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Faculty Learning Communities

The CTLA sponsors Faculty Learning Communities each year. As originally conceived by Milton Cox (2004), Faculty Learning Communities are designed for small, interdisciplinary groups of teaching faculty to come together on a regular basis over a sustained period of time, with a focus on investigating and implementing new teaching and learning approaches. Faculty who participate in these communities often report a number of benefits, including developing lasting relationships with faculty in other departments, thinking deeply about their own pedagogical approaches, and developing new expertise.

How Do Faculty Learning Communities Work?

Each Faculty Learning Community is guided by a faculty facilitator who coordinates meetings and ensures that all members have equal opportunity to share ideas. Each community meets every 2 to 3 weeks over the year and explores their topic together, guided by one or more readings. Community members individually reflect on how they will incorporate what they’ve learned into their own teaching. At the end of the year, the group shares what they’ve learned with other faculty at Eastern.

Benefits of Participating

  • Build ongoing relationships with faculty from other disciplines who share a similar interest.
  • Explore in depth a topic of interest and make plans for addressing the topic in your future teaching.
  • Get feedback from peers on your ideas for implementing what you’re learning.
  • Access resources to explore your topic in depth (e.g., CTLA funding to purchase a book for each participant to help guide the group’s discussions).
  • Earn a $400 stipend, paid in May (stipend not available for full-time SUOAF members).

  • Participants in the 2024-2025 faculty learning communities were asked to complete an anonymous survey about their experience. In response to the question, “What would you tell other faculty who are trying to decide whether or not to participate in a year-long Faculty Learning Community?” participants gave the following responses:

    • It is an incredible use of your precious time! The main ways that I learned over the years to be a better teacher have come from colleagues and my own openness to learning and bettering myself.
    • Great use of time- and fun as well!
    • I would tell them it is a worthwhile experience. We all have time constraints but carving out time to discuss pedagogical practices with your colleagues is invaluable. I learned so much from other faculty and made a few friends in the process.
    • Just do it. You'll wind up learning more about yourself and your teaching regardless of the topic because of the people who will be in the room with you throughout the year.
    • a great learning opportunity and a way to meet others across campus
    • To make sure there is time in one's schedule - flexibility is a must, and missing more than one or two meetings per semester due to over-scheduling can detract from the "community" aspect.
    • It is well worth the time invested to connect with colleagues to develop strategies to help our students succeed
    • Having dedicated time to discuss pedagogy is golden. Having a set schedule to do this was key. If I had tried to get together with other profs to talk shop, it would happen maybe once or twice an academic year. Invest in this time to learn or it may not happen!
    • There is no downside to participating in the faculty learning community. We read and learn at our pace, determine for ourself what to try out, and how to make it work for us individually. Also, it is a rare opportunity to connect with colleagues from other disciplines in a prolonged learning engagement (committee work brings various colleagues together, but that has a clear task, unlike this purely learning experience).
    • If you have the time, it's worth the engagement. It's important to get to know colleagues/peers outside of your own silo. This program helps to break down those barriers. Think of it as a networking opportunity.
    • This was a very satisfactory experience! Having community on campus is so important, especially when it involves multidisciplinary collaborations. This is where new ideas are generated and relationships are built. If you are on the fence, I say don't hesitate and join in! You won't regret it.

Apply to Participate in a Faculty Learning Community

To register your interest in participating, fill out the Faculty Learning Community Registration Form by August 18. Full-time and part-time faculty are welcome to apply.

Please note that membership is not guaranteed, and funding is available to support up to 10 participants per learning community. If there are more registrants than spaces available, decisions will be made primarily on a first-come, first-served basis, with some attention to ensuring a diversity of disciplines and backgrounds.

In addition, faculty who have not participated in a learning community in the previous two years will be given priority.

2025-2026 Faculty Learning Communities

  • Facilitated by Dr. Lyndsey Lanagan-Leitzel, Pscyhological Science

    Meeting time (both semesters): Every other Monday from 4 – 5 pm

    Many students are neurodivergent, having brain differences that affect thinking and learning. Many conditions are considered forms of neurodivergence—autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, sensory processing disorder, and other conditions. Nearly 19% of Eastern students enrolled in the Spring 2025 semester had documentation of conditions that warrant accommodations under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act filed with the Office of AccessAbility Services. The most prevalent conditions were psychological and emotional conditions (490 students), ADHD or the older attention deficit disorder diagnosis (173), chronic health conditions (139), other learning disabilities (93), and autism (52). There are documented gender and racial disparities in diagnosis for some of these conditions, potentially because the conditions may present differently across demographic groups, due to implicit bias in the evaluator, or due to barriers in seeking or receiving a diagnosis, so it is likely that there are other students who may have these conditions and are trying to manage their education without accommodations. Therefore, it is necessary for faculty to be aware of how these conditions affect the cognitive mechanisms that support learning and assessment—sensory processing, attention, memory, problem solving, and communication—so that they can design and run their courses to support all students, including those with known, suspected, or even unknown neurodivergence. This learning community will focus on giving faculty the tools they need to do just that.

