CETL Events
Join us for teaching workshops and other events open to all University of Mississippi-affiliated faculty, staff, and students.
Workshops for all
Join us for workshops and events designed to assist instructors and instructional support staff at any level, teaching in any discipline or modality.
This fall, our events will focus on reclaiming pedagogical purpose during difficult times. We hope that no matter who you are, what you teach, or where you’re at in your teaching journey you’ll find something in CETL’s fall lineup that can help make your work a little easier—any maybe even more joyful.
Read more about our fall offerings on our blog and register to attend our events below.
Fall 2024 Events
Welcome Week Workshop: Who Are Our Students?
Date and time: Monday, August 19, 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Presenter: Emily Pitts Donahoe
One of the cardinal rules of teaching is “know thy students.” So, who are the students at the University of Mississippi? In this session, we’ll take a deep dive into the demographics of our students here at UM, and at US colleges more generally, and then consider how this information can inform our teaching in the fall and beyond. This workshop is ideal for new faculty but appropriate for anyone who wants to learn more about the undergraduate population at the University of Mississippi.
Welcome Week Workshop: Crafting Your Syllabus
Date and time: Wednesday, August 21, 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Presenter: Josh Eyler
Is a syllabus a description of course content? An invitation? A provocation? A set of goals? A promise? It’s all of these, and much more. In this workshop, we’ll talk about the role of a syllabus in setting the tone for your semester and in shaping your engagement with students. We’ll also share the template for syllabus policies developed by CETL to make your life (and the work of creating a syllabus) so much easier!
Welcome Week Workshop: Making the First Day Count—Setting the Stage for an Engaged Class
Date and time: Thursday, August 22, 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Presenter: Liz Norell
Learning works best when it's fun—and that's true for faculty, too. This dynamic and engaging workshop will give you ideas on how to lay a solid foundation for an engaging learning environment all semester, right from the first day. You'll peek into the thoughts your students are bringing into the classroom that day, why it's critical to spark joy and create community from the start, and leave with specific ideas for how to implement this in your own class. Plus, you'll renew your excitement, too!
Reclaiming Joy and Purpose in the Classroom—For You and For Your Students
Date and time: Wednesday, September 4, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenter: Josh Eyler
It’s no secret that teaching has been more challenging than usual the last few years. Pandemic-related burnout, combined with reports of lower levels of student engagement, have affected our work in the classroom in significant ways. In this workshop, we will ask participants to think about the obstacles to joy and purpose they are encountering in their teaching, as well as the obstacles they believe their students are facing in these categories. Then, collectively, we will address some ways to address these challenges.
Lunch will be provided for registered participants.
Understanding the ADA and Its Impact on Teaching
Date and time: Monday, September 9, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenter: Liz Norell
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that students have equitable access to class materials, facilities, and learning. The office of Student Disability Services (SDS) coordinates student requests for formal accommodations. This session is designed to help equip instructors with basic knowledge of the ADA’s requirements, with particular focus on how those requirements impact what teachers should (and should not) do in their classrooms and with students. For example, if a student discloses a disability to you but does not have formal accommodations through SDS, what (if any) responsibilities do you have under the law? Learn how your actions, interactions with, and assumptions about students can create potential legal and ethical issues in your teaching.
Lunch will be provided for registered participants.
How to Bring Down the Temperature When It Comes to Politics (In Classrooms)
Date and time: Monday, September 16, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenter: Liz Norell
As we look ahead to the November election, many instructors wonder how they can navigate the strong feelings (on all sides) about the stakes and the candidates. Even if you’re not teaching a politics-centric class, chances are good that election-year observations will emerge in classes and meetings this fall. In this session, we’ll learn how political news is designed to keep you watching, including the psychology of political communication. Then we’ll review five strategies to avoid reactivity around politics and engage in more productive thinking and discussions. These strategies are meant to assist you in your work, particularly in the classroom, to acknowledge strong feelings while maintaining focus on your teaching goals. You'll leave this session with concrete tips on how to defuse and manage challenging emotions around politics (and more).
Lunch will be provided for registered participants.
