and will share some of the discussions from these projects.

Friday, February 27

Open Class (Guest Teaching Appearance), 9:20 and 11:30, Parenzo 208
Multicultural Education
(Robin DiAngelo’s sections)

Teaching and Research in Interdisciplinary Contexts

DISCUSSION, concurrent with lunch
Lunch with Professor Sensoy, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

In this discussion, participants will talk about opportunities and challenges for working in interdisciplinary contexts. Professor Sensoy will discuss her issues-based approach and share examples from her current research in interdisciplinary contexts. She is working on an interdisciplinary project for developing the legal literacy of young people. The project is called “Action for a Just Society” and takes an issues-based approach to examining the relationship between the “rule of law” and what it means to live in and work towards a “just society.” This project is funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia, and draws on the fields of law, criminal justice, law-related education, social justice education, bilingualism, and Indigeneity. The research and work with students incorporates concepts of citizenship, human rights, sustainability, and identity. Please come share your own thoughts about doing interdisciplinary teaching and research at Westfield.

For more information about Özlem Sensoy, visit her webpage: http://www.sfu.ca/~ozlem/Site/Welcome.html

Gender and Development in the International Arena

Discussion facilitated by Shoba S. Rajgopal (Women's Studies Program Coordinator and postcolonial/transnational feminist from South Asia). Participants include Lorena Munoz (Geography and Regional Planning), Gulia Muradova (International Initiatives) Gabe Aquino (Sociology), TJ Dong (Social Work), and Banwo Adeyinka (History).

Monday, March 9, at 12:30 (rescheduled).

This brown bag will use the recent research of our keynote speaker for Month Celebrating Women, Dr. Alison Jaggar, to discuss issues pertaining to Gender, Race, and Development.  One specific topic for discussion will be the conflicts in academia between feminists from the Global North vs. the Global South on topics regarding Gender violence, development, and human rights. Please go through the articles before you arrive if you have time, so that we can have an in-depth discussion and plan how to present them to our students.  This discussion is a particularly important one for the faculty to have as the college moves forward in offering more J-Term courses. 

 

Research Papers: Problems and Possibilities

Tuesday, March 10, 12 noon to 1:15 p.m.

Discussion facilitated by George Layng (Reading and Writing Center Director and English), along with Oliver Zeff (Library), Christin Cleaton (History), Mara Dodge (History), and Jennifer DiGrazia (Composition Coordinator and English)

Are your students about to start a research project? Are they already at work on one? Are you hoping for the best but fearing the worst? Then come to a Faculty Center Brown Bag Lunch discussion on research assignments. You’ll get some suggestions from colleagues in English, History, and the Library about how to design and manage research projects so that they are successful for you and your students, and you’ll learn how faculty in various departments have experimented with new kinds of research assignments in their courses.  You’ll also be able to talk about your own experiences with research assignments.  Please bring your lunch and join the discussion! 

Welcoming International Students to WSC

Discussion facilitated by Sarah Woodside (UC Santa Cruz)

Wednesday, March 25, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Faculty Center, Parenzo 215

Next September WSC will be the temporary home of as many as 50 international students, joining our campus community from as nearby as Canada and as far away as China.  Sarah Woodside, an intercultural trainer and residence life specialist from UC Santa Cruz, will discuss the creation of a “welcoming” campus in preparation for the incoming international students.  She will be joined by Barry Maloney, VP Student Affairs; Marsha Marotta, Dean of Undergraduate Studies; and John Deupree, senior adviser to the President on International Initiatives.

