From the Director: The Core of What We Do
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Last week, I had the pleasure of traveling to Chicago to attend the annual conference of the POD Network. As outlined in its mission, POD “exists to provide professional development and a community of practice for scholars and practitioners of educational development, and to serve as a leading voice on matters related to teaching and learning in higher education.” Although I only became aware of POD a few years ago, I have come to see how deeply the efforts of its membership have influenced my own continued growth as an educator over the course of two decades. POD’s core values of collaboration, equity, and evidence-based practice were woven into my graduate school training as well as my continuing development here at CC.
This year’s conference theme, “Relationships at the Core of Educational Development,” underscored how much our work as educators is built upon and sustained by the strength of our connections—whether across disciplines as colleagues engaged in equity-based practices, among students collaborating in our classrooms, or in the partnerships we foster within our community and alumni networks. These relationships make possible our shared emphasis on process and remind us that growth in education is a collective endeavor.
As this long semester draws to a close, I am especially reminded of the resilience and dedication that keep us moving forward, especially when supported by strong, caring relationships. I want to express my deep appreciation for the creativity, commitment, and compassion each of you brings to your work. The insights from the POD conference reaffirm just how essential these connections are to the learning environment we create for our students and each other. Thank you for everything you do. May the upcoming Fall and Winter Breaks give you time to rest, recharge, and reconnect, ready for the new opportunities and challenges ahead.
Sincerely,
Ryan Raul Bañagale
Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Crown Center for Teaching
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The AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and Curriculum team, comprising faculty and academic staff members, recently developed a set of guiding principles for our ongoing campus-wide exploration of Generative Artificial Intelligence at CC. These principles reflect a deliberate and thoughtful approach to GenAI that draws upon the strengths of our liberal arts foundation and upholds our core institutional commitments to antiracism and sustainability. You can read the full statement here.
What are your thoughts on the use—or non-use—of Generative AI at CC? Throughout Block 4, we invite you to attend one or more “pop-up” conversations with members of our AAC&U AI team. Here are three session options (more to come in the future):
Week 1: Thursday, Nov. 21 from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. – Barnes Science Center
Week 2: Thursday, Dec. 5 from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. – Cossitt Commons
Week 3: Thursday, Dec. 12 from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. – Armstrong Great Hall
If you are unable to attend these sessions, we encourage you to express your engagement interest here.
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Crown Conversations Workshop, hosted by Sofia Fenner
Thursday, Nov. 21, 1-3 p.m.
Location TBD
In anticipation of challenging moments with friends and family over Fall Break, we invite you to a workshop on Embodied Conversation on Nov. 21 from 1-3 p.m. Most of us are familiar with how a frustrating conversation feels in our bodies: a quickening heartbeat; a tight chest; a desire to get up, lash out, or walk away. What are our bodies telling us in these moments? How can those messages help us engage or, if need be, disengage? We’ll be exploring these questions through ideas, movement, and practice.
Possibility Books, hosted by Kris Stanec
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 12:15 – 1:30 p.m.
Tutt Library, Room 317
Come experience Possibility Books (PB) and have time to adapt the prompts to align with any course. PBs are a brief daily exercise (~10 minutes at the start of class) in which students are asked to respond to various prompts through mark-making and dialogue. PB materials are provided for each class using this method. PB have been found to increase students’:
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- sense of community
- well-being
- creative thinking
- engagement
- learning of course content
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Over a thousand students across all disciplines have used PB. Most students surveyed indicated that this daily practice was valuable in learning new ways to engage with content.
Click here to RSVP.
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The Crown Conversations Project
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Envisioned by Crown Fellow Sofia Fenner, the Crown Conversations Project continues to bring staff and faculty together in unexpected spaces each block to learn from generative conversations happening across campus. And, if you’re wanting more from your conversations at work—whether in the classroom, a department meeting, or the hallway—please reach out to Sofia (sfenner@coloradocollege.edu). We each carry considerable wisdom about how to communicate and she’s here to serve as a sounding board as you explore your own strengths and perspectives.
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Teaching Kudos: Music Department Convergence Class
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In the last year, Iddo Aharony and the Music Department have convened several exciting convergence sessions that brought together classes from multiple disciplines and departments to engage with visiting artists. Convergences include sessions with Raptivist (rap activist) Aisha Fukushima, classical string quartets Catalyst Quartet and Escher Quartet, and LA-based musician Daniel French. The class with French in Block 3 brought together nine different classes, ranging from CC120 courses to advanced 300-level courses, and included classes in Theatre and Dance, History, English, Environmental Studies, Spanish, Sociology, and Music. The convergence classes gave students the opportunity to engage with the guest artist, ask questions, learn more about their work, and engage with each other in a collaborative environment.
If you have (or want to highlight a colleague who) has a teaching triumph to share in the Crown Newsletter, please send a short paragraph to Associate Director Jessica Hunter jhunter@coloradocollege.edu.
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Engaging Students through Objects-Based Teaching
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Hosted by Jessica Hunter (Associate Director of the Crown Center for Teaching) and Rebecca Tucker (Professor, Art), this interactive workshop will focus on teaching with objects. We define “objects” broadly, to include artworks and items in museum collections as well as works from visual and popular culture, material culture, infographics, charts, graphs, diagrams, etc.
Objects-based pedagogies are effective across disciplines. They offer students opportunities to hone their observation and analysis skills, develop curiosity and questioning, and engage deeply through visual interpretation. Objects-based teaching also supports students’ creative thinking capacities – and creates ideal conditions for developing nuanced interdisciplinary connections.
Whether you are a seasoned practitioner – or just curious about the idea – this session will address how objects-based pedagogies can support your teaching. We will address challenges, develop techniques, and identify strategies to support your goals. We will also explore approaches, projects, and scenarios that will help us push boundaries and create new possibilities for teaching and learning with objects.
RSVP here: CCT Objects-Based Teaching Workshop January 2025
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