Rekindling Joy & Purpose: Leveraging the Power of Human Connections for Faculty & Student Success, with Dr. Isis Artze-Vega
Date and time: Monday, September 23, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Teaching and learning can be lonely endeavors, yet research has long pointed to the positive impact of relationships on both our wellness and academic aspirations. This talk will invite faculty to reflect on their own connections, describe the benefits of cultivating and strengthening their relationships, and suggest straightforward ways to rekindle joy and purpose. It will also share insights from Connections Are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education with which faculty can help students cultivate their own joyful relationships.
Lunch will be provided for registered participants.
Leading Difficult Discussions
Date and time: Wednesday, October 2, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenters: Josh Eyler and Liz Norell
Particularly during a contentious presidential election semester, instructors often need to lead discussions on difficult topics. In some disciplines, these discussions are more common, as themes on race, culture, gender, and/or sexual orientation can sometimes create challenge or discomfort. However, when current events raise the temperature everywhere, even classes not specifically meant to address such topics may see challenging conversations unfold. In this workshop, we will share specific resources and suggestions on leading these potentially difficult discussions in inclusive, engaging ways that serve our instructional goals.
Lunch will be provided for registered participants.
Teaching In the Weeks Surrounding the Election
Date and time: Monday, October 14, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenter: Josh Eyler, Liz Norell, and Emily Pitts Donahoe
The November election has many of us feeling on edge. In this session, we’ll focus specifically on the period of time just before and just after the election itself as a way to address some of instructors’ concerns about how the election might impact our teaching, including strategies for responding to crises, sample scripts for acknowledging events outside the classroom, and the need for us to take care of our own mental health as well.
Lunch will be provided for registered participants.
Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students, a book launch for Joshua Eyler
Date and time: Friday, October 18, 2:00-3:30 pm
Location: Butler Auditorium, Triplett Alumni Center
Interested in ungrading, contract grading, or other alternatives to traditional grading? Join us as Dr. Tom Brady interviews Dr. Josh Eyler about his new book Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students, and What We Can Do about It. Josh will share highlights from his research on how grades can interfere with learning and actually cause harm in many cases. This discussion will include suggestions for how faculty can moderate grading practices and get started with more equitable assessment strategies.
Refreshments will be provided for registered participants.
Developing a Trauma-aware Pedagogy
Date and time: Wednesday, November 20, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenter: Emily Pitts Donahoe
According to recent reports, nearly half of students who attend college counseling sessions say they have experienced trauma, and rates of post-traumatic stress disorder more than doubled among college students from 2017 to 2022. While instructors are not counselors and cannot treat students’ mental health concerns, it’s important to be aware of how trauma manifests in our classrooms and how we can mitigate its impacts on teaching and learning. In this workshop, we’ll examine the effects of trauma and develop strategies to support five components of trauma-aware teaching: safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; and empowerment, voice, and choice.
Lunch will be provided for registered participants.
Book Launch for The Present Professor, by Liz Norell
Date and time: Friday, December 6, 1:00-2:30 pm
Location: Butler Auditorium, Triplett Alumni Center
Presenter: Josh Eyler, Liz Norell, and invited guests
Join us as we celebrate the publication of The Present Professor, the first book by CETL associate director of instructional support Liz Norell. CETL director Josh Eyler and other invited guests will discuss the key ideas of the book with the author and the audience.
Light refreshments will be provided for registered participants.
Faculty Reading Group—Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal
Dates and times: Fridays, October 11, November 1, and November 8, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Presenters: Josh Eyler, Liz Norell, and Emily Pitts Donahoe
Each fall, CETL hosts a faculty book club to bring instructors across campus together to read and learn together. This fall, we’ll be reading Rebecca Pope-Ruark’s book Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal. Sessions will be held via Zoom on three Fridays during the fall semester. Our discussions will provide an opportunity to discuss themes of the book with colleagues across the UM faculty community.
Fundamentals of Teaching: A Learning Community for Graduate TAs and Instructors
Dates and times: Wednesdays, 2:00-3:00 pm, August 28, September 25, October 23, and November 20
Location: Student Union 326
Presenters: Emily Pitts Donahoe and Winshen Liu
Want some extra support while teaching/TAing or preparing to teach as a graduate student? Join the Fundamentals of Teaching Learning Community to hone your teaching practice, build community with other graduate teachers, and get access to CETL resources and expertise for the entire term. We’ll meet in person over four sessions to talk about setting the tone for your course or section, planning effective lessons, grading and assessment, and soliciting mid-semester feedback. We’ll also connect with one another online to reflect, troubleshoot, share resources, and provide real-time teaching support.
