Kendall Center NewsletterOctober 1, 2021

Mentoring Community

The Kendall Center believes that anyone at any stage of their lives and careers can benefit from space and opportunity to share their whole self. The mentoring community also strengthens the Gustavus community, reminding us that we are not alone and we are stronger together. This community hopes to spark further conversations and future collaborations. Regardless of age, background, faculty rank and status, all faculty who are interested in building and strengthening their relationships with others in the Gustavus Community are invited to attend any or all of the three 90 min gatherings throughout the school year. These gatherings will be facilitated with time to reflect and write on specific questions/issues as well as opportunities to practice deep listening and sharing in small groups. Please join us for our first gathering on Monday, October 4th in the St Peter Room from 4:30-6:00 p.m. with facilitator Ellie Roscher. Refreshments provided.

Competitive Travel Grant

The Kendall Center for Engaged Learning will offer limited competitive travel grants of up to $1000 to all faculty who are tenured, tenure-track, and those who have continuing instructor status. This money will be on top of the normal travel grant allocation available to individual faculty, and will cover any meeting, conference, or workshop that occurs in the period of June 1, 2021-May 31, 2022. The applications are due Friday October 15th, and decisions will be communicated to faculty by November 1st. Detailed information can be found HERE.

Faculty Shop Talk 10/15

Sean Easton (Professor in Classical Studies and Peace Studies) will present at Faculty Shop Talk on Friday, October 15. His talk "The Plundered Footage of a Fascist Film in Sohrab Modi’s Anti-Colonialist Sikandar (British India, 1942)" will be presented at 4:30 p.m. in the Interpretive Center. Feel free to arrive any time after 4:15 p.m. The abstract for this and future talks may be viewed HERE. 

Faculty Shop Talk 10/22

Shu-Ling Wang (Assistant Professor in Economics and Management) will present at Faculty Shop Talk on Friday, October 22. Her talk "Fiscal Stabilization in High-debt Economies without Monetary independence" will be presented at 4:30 p.m. in the Interpretive Center. Feel free to arrive any time after 4:15 p.m. The abstract for this and future talks may be viewed HERE. 

Faculty Writing Retreats at Gustavus and ASI

The Kendall Center is hosting monthly Writing Retreats at Gustavus and at American Swedish Institute (ASI). October Writing Retreats will be held on Saturday, October 9 at ASI ($15 toward lunch) and on Sunday, October 10 at Gustavus (Konferensrum). Faculty can participate in a full day 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. devoted to writing. We’ll provide lunch. Please visit the Kendall Center website for upcoming dates and info. Please email Cathy Blaukat (cblaukat@gac.edu) to sign up.

FALL Half Day Retreats

Join other faculty in the Kendall Center Conference Room, Anderson Hall Room 303 for half day writing retreats in the fall. Your GAC ID card will give you access to the room. Enjoy coffee, tea, water, and snacks every Tuesday morning from 9 a.m. to noon and Wednesday afternoons from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. If these times don't fit your schedule, or you would like to create your own writing retreat group, please email Cathy Blaukat (cblaukat@gustavus.edu) and we can reserve the conference room for you.

New Faculty Orientation Session 10/7 (non tenure track only)

Join us on Thursday, October 7 for a New Faculty Orientation Session. Topic: Making the Most of Term Appointments – Workshop CV and Interviews. Facilitator: Sarah Wolter, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies. You just started, but may be in the process of applying for a tenure track job. How do you position yourself as a top candidate? Bring an example of your CV and we will workshop it. What do Departments look for when hiring? How do you prepare and deliver for an interview? Free lunch at th buffet, then meet in the St Peter Room. 12:30 to 1:20 p.m

New Faculty Orientation Session 10/14 

Join us on Thursday, October 14 for a New Faculty Orientation Session. Topic: Course Evaluations. Facilitator: Lisa Dembouski, Associate Professor of Education
A discussion of effective methods for evaluating your courses and getting information that can be used to improve teaching and learning. We focus on end of the semester summative as well as mid-semester formative evaluations. Free lunch at the buffet, then meet in the St Peter Room. 12:30 to 1:20 p.m

New Faculty Orientation Session 10/28 

Join us on Thursday, October 28 for a New Faculty Orientation Session. Topic: Evaluations by Colleagues. Facilitator: Elizabeth Kubek, Associate Provost and Dean of Arts & Humanities. In collaboration with the Provost’s Office, a discussion about the procedure and potential approaches associated with evaluations. What might you share with your evaluator prior to the class period, how to inform your class, the criteria and areas that Chairs are asked to evaluate, post-evaluation feedback. Free lunch at the buffet, then meet in the St Peter Room. 12:30 to 1:20 p.m

