The 2025 Symposium will take place on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 on campus in Sargent Hall. 

Our theme for this year is: Teaching with Intention: Reconnecting with Our Values in Changing Times.

As our knowledge of how people learn deepens, we are reminded that certain fundamentals remain essential for effective teaching: engaging students with active learning techniques, providing timely feedback, and guiding students to reflect on their own thinking and learning process. These evidence-informed approaches provide a solid foundation as we continue to navigate unprecedented changes in higher education. 

Our landscape continues to shift dramatically: demographic trends are reshaping our student populations, artificial intelligence is transforming both how we teach and how students learn, and broader societal challenges are entering our classrooms in new ways. In this context of change, we have an opportunity to pause and reflect on why we chose our paths as educators and how we can move ahead together:  

• What core values drew us to teaching, and how can these values energize and guide us in our work?  

• How can we use what we know about the science of learning to address common teaching challenges? 

• How can we leverage both established principles and emerging tools, such as generative AI, to create more inclusive and effective learning environments? 

As we end another academic year, we bring forward valuable lessons learned from our experiences. The Symposium creates space to share these insights while recommitting to our fundamental purpose as educators. Together, we'll explore how intentional teaching—informed by the science of learning, grounded in our values, and responsive to change— can strengthen our ability to support and inspire diverse learners in an evolving educational landscape. 

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.  

More details will be shared in the coming weeks.