    All participants will be provided with the books Neurodiversity and Education by Paul Ellis, Amanda Kirby, and Abby Osborne, and The Memory and Processing Guide for Neurodiverse Learners: Strategies for Success by Alison Patrick. At our meetings we will discuss the materials that we have read or reviewed since the previous meeting and share our experiences with changes we have implemented in our courses. The group may decide to have guest speakers at some of the meetings as well, such as a representative from the Office of AccessAbility Services and/or a panel of neurodivergent students. In the spring semester, we will transition to spending time planning our deliverable (to be determined by the group).

    Fall meeting dates: 9/8, 9/22, 10/6, 10/20, 11/3, 11/17

    Spring meeting dates: 1/26, 2/9, 2/23, 3/9, 3/23, 4/6, 4/20

  • Facilitated by Dr. Cara Bergstrom-Lynch, Sociology

    Fall meeting time: Every other Wednesday from 9 – 9:50 am

    What does social justice look like in your field? In your classroom? Across the academy, from STEM and Social Sciences, to Humanities, Education, and Business, many of us study and teach about these topics (e.g., environmental justice, criminal justice reform, antiracism, gender and queer justice, remedies for economic inequalities, immigration reforms, educational justice, equitable access to healthcare and reproductive justice, and so many others – from antiquity to present day to looking to the future).

    Our students are curious and eager to learn more about these issues and for us to broach these topics skillfully and intentionally, in ways that are infused throughout the semester. What teaching strategies, practices or resources have you found to be most impactful? What are the challenges? My hope is that this Faculty Learning Community will be an opportunity for each of us to reflect on and share what we already do, learn from and support each other, and use the space as an incubator to try new ideas that will enhance our students’ learning and strengthen Eastern’s institutional commitment to social justice. 

    All participants will be provided with the book Liberating the Classroom: Healing and Justice in Higher Education by Tessa Hicks Peterson. In the fall we will discuss a chapter at each meeting and begin to consider some ideas to implement in our own classes. In the spring, we will develop and implement some aspect(s) of social justice pedagogy, giving each group member concentrated time during meetings to workshop their ideas. In addition, group members may take turns selecting a short reading for spring meetings. Members will give a group presentation in April 2026 to share what is born of our incubators.

    Fall meeting dates: 9/3, 9/17, 10/1, 10/15, 10/29, 11/12, 12/3

    Spring meeting dates: TBD

  • Facilitated by Dr. Patricia Szczys, Environmental Earth Science, and Dr. Sudha Swaminathan, Education

    Meeting time: Every other week on Thursday from 3 to 4 pm

    University curriculum shapes the knowledge, skills, and values that will guide our graduates as they become professionals in their chosen careers and as engaged citizens and voters. Global challenges to sustainability are increasingly urgent, and we can respond by preparing students to think critically, to act ethically, and to understand and trust the data that describe the challenges we face. Sustainability is ideal for fostering interdisciplinary teaching that focuses students on potential solutions and creative, impactful actions—for people, planet, and prosperity. This faculty learning community will serve as a space for faculty to examine the intersections of sustainability within their own discipline, explore pedagogical approaches that foster systems-thinking and integrative problem-solving, develop strategies for integrating sustainability into existing or new courses, and build a supportive network of colleagues committed to interdisciplinary sustainability education.

    All participants will be provided with the book Teaching at Twilight: The Meaning of Education in the Age of Collapse by Ahmed Afzaal to guide discussions for the first half of the year. In the spring, group members will turn their attention to designing an interdisciplinary teaching activity, assignment, etc. that will encourage students to apply their learning to real-world sustainability problems. Learning community members will deliver a group presentation to the university community in April to share what they have learned, provide examples of the teaching strategies and topics that were developed or piloted, and share links to a digital repository of syllabi, assignments, case studies, and other resources identified or developed during this faculty learning community.

    Fall meeting dates: 9/4, 9/18, 10/2, 10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 12/4

    Spring meeting dates: TBD

Lessons/Deliverables from Past Communities

  • Many faculty feel like they are competing with technology for students’ attention, and that students have shorter attention spans and less motivation for completing classwork than in previous years. This Faculty Learning Community spent a year exploring how to overcome the challenges of teaching and learning at a time when holding students’ attention often feels elusive and fleeting--informed by James Lang’s 2020 book Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It.