An Early Case of Personality: Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and the Problem of Autobiography for Anthropologists, Deviants and Other Cultural Inmates

Wednesday, March 25, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Research Presentation by Elizabeth Stassinos (Criminal Justice)

Come hear our colleague Professor Elizabeth Stassinos talk about the culture and personality theorist Ruth Benedict, who was also Margaret Mead’s teacher, confidante, love, and fellow anthropological theorist of the Columbia “culture and personality” school.  Based on Professor Stassinos’s forthcoming article, this research talk will focus on the autobiographical piece (“The Story of My Life”) that Benedict wrote for Margaret Mead in the 1930’s when they were experimenting with Freudian models, and when Benedict was working on culture and personality “patterns” seen from the points of view of both “normals” and “misfits” in Kwakiutl, Dobuan, Plains and Pueblo Native American groups.  This talk will focus on early attempts at cross-cultural deviance theory, and the problems of ethos, fieldwork, and ethnography in anthropology.  All faculty and staff are welcome to this research talk, which is also part of Month Celebrating Women. 

****************************

Here is an abstract of the article (forthcoming in History of Anthropology Annual Volume 5 ed. by Frederick Gleach [Cornell U.] and Regna Darnell [U. Western Ontario] for U. Nebraska Press) on which Professor Stassinos’s Faculty Center research talk will be based:It is easy to forget, with so much scholarship available today on the Boasian “culture and personality” anthropologists of the 1920’s-40’s, that Ruth Fulton Benedict wrote her own autobiographical fragment for her confidante, colleague, and former lover, Margaret Mead. Written in 1935, “The Story of My Life...” is a short piece Mead dutifully includes in the first and largest “anthology-biography" of Benedict after her death in 1948.  Mead describes the piece in the title’s footnote as “Uncompleted, partly typewritten, partly handwritten manuscript prepared for MM in 1935, at a time when life histories were becoming a matter of anthropological interest” (An Anthropologist At Work: Writings of Ruth Benedict, 1959: 97). Although many of the biographers and commentators on Boas’ students’ “culture and personality” school at Columbia warn against reading Benedict’s work solely in terms of Nietszche’s Apollonian measure and Dionysian excess or in terms of the “trauma” of Benedict’s “primal scene,” they still do not present an alternative view to this bipolar or structuralist reading of Benedict’s life. Only the recent work by Virginia Heyer Young (2005) goes beyond the reading of Benedict either “at home” or “at work” as Mead mystified her, a false dichotomy and lede that I think made for interesting but mystified “at home” portraits by early biographers.  Mead was frustrated by her lack of access to Benedict’s home life and described Benedict “at work” with a play of tensions and contrasts that mark Benedict’s work as much as Gregory Bateson’s, the two anthropological and ethos’ oriented colleagues that Mead relied on throughout her life to “think with” (Young 2005).


Overcoming Science and Math Anxiety and Avoidance

Workshop led by Sheila Tobias, Tucson, AZ

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Faculty Center, Parenzo 215

Who does and does not feel comfortable doing math and science?  In what promises to be a provocative workshop, Sheila Tobias will explore the barriers to learning math and science, including gender, racial and ethnic dimensions of math and science anxiety/avoidance, and lead a discussion of successful strategies for overcoming those barriers. The workshop should be of particular interest to faculty members in the Biology, Computer Science, Physical Science, Geography and Regional Planning, and Mathematics departments, as well as anyone teaching the research methods course in their discipline.

Ms. Tobias was trained in history and literature at Harvard-Radcliffe and Columbia Universities before turning her attention to girls’ and women’s avoidance of college-level mathematics and the physical sciences: since then, she has written nine books, and helped launch a new professional science master’s degree that is especially appealing to women. Her books include: Overcoming Math Anxiety (1978, 1994), Succeed with Math (1987), They’re not dumb, they’re different: Stalking the second tier (1990), Breaking the Science Barrier (1992), Revitalizing Undergraduate Science: Why Some Things Work and Most Don’t (1992), Rethinking Science as a Career (1995), and The Hidden Curriculum: Faculty Made Tests in Science (1997). Ms. Tobias is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates, the most recent from Michigan State University and WPI

Discussion with Professor Mike Flynn:
WSC Teacher-in-Residence, 2008 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year,
and Recipient of the 2009 Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence

