Dear Colleagues,
First, thank you to everyone who has been participating in the Equity and Power reading groups! I took part in both of the in-person groups this summer and found the readings and conversations challenging, invigorating, and immensely productive for my scholarship and teaching. It was wonderful to connect with colleagues from across campus not just in our formal discussions, but also as these discussions carried over into coffee and lunch breaks. We’re planning to create more of these spaces for collaboration and connection over the next two years and will keep our website up to date with information on these.
On that note, I’m writing here to provide an update to the grant implementation and what you can expect this coming year. Please don’t hesitate to email me, Claire, or any of the key team members with questions or concerns, and I look forward to seeing you all soon!
Books for Equity and Power Reading Groups
There are still four boxes of books in Tutt Library, which means that not everyone has picked up their books for these reading groups. The library will be donating all the leftover books, so please go to Tutt Library to pick them up by Wednesday, October 5 at 5pm. Otherwise, they will be donated.
Course Development Grants
We have not yet awarded all of the course development grants, so we are announcing a second round of applications. The deadline for the second round is Friday, October 21 (Friday of the block break between Block 2 and Block 3). More information about the grants, including eligibility requirements, can be found here. The application can be found here. If there are still remaining funds after October 21, we will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis until all the grants have been distributed.
If you already received a grant, or if you receive one following this second round of applications, we ask that you teach this course in the 2023-2024 academic year. Please submit your course for the Equity and Power and/or Creative Processes designations by December 7 to make sure students are aware that it will carry this designation as they register for courses this spring. If this is a new course, please also submit it to your chair or program director so they can pass it on to the Committee on Instruction.
Creative Processes Development Series #1: Social Justice, Art, Ethics, and Technology
Assistant Professor of Art Jameel Paulin has been hard at work organizing a yearlong series of events focusing on the intersections of creativity, technology, and social justice. These events feature some amazing guests, and everyone is welcome to participate however they are able, especially anyone interested in teaching a “Creative Processes” course. The events cover a broad range of topics and will dialogue with our individual teaching and scholarship in various ways. We are still finalizing some of the details, but here is an overview of the fall semester events.
- October 19 at 2:00 (last Wednesday of Block 2): Community-oriented faculty workshop with Assistant Professor of English Brandon Shimoda and traci kato-kiriyama. The workshop will use kato-kiriyama’s recent book Navigating With(out) Instruments (2021, Writ Large Press) as a framework for creative/intellectual work. All workshop participants will receive a copy of the book, and refreshments will be on hand. Please register using this link by Friday, October 7 so we can order enough books.
- Block 3, date/time TBD: The first of four “Creativity and Innovation Workshops” co-hosted by Creativity and Innovation at CC. The theme of this workshop is “Visual Notebooks.” Questions addressed in the workshop include: How can visual notebooks work to decolonize higher education? How can reflection and mark-making create an inclusive space where students feel comfortable using their own languages (linguistic, metaphorical, and symbolic), backgrounds, and modes of learning? How can notetaking uncover tacit knowledge to increase nuanced understandings of complex issues? Future workshop themes will include “Embodied Practices,” “Interrogating Disciplinary Methods,” and “Mindfulness.”
- Block 4 (December 6 at 3:30): Screening of Coded Bias (2020) by Shalini Kantayya, which will include a discussion with the filmmaker. Synopsis: “Modern society sits at the intersection of two crucial questions: What does it mean when artificial intelligence increasingly governs our liberties? And what are the consequences for the people AI is biased against? When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that many facial recognition technologies do not accurately detect darker-skinned faces or classify the faces of women, she delves into an investigation of widespread bias in algorithms. As it turns out, artificial intelligence is not neutral, and women are leading the charge to ensure our civil rights are protected.” Please reach out if you would like to arrange for your class or research students to meet with the filmmaker, Shalini Kantayya.
- Spring semester: Workshop with Norah Zuniga-Shaw (Professor of Dance, Ohio State University) and other events TBA.
Course Development Luncheons
This spring, we will host informal luncheons for faculty who have received Course Development Grants to gather and discuss the process of creating their new courses. Each luncheon will have a focus, including assignments/in-class activities, readings/course materials, and grading/assessment.
June 14-18, 2023: Academic Conference
Please mark your calendars now for a large, three-day conference next summer. Hosted by Colorado College, the conference theme is “Humanities for Our Times: New Perspectives on Humanistic Approaches, Ethics, and Social Change.” More information, including the official announcement and CFP, will be forthcoming this semester.
Summer 2023: Faculty Retreat
This offsite retreat will occur over 1 ½ days and be open to all faculty who participated in any of the grant activities. The theme of the retreat is “Beyond Antiracist Pedagogies: Reframing the Relationship between Humanities Methods in the Classroom and Social Justice.” More information will be announced in the spring.
Academic Year 2023-2024: Creative Processes Development Series #2
Associate Professor Natanya Pulley will organize the second of series of events focusing on creativity, titled “Investigations of Creativity towards Inclusivity,” which will include a variety of events and several block visitors.
Best,
Chet, Claire, Jameel, Kris, Natanya, Steve, and Nene