Light refreshment will be provided for in-person meetings.
Graduate Reading Group
Dates and times: Fridays, 12:00-1:00 pm, September 20, October 18, and November 15
Location: Hill Hall 117
Presenters: Emily Pitts Donahoe and Amitesh Singh
This year, the Graduate Reading Group will tackle the book The New College Classroom by Cathy N. Davidson and Christina Katopodis. Registered graduate students will receive a paperback copy of the book, and pizza will be provided for lunch. Join us to learn more about college teaching and connect with fellow graduate TAs, instructors, and aspiring educators.
Registration is limited, so please register only if you can commit to attending all three in-person meetings. Registration deadline is Friday, August 30 or when all seats are filled.
Making the Most of Your Teaching (sponsored by the Graduate School)
Date and time: Friday, September 13, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Library 106D
Presenters: Emily Pitts Donahoe
In this Graduate School lunch-and-learn, we'll talk about why good teaching is important for your professional life, discuss how to leverage your resouces to grow as a teacher, and take some time to create a professional development plan to make the most of your teaching at UM.
Lunch will be provided; register with the Graduate School.
Becoming "AI Ready" for Fall Semester: What You Do and Don’t Want to Know about Generative AI (Academic Innovations Group)
Date and time: Tuesday, August 13, 10:00-11:00 am
Location: Zoom
Presenters: Marc Watkins
Join us on Zoom for this session to help faculty prepare for a new AI landscape in the fall. Assistant Director of AIG Marc Watkins will walk us through new developments for ChatGPT. Associate Director of CETL Emily Donahoe will showcase updated syllabus language suggestions for generative AI in the fall semester. Marc will also address how faculty can label AI-generated content in their classes, review similar practices for how students can identify the role of AI in their work, and review restorative frameworks for academic misconduct.
No One is Talking About AI’s Impact on Reading (Academic Innovations Group)
Date and time: Wednesday, September 11, 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Presenters: Marc Watkins & Robert Cummings
Generative AI has revolutionized teaching, learning, literacy, information sharing, and ethical practices in higher education. But how has it affected reading practices? We all know that generative AI offers tools such as quick summaries and topic identification, but what happens when those tasks are offloaded from human cognition to LLMs? In this session, we will take the time to look at how AI tools are potentially impacting reading practices and how faculty might respond.
What’s At Stake When We Automate Research Skills (Academic Innovations Group)
Date and time: Wednesday, October 2, 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Presenters: Marc Watkins & Robert Cummings
Generative AI tools are revolutionizing research practices. Tools such as Google's Notebook LM allow researchers to create custom bibliographies, incorporating up to 50 sources with up to 500,000 words in each source. Researchers can then turn a suite of generative AI tools on that customized database to summarize and "connect the dots" across sources. But what happens to the research process when AI does the reading and some of the thinking for us? Join us as we look at the promise and perils of automated research practices.
What Does Automating Feedback Mean for Learning? (Academic Innovations Group)
Date and time: Wednesday, October 16, 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Presenters: Marc Watkins & Robert Cummings
Tools offering automated evaluation and feedback of student work have been steadily progressing in recent years. In fact, automated writing evaluation (AWE) tools are as old as most machine learning concepts. What are the current tools that offer automated feedback for student learning -- do they fulfill the promise of expanding the reach of teachers to more students, or are they just another barrier between teachers and students? And what are the ethical implications of their use? Join us as we review the current landscape of automated feedback tools.
Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices (Co-hosted by CETL and the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement)
Date and time: Thursday, September 5, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Location: Student Union 124
and
Date and time: Wednesday, October 16, 1:00-3:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Presenters: Emily Pitts Donahoe (CETL) and Sarah David-Cusani (DCE)
CETL, in collaboration with the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, is pleased to offer this introduction to inclusive teaching, open to any teacher or aspiring teacher at UM. We’ll discuss the common barriers students face in pursuing postsecondary education; outline principles for supporting diversity, fostering inclusion, and promoting equity in the classroom; and help you begin the process of developing inclusive and equitable teaching strategies in your own context.
To register, log in to my.olemiss.edu and follow this pathway:
Employee → Tools and Resources → Training Workshops → Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices → Register