Monday, April 6
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

A 1997 graduate of Westfield, Mike Flynn became Massachusetts Teacher of the Year in 2008, and, almost overnight, went from being a 2nd grade teacher in Southmapton to becoming the state's ambassador for public education.  In this new role, he has had discussions about education with Margaret Spellings, Governor Deval Patrick, Secreatary of Education Paul Reville, former Education Commissioner David Driscoll, Senator John Kerry, and Deputy Commissioner of Education Jeff Nellhaus, among many other state and national leaders in education.   He was also the only teacher to work with Governor Patrick on the Leadership Council for the Readiness Project, an experience that changed his perspective on the whole system of public education in Massachusetts.  Through all his meetings, committee work, and travel across the state and country, he has developed a new sense of what needs to be done to restructure education to meet the needs of learners in the 21st century.

This Faculty Center Q&A session with Mike Flynn, who has been on campus this year as the Teacher-in-Residence, is an excellent opportunity to hear about his experiences meeting with leaders in education, to ask questions about his views on education reform, and to join a discussion about public education in Massachusetts and the nation.  Bring your lunch and your questions!  All faculty and staff are welcome.

Working with English Language Learners
Discussion facilitated by Eileen Kelley
(Coordinator of ESL Support Services and
Professor of Language Studies, Holyoke Community College)
Monday, April 13 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

In the fall, Westfield State College will welcome several international students to our campus. This brown bag lunch is designed to begin a discussion about working with English Language Learners (ELLs) in our classes. Eileen Kelley, Coordinator of ESL Support Services at Holyoke Community College, will facilitate a discussion about techniques and approaches that work well with English Language Learners, and she will also encourage all of us to reflect on our classroom and teaching styles, in preparation for working with ELLs. In particular, she will address the idiomatic nature of English, intercultural communication issues, and strategies for keeping standards high while making the language of the class more accessible. We see this as an opportunity to start the conversation, and Dr. Kelley will then offer a follow-up afternoon workshop on the topic on April 29 (Wed.). Please bring your lunch and join the discussion!


Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Presentations
by this year's grant recipients

Wednesday, April 15 - 3:15 pm to 4:45 pm

How Can Brain Research Be Applied To Information Literacy Instruction in Teacher Education?

Presentation by Lolly Templeton (Education) and Signia Warner (Library)

3:15 pm to 3:45 pm

Since the introduction of sophisticated brain imaging techniques, researchers have learned much more about brain activity than was previously known. Modern medical techniques--Position-emission tomography, (PET Scans); Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Functional MRI; and the discovery of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters)--have revolutionized human brain research. Researchers are beginning to suggest ways to apply advances in neuroscience research to classrooms. Our current project is designed to explore the findings of neuroscience research and their implications for our course-embedded information literacy instruction model.

The Impact of Early Relational Knowledge on Learning Interpersonal Skills
By Nora Padykula (Social Work)

3:45 pm to 4:15 pm

How do we know how to read other people? What is our understanding of why our students sometimes have great difficulty “reading” people and situations accurately? This presentation discusses the application of attachment theory to answer these questions. Early relational knowledge and its impact on attaining social work practice competencies were examined in sixty-three baccalaureate social work students. Results revealed associations between one’s attachment style and the capacity to accurately read non-verbal cues. Attachment style was also associated with various uses of reflective thinking while gaining experience in the field. This presentation would be useful for any discipline that seeks to assist their students in gaining competencies within the interpersonal realm while becoming reflective practitioners

The Utilization of Nontraditional Models in Chemistry
Research presentation by Frank Giuliano (Physical Science) and Chris Masi (Physical Science)

4:15 pm to 4:45 pm:

A basic tenet of chemistry is that we can determine the structure of a molecule, and, by understanding the molecule's structure, we can predict its properties. Drawing a Lewis structure of a molecule is among the first steps that chemists take towards determining the structure of a molecule. Lewis structures are a simple model that predicts the bonding between atoms in a molecule, and once a Lewis structure is drawn, it can be used to predict the overall shape of a molecule. From that basic description of a molecule, properties can be predicted, or the model can be subjected to more advanced techniques. During the past two years, we have examined two methods for drawing Lewis structures, investigated the use of traditional and nontraditional models as Lewis structure drawing aids, and sought to determine the advantages and disadvantages associated with the methods.

