2024 Symposium on Innovation in Teaching & Learning:
Belonging and Balance in Teaching & Learning
As the busy academic year winds down, we invite you to set aside Tuesday, May 14, to take part in the 2024 Symposium on Innovation in Teaching and Learning. The Symposium is an annual gathering that focuses on
- Connecting with colleagues from across the University,
- Exploring innovative ideas and approaches to teaching and learning, and
- Gathering colleagues from across campus to celebrate Suffolk’s vibrant teaching community.
All members of Suffolk’s teaching community—full-time and part-time faculty, staff, and administrators—are welcome.
The 2024 Symposium on Innovation in Teaching & Learning is scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, 2024, from 9am – 3pm. The Symposium will take place on campus in Sargent Hall (120 Tremont Street). Highlights of the day include
- Welcoming remarks by President Marisa Kelly,
- Tracie Marcella Addy as the keynote speaker,
- Interactive sessions facilitated by Suffolk faculty and staff, and invited presenters,
- A celebration of the finalists for the 2024 Innovative Teaching Award, and Provost Julie Sandell’s announcement of this year’s winner,
- Food and refreshments throughout the day, including breakfast, lunch, and a closing reception,
- Raffle prizes, including recent books about teaching and learning, and
- Opportunities to continue the conversation and stay connected during the summer, through programs facilitated by the CTSE.
Theme
The theme for this year is Belonging and Balance.
The research that our keynote speaker Tracie Addy presents in her book What Inclusive Instructors Do suggests that students who struggle show marked improvements when educators take proactive steps to make them feel welcomed and heard in the classroom.
Yet it is also true that educators are better positioned to support students in this way when they themselves feel supported and in balance. We invite you to consider the many ways in which belonging and balance enter into your work with students:
- What tools, books, mentors, or experiences have been most supportive in helping you implement changes that have increased student belonging in your classroom?
- What are the sources of self-care, renewal, and inspiration, that have helped spark your purpose and motivation as an educator? What resources have impacted your own sense of belonging at Suffolk or other institutions?
- What pedagogical touchstones have steadied you in the face of changing technologies, approaches, and conditions?
- How might we think about sharing our experiences to grow as a teaching and learning community?
We hope this year’s Symposium will offer opportunities and inspiration for the Suffolk teaching and learning community to balance looking outward to students’ needs with looking inward to their own.
Keynote Speaker: Tracie Marcella Addy
Tracie Marcella Addy is an accomplished academic leader who partners with higher education instructors across disciplines on their teaching efforts. She is a published scholar of teaching and learning and educational development, and primarily focuses on learner-centered practices. Dr. Addy is the lead author of the books What Inclusive Instructors Do: Principles and Practices for Excellence in College Teaching (2021) and Enhancing Inclusive Instruction: Student Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Advancing Equity in Higher Education (2024).
