Call for Applications: Deep Dive Community (DDC)
Fall 2020
In February 2018, Pratt Institute initiated a new strategic plan with 5 pillars that focus on academic excellence, student success, diversity, equity, and inclusion, global education and civic engagement.
The CTL invites faculty to join us for an intensive mini-learning community to deep dive into specific topics in support of our commitment to all of Pratt’s pillars, but with a specific focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. There are two (2) Deep Dive Communities (DDC) scheduled for the Fall Semester: Feminist Pedagogies and TeachWell practices.
Feminist Pedagogies
We understand feminist pedagogy as a perspective on teaching that is anti-sexist and anti-hierarchical that stresses individual experiences, intersectional identities, and moving away from the idea of education as a means to gain power to an understanding of education as a tool for organizing social action.
During this Deep Dive Community, we hope to connect with faculty that are interested in exploring these themes further through close readings of texts, discussions, sharing practices and building a community of educators who center their work around these tenets of feminist pedagogy.
Some of the key questions we may begin our work with include:
- How do we value community that is translated into classroom practices through nurturing a sense of dialogue, belonging, collaboration, and coalition?
- When we say we are committed to creating safe spaces, whose safety are we concerned with? Shouldn’t we instead be focused on generating a dialogue open to tension and disagreement: a “contested space,” a classroom that supports rather than staves off conflict?
- How do we move from the Tourist or Explorer Model to a Solidarity Model of course design, that focuses on the links and intersections between different groups, topics, histories?
- How do we value meaningful change in teaching and learning that comes from destabilizing “truths,” exploring ambiguity, harnessing difference, and learning from individual vulnerabilities?
- How do we incorporate moments of silence into our teaching for active reflection for students and for ourselves?
TeachWell
A significant number of college-age students have experienced some type of trauma in their lives, ranging from family conflict to abuse, neglect, displacement, and violence. The current transition to varied learning formats (including face-to-face, hybrid, and online) as well as the current socio-political climate, represents additional traumas. This is not dissimilar to how faculty often feel as they hold space for learning and inhabit their own transitional difficulties. Teaching strategies that take into account the role of trauma have the potential to foster connection, increase emotional balance, and improve flourishing for all within our classrooms.
During this Deep Dive Community, we hope to connect with faculty that are interested in exploring these themes further through close readings of texts, discussions, sharing practices and building a community of educators who center their work around these tenets of wellbeing pedagogy.
Some of the key questions we may begin our work with include:
- How does our community, campus and classroom, value flourishing? Are there ways we can navigate from harshness to kindness?
- How do we cultivate wellness for ourselves and our students in our everyday interaction and through the academic curriculum?
- How do we ensure that the focus on flourishing is connected and building, rather than surface-level or scattered?
- How do we incorporate moments of silence into our teaching for active reflection for students and for ourselves?
Dates and Times
FemPed DDC
Sept 8 – Oct 2
Zoom calls at 10 am on: 9/9, 9/15, 9/29, 10/2 (one hour each)
TeachWell DDC
Oct 19 – Nov 3
Zoom calls at 10 am: 10/20, 10/27, 11/10, 11/13 (one hour each)
Orientation to Deep Dive Community
If you are interested in participating in any of these two Deep Dive Communities, join us for a DDC Orientation Zoom call on Sept 2 at 3:00 pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://pratt.zoom.us/j/99087759772?pwd=cUVMWWNpMDZvVi9ETHIwMjhuTUlBUT09
Meeting ID: 990 8775 9772
Passcode: 319300
Application for the Deep Dive Community
Application required by Sept 4
Limited spots available; first come first serve basis.
Stipend $250 (for part time faculty only, must complete the requirements)
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