 

Making the Case: Assembling Materials for Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion

Bob Hayes (Academic Affairs), Ken Haar (MSCA Chapter President), and others

April 27th 3:30 to 5:00 pm

As the semester comes to an end, we know many of you are looking ahead to compiling your materials over the summer as part of the reappointment, tenure, and promotion process. To aid you in this endeavor, the Faculty Center is sponsoring its annual discussion about preparing materials for portfolios.  Come ask questions and hear suggestions from faculty members who have participated in the evaluation process, including members of this year’s Promotions Committee and Tenure Committee.  Bob Hayes (Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs) and Ken Haar (MSCA Chapter President) will also be available to answer questions.  We are envisioning this as a fairly informal discussion, with plenty of time for participants to share resources and strategies and to ask questions.  Light refreshments will be served.

Internationalizing the Campus: Facilitating Transitions

Workshop with Eileen Kelley (Coordinator of ESL Support Services and Professor of Language Studies, Holyoke Community College)

Wednesday, April 29 - 2:15 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Welcoming international students to an institution of higher learning brings both benefits and challenges. It can be a time of cultural adjustment and transition for faculty and staff as well as the students.  Even students who have a high level of English proficiency, or who have passed the TOEFL exam, may have difficulty with the norms and discourse of a US college. This workshop will focus on cultural, linguistic, and academic issues that can affect a positive experience for all those involved. Topics will include the following: supporting student language issues while maintaining high academic standards; effective classroom methods and approaches that work with international students; providing adequate support for faculty, staff and students; and understanding the stages of cultural adaptation.  This workshop is a follow-up to the brown bag lunch discussion Eileen facilitated at the Faculty Center last week and will go into more depth about many of the topics we began to discuss at the lunch; however, you do not need to have attended the brown bag in order to come to this workshop.  Also, it’s fine to leave early or come late if you’re not able to attend the whole workshop.  Light refreshments will be served.


The Teacher and Learner: Community, Care, and Support

Workshop by Dr. Estela Rojas (Learning Communities Director and Mathematics Professor, New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York)

Friday, May 8, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

This workshop will focus on strategies for creating and deepening student engagement in learning communities. Dr. Rojas, who directs the Learning Communities program at New York City College of Technology and who also leads a summer institute for faculty there, will talk about developing and sustaining learning communities, as well as about encouraging student engagement more generally. She will share ideas about how learning communities help to create a sense of community and collegiality among faculty, improve the learning process, and allow for integrated assignments. At the workshop, faculty will engage in activities to learn about encouraging the following in the classroom: cooperative learning, alternative assessment in the classroom, writing assignments sequenced throughout semester, and critical thinking activities to ensure success. Dr. Rojas will also be able to answer questions about how New York City College of Technology has encouraged learning communities and supported faculty.

If you're planning to attend either the workshop (9 to 11) or the lunch (noon to 1), please let me know (etodd@wsc.ma.edu or x5337). Come anyway, though, even if you forget to RSVP!--Emily Todd

Building an Effective Mentoring Network

A Workshop and Lunch with Mary Deane Sorcinelli (Associate Provost for Faculty Development at University of Massachusetts, Founder of the UMass Center for Teaching, and WSC Alumna)

Thursday, May 14, 12:15 to 2:00 p.m.

Career success and well-being depend in part on the network of relationships in which we participate. This workshop is designed for faculty and academic leaders interested in strengthening faculty networks (including their own!) and promoting mentoring relationships for faculty. We will explore the theory and practice of faculty mentoring and networking, highlighting an innovative new model of mentoring as well as strategies and programs that work to strengthen professional networks and mentoring.

 

Researching Funding Opportunities: Ely Library Resources

Carolyn Schwartz Assistant Librarian, Westfield State College
Friday December 4, noon – 1 p.m.

