The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology invites you to submit a proposal for a poster, individual, or panel presentation at the annual University-Wide Teaching & Learning Symposium. This one-of-a-kind event will return to the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Uptown Normal on Thursday, January 12, 2017.
While all proposals related to teaching and student learning are welcome, we especially encourage proposals that address the symposium theme, Start Where You Are: The Journey Towards Cultural Responsiveness:
According to Educating Illinois, 2013-2018, “Illinois State University … encourages community and a respect for differences by fostering an inclusive environment characterized by cultural understanding, ethical behavior, and social justice.” But what does this mean for individual classrooms, and how do individual instructors live up to these expectations?
The need to design inclusive learning environments “characterized by cultural understanding” challenges each of us to be more culturally responsive. At the same time the journey toward cultural responsiveness is unique to each individual instructor. Some have been traveling the road for many years, while others are just now realizing there is a road to travel. Some are experts at assuring that their classrooms offer “windows,” “mirrors,” and “sliding glass doors” (Bishop, 1990), allowing students to see themselves and their experiences reflected in the material, see the experiences of others through the material, and, eventually, enter into worlds previously unimagined. Others are novices when it comes to creating learning spaces and experiences that draw on multiple perspectives which speak to the lived experiences of all students. Regardless of where you are on your journey, we invite you to share your challenges, your experiences, and your insights with your colleagues at the Symposium.
Proposals must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, October 2, to be considered. Requirements and important links, along with an online submission form, are available on CTLT’s main Symposium page. Contact Julie-Ann McFann at jmmcfan@ilstu.edu or (309) 438-5848 with questions.
The 2017 University-Wide Teaching & Learning Symposium is made possible through the generous support of the Fell Trust, the Harold K. Sage Foundation, the Illinois State University Foundation Fund, and the Office of the Provost.
