Stearns Center Events Calendar - Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

Welcome to our events calendar page! Please bookmark this page to learn more about upcoming events and changes to events listed below. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up with all SC events and support resources!

Some of the events that we offer are part of specific programs that the Stearns Center offers. Those will be designated as follows:

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) – CPD Workshops and Webinars help faculty to document their teaching over time. For more information on CPD credentials, click this link.
Inclusive Teaching Credential (AIEM-Teach) – AIEM-Teach is a credential that individual faculty can earn to demonstrate their commitment to the institution’s initiatives and goals around inclusive teaching and support learning and success for all students. For more information on Inclusive Teaching credentials, click this link.
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) – Faculty Learning Communities and Webinars focus on writing and faculty development. Visit WAC’s website for more information.
Digital Learning (DL) – Webinars blend information with a Q&A period. They are recorded for future viewing. Recording links will be published on our Trainings page.

Fall 2024

September

By now you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT or one of the other various new large language models (LLMs) that have taken the world by storm. But do you know how to deal with the ever-evolving artificial intelligence technology as it relates to your teaching? In this mini course you will be exposed to the basics of redesigning your course as it relates to learning outcomes and instructional activities. We will also explore how to get feedback from students regarding the changes that you make. (This is the same program as the Mini Course offered August 12-16, 2024.)

Please reach out to Laina Lockett (llocket@gmu.edu) with any questions.

Are you prepared to handle difficult discussions and charged situations in the classroom in the moment? Do you usually think of things later that you wish you would have said or done? In this workshop, we will prepare and practice how to handle important and potentially tense classroom conversations in the moment. Our focus will be on how to support everyone in the classroom – including yourself – during tense times. We will discuss and practice several teaching approaches. This workshop is applicable to instructors across all disciplines for facilitating important conversations, whether or not their designed course topics include socially pressing issues (like race, gender, religion, politics). Please note, this is the second in a two-part workshop series on important conversations. However, participants are welcome and encouraged to attend this session even if they were not able to attend part one.

Please reach out to Rachel Yoho (ryoho@gmu.edu) with any questions.

Whether individual or collective, trauma can have a significant impact on lives and how students (and instructors) show up and are able to engage in the classroom. In this workshop, we will explore the concept of trauma and how it applies to the classroom, recognize a few common trauma responses, investigate several educational best practices, expand our thinking with resilient pedagogy, and begin to apply these concepts to our own teaching. Together we will move beyond minimum legal requirements or accommodations to design and implement evidence-based instructional strategies in university education.

Please reach out to Rachel Yoho (ryoho@gmu.edu) with any questions.

Monday, September 23 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | via Zoom | Fostering Engagement and Belonging with Inclusive Classroom Techniques | CPD Level 1 Engage / AIEM-Teach Level 1 | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho | Register here.

Are you ready to integrate inclusive teaching throughout your instructional spaces? Would you like to explore techniques and build tangible plans for your classes? This is where that journey begins. In this workshop, we will explore some of the definitions and terms often found in conversations about creating more inclusive classrooms. We will work together to advance our individual abilities in broadly inclusive teaching and learning to support all students. At the end of the workshop, we will have developed familiarity with concepts and terminology, explored deliberately inclusive classroom activities, and set one or two manageable goals for our classes.

Please reach out to Rachel Yoho (ryoho@gmu.edu) with any questions.

Are you ready to take your next steps in engaging successfully in difficult classroom conversations and situations? In this leveled-up workshop, we will explore the elements of free speech in an educational context, investigate types of disruptions and situationally appropriate teaching responses, and analyze scenarios with colleagues. This workshop is applicable to instructors across all disciplines for facilitating important conversations, whether or not their designed course topics include socially pressing issues (like race, gender, religion, politics). Please note, this is the third in a four-part workshop series on important conversations. Participants are encouraged – but not required – to engage with parts 1 and 2 before joining this session.

Please reach out to Rachel Yoho (ryoho@gmu.edu) with any questions.

Come meet your Stearns Center liaison and other new STEM faculty at GMU. Share stories about your first month at Mason and build community with your colleagues. Snacks will be provided. Please register by Monday, September 23rd.

Contact Laina Lockett for more details: llocket@gmu.edu

October

The Mason Core Committee is seeking course proposals for courses in the revised Global Contexts category and the new Just Societies flag, as well as the Mason Apex category. Faculty interested in proposing a course for QEP-Community Engaged Learning status are also welcome!
Join us for a review of the new learning outcomes, a guide to the proposal process, and the opportunity to compose a first draft of your proposal and get some early feedback. Come on your own or bring colleagues who will help design or teach the course.

See more about Mason Core courses or contact Mason Core for more information (masoncor@gmu.edu).

Please reach out to Rachel Yoho (ryoho@gmu.edu) with any questions about the workshop.

November

Wednesday, November 20 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | via Zoom | Course Proposal Workshop: Successfully (Re-)Designing and Proposing a Mason Core Course | Facilitators: Rachel Yoho, Shelley Reid, and Laura Poms | Register here.

The Mason Core Committee is seeking course proposals for courses in the revised Global Contexts category and the new Just Societies flag, as well as the Mason Apex category. Faculty interested in proposing a course for QEP-Community Engaged Learning status are also welcome!
Join us for a review of the new learning outcomes, a guide to the proposal process, and the opportunity to compose a first draft of your proposal and get some early feedback. Come on your own or bring colleagues who will help design or teach the course.

See more about Mason Core courses or contact Mason Core for more information (masoncor@gmu.edu).

Please reach out to Rachel Yoho (ryoho@gmu.edu) with any questions about the workshop.