Discover ways you can use our campus library to identify potential funding sources for your project or program. Carolyn Schwartz, head of Access Services at the Ely Library, will showcase the special library web page designed for faculty grant-seekers. She’ll also review other web and print resources, and provide an update on local resources now housed at the Springfield city library.

 

 

Coping with Seven Disruptive Personality Types
in the Classroom

Tuesday, December 1, noon to 1 p.m.

Led by Dr. Gerald Amada, an expert on disruptive college students, this online seminar gives faculty and staff strategies to minimize distraction and maintain a positive and productive learning environment when confronted by a variety of disruptive student behaviors. Dr. Amada is a co-founder of the Mental Health Program at the City College of San Francisco, and he has presented on the subject of the disruptive college student for more than 20 years at more than 100 colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. He has published nine books and more than 80 articles and book reviews on mental health, psychotherapy and disruptive college student issues. He received B.A. and M.S.W. degrees at Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in social and clinical psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, Calif.

 

What's Age Got to Do With It? Why age is relevant to your class, and how to incorporate gerontological content into existing courses

Tuesday, November 17, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Information Session Facilitated by Tamara L. Smith (Sociology Department)

Twenty-five percent of the US population is expected to be over the age of 65 by the year 2050. Gerontology is one of the fastest growing fields, and more students today are opting to work with older people than ever. Even with these trends, the experiences of the elderly are often ignored in academia. Providing students with information about the elderly can be easily incorporated into any class. Come to this workshop to find out how to incorporate aging into your existing course, browse the multi-media resources on aging issues that are available to our faculty, and to learn more about the Interdisciplinary Gerontology Minor, and whether your course could be cross-listed as a gerontology elective in the future.


Swimming Across the River:
WSC Students’ Knowledge of Information

Monday, November 9th, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Presenter: Corinne Ebbs, Interim Library Director

Find out what Information Literacy (IL) and computer skills your first year students came in with this year. Results from the revised Information Literacy Assessment administered during Orientation will be presented. Learn how incoming students this year understood…

  • Interpreting a basic citationand
  • Quality control and the Internet
  • The concept of plagiarism
    And more...

Compare your classroom experiences with the assessment results. Join the discussion and share ideas on increasing your student’s information fluency (e.g. formulating questions, knowing where to look for relevant information, gathering and evaluating that information, applying it meaningfully, etc.).

Information Literacy and the Information Competent Student
Tuesday, November 3, 12:30 to 1:30 Faculty Center (Parenzo 215)
Discussion facilitated by Teri Shiel (Library)

What do we need to do, as a college community, to enhance information literacy on campus? At this brown bag lunch, Teri Shiel (Library) will share what she learned about the “information competent student” when she attended the Association of College and Research Libraries 2009 Immersion Institute this past July. The Immersion Institute provided Teri with the opportunity to work intensively with other academic librarians from around the country on all aspects of information literacy. Teri will discuss what she learned at the Institute and will highlight various intellectual tools and practical techniques to help improve information literacy on the Westfield State College campus.

 

“My Students Can't Write Summaries”: More Efficient Strategies to Help Students Become Better Writers Wednesday

October 28, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Facilitated by Catherine Savini (English Department and Reading and Writing Center)

In order to write successful research and response papers, students need to be able to summarize texts. If your students struggle with summarizing, come to this one-hour session for effective and efficient strategies to help them hone this skill. This session is intended to build on the discussion we held two weeks ago about students as writers (and we’ve attached the handout from that workshop), but you absolutely do not need to have attended the first discussion in order to participate in this session. We hope many of you can make it!