Teachers Talking 10/15

Please join us on Friday, October 15 for Teachers Talking. Topic: Proposing, planning and teaching challenge seminars: The process, challenges and rewards! Challenge seminars provide “students an opportunity to collaboratively examine and propose responses to enduring and contemporary questions or challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective.” Join faculty in discussing the process, challenges and rewards they experienced in proposing, planning and/or teaching pilots of these seminars. Valerie Walker and Seán Easton will share their experiences proposing and planning their Challenge Seminars. Valerie will pilot “Climate Change and Environmental Education for Kids,” as a J-term course and Seán will pilot “Ancient Peace and Conflict: Troy to Constantinople.’Tom LoFaro will share his experiences co-teaching a Challenge Seminar pilot, “Planning for Nobel”, with Karl Larson in the fall 2020 semester. Faculty are welcome to contact panelists in advance with questions. Program is at 11:30 am and 12:30 pm. Free lunch (Marketplace coupons), then meet in the Heritage Room. For a full list of sessions please visit the Kendall Center webpage under Teachers Talking. For a full list of sessions click here.

Teachers Talking 10/29

Please join us on Friday, October 29 for Teachers Talking. Topic: DEI as the Foundation of your Pedagogy #1. You know how, when you get access letters from the ASC (Accessibility Services Coordinator) or an email from Pam, the MIPC (Multilingual and Intercultural Program Coordinator), you start thinking about how you will need to change things in your courses? Well, we’d like to flip that script: what if your courses were already accessible? That’s the idea behind this Teachers Talking: using access and equity principles as the basis for how you design and deliver your courses and labs, making what you offer to students accessible to most, and thus requiring zero changes from you, regardless of letters you get from the ASC/MIPC. We assure you: even if you don’t realize it, your access and equity choices positively impact all Gusties, making learning (rather than access) the thing your students can focus on, and making you an overall better educator. We look forward to working with you during this TT! Program is at 11:30 am and 12:30 pm. Free lunch at the Buffet, then meet in the Heritage Room. For a full list of sessions click here.

Innovative Teaching Award

The John S. Kendall Center for Engaged Learning and the Provost’s Office would like to recognize faculty who are engaged in innovative teaching (e.g., new uses of instructional technology, new ways to engage students in the learning process, new approaches to student collaboration, or new methods for improving student learning outcomes) and to encourage the dissemination of effective practices by sharing promising innovations with faculty more broadly. Therefore, we offer 2 Innovative Teaching Awards -- one that recognizes innovations at the Course or Curricular level ($1000 prize) and a second that recognizes innovative Assignments ($500 prize). All faculty are encouraged to self nominate or nominate others. Deadline
Nominations must be received by 5 pm on Friday, November 5, 2021. Please visit the Kendall Center website HERE for more information.

Community-engaged mini-grants are back!

The Kendall Center is excited to announce the return of community-engaged learning mini-grants. CEL mini-grant funds can be deployed in a variety of flexible ways to support any faculty-led community-facing learning endeavor, including course-based community collaborations, student-involved community-based research, or faculty scholarship involving collaborative community participation. All Gustavus faculty members are eligible to apply. Requests will be considered up to $750 as long as funds are available. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Funds are flexible and may be used for various expenses including transportation costs, materials and supplies, honoraria to community partners, printing costs, meeting space and food expenses, and other expenses as needed. Some restrictions apply. For more information, visit webpage or contact the CEL Faculty Fellow Martin Lang (mlang3@gustavus.edu).

Community-engaged Learning Teaching Circle 

Beginning later this month, a CEL-oriented teaching circle will begin to meet and discuss relevant concerns for our work in community-engaged learning. There's still time to join: contact Martin Lang (mlang3@gustavus.edu) on or before Friday, October 8.

2 Day Faculty Writing Retreat

The Kendall Center is sponsoring a Writing Retreat for faculty on Tuesday, January 11 and Wedesday, January 12 at Mount Olivet Conference and Retreat Center in Farmington, MN. This is a great opportunity to focus on your writing. The retreat is open to all faculty and space is limited and will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. The Kendall Center is sponsoring a Writing Retreat for faculty on Tuesday, January 11 and Wednesday, January 12 at Mount Olivet Conference and Retreat Center in Farmington, MN. This is a great opportunity to focus on your writing. The retreat is open to all faculty and space is limited and will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. The Kendall Center covers the cost of the retreat which is for a double room (shared with another faculty member). You can request a single room for $50 fee. Please RSVP to Cathy Blaukat (cblaukat@gustavus.edu) to sign up.Please RSVP to Cathy Blaukat (cblaukat@gustavus.edu) to sign up.

Free Book for Faculty 

If you missed getting the free book, 12 Tiny Things, at Faculty Development Day, please shoot me an email (cblaukat@gustavus.edu) and I will drop a copy in campus mail for you. 12 Tiny Things, by Ellie Roscher and Heidi Barr, journey with us through twelve essential areas of life: space, work, spirituality, food, style, nature, communication, home, sensuality, creativity, learning, and community. In each of these areas, we are invited to take one tiny action that is sure to open up growth and renewal.