    Members included facilitator Racheal Pesta (Criminology), Jeff Calissi (Music), Caitlin Carenen (History), Stan Kolek (Psychological Science), Jennifer Leszczyński (Psychological Science), Christina Nadeau (Nursing), Becki Quick (English), and Ellen Smith (Health Sciences).

    Members led an interactive workshop for faculty on 4/28/25 and provided lessons learned from their experience and sample class technology policies (see image below). Access materials and resources from this session.

     Faculty engage in conversation at round tables

  • In the 2 1/2 years since ChatGPT was released, AI has had a profound impact on education—and has affected how some students and faculty think about teaching and learning. Members of this Faculty Learning Community used Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (2024) by José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson as a resource to explore the possibilities and pitfalls of generative artificial intelligence for their teaching practices.

    Members included facilitator Wayne Buck (Business Administration), Amanda Leiss (Anthropology), Li Liang (Finance), Kinson Perry (Business Administration), David Stoloff (Education), Sudha Swaminathan (Early Childhood Education), and Julia Wintner (Art & Art History).

    On 4/30/25, each member presented a brief summary of how they experimented with the use of AI in their courses, either to assist with course planning and assignment design or to engage students in strategically using AI in their coursework (see image below). Watch a recording of this session and view session materials.

    Presenter at podium with slides speaking to a room full of faculty at round tables

  • This learning community explored how placing “equity” at the center of course design and classroom practice promotes “rigor.” The pedagogy and practice of “inclusive teaching” determines whether we can meet the needs of a racially diverse, first-generation student cohort who needs both a sense of belonging and intellectual recognition to thrive in a predominantly white institution.

    Members of this community read Enhancing Inclusive Instruction: Student Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Advancing Equity in Higher Education (2024) by Tracie Addy, Derek Dube, and Khadijah Mitchell to help frame conversations. They also conducted a survey of Eastern students.

    Members of this community expect to present what they learned in Fall 2025.

  • The Teaching Critical Thinking Faculty Learning Community met over spring 2024 to discuss how faculty can design courses that support students in developing critical thinking skills. Members included Nancy Castro (Computer Science), Megan Heenehan (Mathematical Sciences), Michael Kerr (Physical Sciences), Howard Luxenberg (English), Chelagat Misiko (Accounting and BIS), John Montemerlo (Economics and Finance), Christina Nadeau (Nursing), and Jane Pasini (Biology).

    The group developed the Critical Thinking Toolkit, which listed top tools for promoting critical thinking and identified several resources faculty might use when planning a course (Eastern login required to access).

  • The Teaching Ethical Reasoning Faculty Learning Community met over spring 2024 to discuss how faculty can design courses that support students in developing ethical reasoning skills. Members included Caitlin Carenen (History), Christine Garcia (English), Nicole Krassas (Political Science), Christopher Krebs (Psychological Science), Kristen Morgan (Theatre), Kinson Perry (Business Administration), and Mathew Rukgaber (Philosophy).

    The group developed guidelines for faculty planning to teach ethical reasoning skills at the 100, 200, and 400 levels. The document includes concepts and skills to be taught at each level, as well as suggested readings. The group also developed a list of keywords and definitions. Materials developed by this group are available on the ELAC Sharepoint site (Eastern login required).

  • This Faculty Learning Community met over spring 2024. The goals of the group were to:

    • Learn further issue of DEISJ and their relevance in academic settings
    • Understand better the views of Eastern students on this issue
    • Discuss options for Eastern to expand DEISJ in our programs/curriculum
    • Share information among members about good practices and experiences on DEISJ
    • Share results with the larger academic community at Eastern
    • Provide recommendations to incorporate DEISJ elements in the new ELAC

    Members included Peter Bachiochi (Psychological Science), Cara Bergstrom-Lynch (Sociology), Brian Day (Communication, Film, & Theatre), Jennifer Leszczyński (Psychological Science), Martín Mendoza-Botelho (Political Science), Ricardo Pérez (Anthropology), and Jaya Vijayasekar (World Languages and Education).

    The group identified videos and readings, organized a focus group of students from different backgrounds and analyzed the results, and identified lessons learned. The group also developed suggestions for faculty wishing to be more inclusive in their teaching practices, recommendations for university practices, and next steps to support faculty and faculty development. Materials from this learning community are available on the ELAC Sharepoint site (Eastern login required).