 

WSC in DC! WSC’s partnership with
The Washington Center

Monday, October 26th 2:30 – 3:30 pm
Discussion facilitated by Maureen McCartney (Career Center and liaison to The Washington Center) John Jones (Internship Coordinator, Criminal Justice) and Patsy Torres (The Washington Center)

Many WSC faculty have supervised students in semester long or summer internships in the Capitol through our partnership with The Washington Center (TWC). Over the last ten years, more than 200 undergraduates and recent grads have been placed with a wide range of federal agencies, non-profits, quasi-governmental program and corporations in DC. Westfield students with Massachusetts residency and a 3.0 qualify for significant funding from the Commonwealth and tuition and fee waivers during the academic year. Additional support is provided by the Westfield State College Foundation, TWC and government agencies. Math, Criminal Justice, Communications, Biology, Environmental Science, Political Science, Regional Planning, English, Psychology, Economics and Business, Computer Science, and History are among the WSC Departments already participating in this exciting experiential program. Come by to learn more about the program, funding, portfolio and civic engagement requirements, housing and much more. John Jones, Internship Coordinator for Criminal Justice, has supervised more than 100 student interns over the last decade and will be on hand to share his experiences with the program. Come join the discussion! Light refreshments will be provided.

 

Advising Matters: Preparing for the Academic Advising Season

Thurssday, October 15, 3:30 to 5:00

Laurie Simpson (Academic Advising Center) has invited students to attend the session to talk with faculty members about what students want from their advising sessions. Please join this informal, yet candid conversation about what students are looking for in academic advising and what frustrations they’ve encountered. Laurie Simpson will also be on hand to answer your questions and to help you get ready for advising, which begins on Monday, October 19.

 

My Students Can’t Write: Efficient Strategies to Help Our Students Become Better Writers

Wednesday, October 14, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
With Catherine Savini (English and Reading and Writing Center)

Providing feedback on student writing can be an exhausting task. Often we mark up our students’ papers meticulously only to receive fresh papers with the same old problems. In this workshop we will examine common issues in student writing, consider the root causes of these issues, and develop an approach to helping students improve their writing. Our hope is that you’ll leave this workshop with specific strategies for providing efficient and effective feedback. Please note that we have scheduled a follow-up discussion on this topic for Wednesday, October 28, from 3 to 4.

The Uses of Misuses of PowerPoint in Teaching

Discussion facilitated by Nick Aieta (History) and Teri Shiel (Library)
October 7, from 12:30 to 1:30

When our students prepare presentations, they invariably use PowerPoint, and many of us use PowerPoint to organize our lectures. But sometimes a PowerPoint presentation fails to engage students. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in using PowerPoint in your teaching? What are some successes you’ve experienced? How do you coach your students to use PowerPoint effectively? What techniques have you developed to use PowerPoint well in your teaching? Or do you avoid PowerPoint entirely? Come to this discussion to hear from some colleagues about their approaches to using PowerPoint in teaching and to share ideas about best practices. Bring your lunch and join the discussion!

Additional Readings:

“When Computers Leave Classrooms, So Does Boredom.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education

"Powerpoint and Pedagogy: Maintaining Student Interest in University Lectures"
College Teaching
(WSC logon required if off-campus)

"Ban the Bullet-Point! Content-Based PowerPoint for Historians."
History Teacher
(WSC logon required if off-campus)

 

Working with International Students at WSC:
Q&A Session with Staff in the International Programs Office

Friday, October 2
12:30 to 1:30

Cynthia Siegler, Vera Vlasenko, and Gulia Muradova of the International Programs Office will share their knowledge and answer your questions about the program, about the international students new to our campus this semester, and about common issues that these students face.  The discussion will cover the basics of working with international students and will also touch on maintaining student status under immigration law.  Please bring your lunch and join the discussion!

 

Engaging Our Students: A Conversation with Recipients of Last Year's Outstanding Professor Awards

Discussion facilitated by Frank Giuliano (Physical Science), Joyce Hayden (English), Dave Smailes (Political Science), and Jack Szpiler (Psychology)

Thursday, October 1
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Every graduation, the Student Government Association announces the recipients of its Outstanding Professor Awards. This Thursday (10/1), some of the recipients of last year's awards will gather in the Faculty Center to talk about their approaches to teaching and about their successful efforts to engage students. They will each speak briefly at the beginning of the brown bag, and then they will answer questions and lead a general discussion about keeping students engaged in learning. Please stop by for what promises to be an inspiring conversation with some very gifted professors at Westfield. We hope you'll be able to stop by and join the discussion!

Recognizing and Preventing Harassment on Campus

A Presentation by the Wellness Corporation
Facilitated by Hamish Blackman  
Tuesday, September 29, 3:30 to 5:00

In recent years, a number of highly publicized lawsuits and incidents have heightened awareness of harassment on college and university campuses across the country. It’s important to note that instances of harassment exist in all career fields and at all levels of employment. This workshop, offered by the Wellness Corporation, is designed to help participants understand the issue of harassment and the need to maintain awareness on and off campus in order to avoid potentially harassing activities. The learning objective for this program is recognition and prevention:

  • Know it when you see it
  • Know what to do about it.
  • Understand your role.
  • Know how and when to react to it.


    All faculty and staff are invited to attend.

    RSVP to Emily Todd (Faculty Center Coordinator) at etodd@wsc.ma.edu. Hope many of you will be able to participate!

WSC Harassment Presentation

Semester at Sea: International Teaching Opportunities for Faculty

Discussion facilitated by Debbie Clifford (Student Affairs) and Ricki Kantrowitz (Honors and Psychology) 
Tuesday, September 22, 12:30 to 1:30

Many WSC faculty and staff have recently taught short-term courses abroad.  At this brown bag lunch discussion, you'll have the chance to learn about another international teaching opportunity--the Semester at Sea Program, which is a study abroad program academically sponsored through the University of Virginia.  Come learn about the program from two of our colleagues who have taken part in this unique learning community.  Dr. Ricki Kantrowitz (Honors and Psychology) has taught on two voyages and will share her experiences.  Debbie Clifford (Student Affairs) has sailed on three voyages and serves on the Semester at Sea Faculty/Staff Alumni Council.  She will share her perspective and answer questions about the program.  Please bring your lunch and join the discussion.

Reaching out to At-Risk Students: Coming Together as a Caring College Community

Tammy Bringaze (Counseling Center)
Wednesday, September 16, from 1:30 to 3:00

This workshop grows out of a presentation Dr. Tammy Bringaze gave at the China-US-Canada Student Affairs Summit held in Beijing.  Campuses across the country are seeing a greater demand for support services, which impacts faculty, staff, and students.  Tammy will provide a brief overview of the current mental health climate on campuses and will also examine how tragedies such as the shootings that took place at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University have affected campus life.  One question we will discuss is how the increased focus on potential campus violence impacts our ability to reach out and provide positive interventions with at-risk students.  This workshop will explore how we can develop a community-centered model both to better meet the needs of our students and to act as a deterrent to campus violence.  We hope you'll be able to come to this workshop (there's no need to RSVP) and join the discussion!

Context and Conflict in the Henry Louis Gates Arrest: A Teachable Moment?

Discussion facilitated by Elizabeth Stassinos (Criminal Justice), Robin DiAngelo (Multicultural Education), Carlton Pickron (Multicultural Affairs), and Margot Hennessy (Ethnic and Gender Studies)

Thursday, September 10
2:30 to 3:30

Following Henry Louis Gates’s arrest this summer in his Cambridge home, President Obama referred to the incident as a “teachable moment.”  Now that you are back in the classroom, are you considering talking about the arrest with your students?  If so, how are you framing it?  This brown bag lunch discussion is intended to give faculty from different disciplines a chance to share their ideas about using the arrest—and the subsequent media coverage—as a case study in their classes.  Some faculty will describe the case studies they’ve already worked up, and others might share their reasons for deciding not to use the incident in their teaching.  This discussion might be of particular interest to faculty in Criminal Justice, Communication, Ethnic and Gender Studies, English, History, Political Science, Education, and Sociology, but, as always, everyone is welcome.  Please come join the discussion!