Learning Communities

In line with the 4D commitment to individual and community thriving, faculty and staff are invited to join Life C/raft (Craftivists Re-storying Academic Fatigue and Turmoil), a 4D Community of Care. Recognizing that an individual's well-being is not the sole responsibility of one person, but the responsibility of the collective (Mehreen & Gray-Donald), Life C/raftivists will engage in a community quilting project designed to make space for stories of grief and loss, mental health, burnout, and others that often go untold by faculty and staff in academic spaces. Through resisting the silencing of our challenges, we will create a community of care, making our campus a more human(e) place to work and support students. In addition, participants will also learn ways to creatively build communities of care in their own units and classrooms across campus.

Dr. Erin Willer (4D Director of Faculty Innovation; Professor, Communication Studies) will lead the community along with additional support provided by Dr. Sister Fred Chevillot (Professor, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Quilter Extraordinaire) and Dr. Becca Ciancanelli (Director of Inclusive Teaching Practices, Office of Teaching and Learning).

Participants will receive a $250 stipend. You do not need to have quilting or sewing experience or even consider yourself a creative person to participate. However, Life C/raftivists will be asked to commit to the following:

• Attending at least four out of five of the following in-person, Life C/raft quilting workshops:
  • February 24, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
  • March 10, 10:00 – 11:15 a.m.
  • April 7, 10:00 – 11:15 a.m.
  • April 21, 10:00 – 11:15 a.m.
  • May 5, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
• Participating in a Life C/raftivist workshop at the 4D Symposium on Thursday, May 18, 2023

Interested participants should complete the Qualtrics form below by noon on February 6th. Spots are limited so participation will be on a first come first serve basis once the Qualtrics form is complete. You will be notified if you have secured a spot or been placed on the waiting list. Please contact Erin Willer with questions: erin.willer@du.edu.

Register Here

Faculty in all lines are invited to join a learning community centered on the 4D pillar of reflection, which grounds 4D's holistic model of student learning and experience. Teaching reflection to students helps them to make sense of the 4D ecosystem that they are a part of and participate in at DU. As the image above suggests, faculty participants will learn about a 360-degree approach to reflection that allows students to tap into prior knowledge, understandings, and experiences to see how they may build upon and integrate them with their current learning. This specific, intentional reflection helps bridge gaps for both faculty and students, allowing students to make use of their prior knowledges and experiences and faculty to gain a clearer understanding of student learning. In sum, faculty participants will learn how to build reflection and Portfolios into their existing teaching practices.

Participants will receive a $250 stipend. You do not need to have experience with reflection or ePortfolios to participate; however, RLC participants will be asked to commit to the following:

Attending at least four out of five of the following in-person workshops:

• March 31, 2023 @ 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
• April 14, 2023 @ 10:00 - 11:15 a.m.
• April 21, 2023 @ 10:00 - 11:15 a.m.
• May 5, 2023 @ 10:00-11:00 am
• May 12, 2023 @ 11:00 - 12:15 p.m.
• Participating in a reflection workshop at the 4D Symposium on Thursday, May 18, 2023

Interested participants should complete the Qualtrics form found at the link below by noon on March 13, 2023. Spots are limited so participation will be on a first come first serve basis once the Qualtrics form is complete. You will be notified if you have secured a spot or been placed on the waiting list.

Dr. Kara Taczak, 4D Reflection Fellow and Writing Faculty, will lead the learning community, and can be reached at kara.taczak@du.edu

Register Here

Connecting to the 4D focus on Character, this 4D Community of Practice will work together to envision an interdisciplinary Compassion Lab at DU that will serve as a campus resource and home for those whose research, creative work, teaching, service, community partnerships, and/or other work focuses on cultivating compassion. Faculty of all ranks and lines with expertise around compassion and/or related constructs, such as empathy, social support, social connection, perspective-taking, love, kindness, benevolence, grace or mercy, and in theoretical and applied contexts or the arts, are invited to join.

The goal for the Spring 2023 Community of Practice is to launch a plan for the Compassion Lab at DU, including its mission, vision, and values. Additionally, work may include researching other lab models, connecting with campus partners to identify potential needs around compassion, and collectively identifying internal research and project priorities.

Participants will receive a $500 stipend. What is required?

1. Attend at least 4 of the 5 Spring Quarter Community of Practice working meetings, each approx. 90 minutes (schedule will be developed when community members are finalized)
2. Do up to 1-2 hours of work between meetings, as assigned
3. Participate in the 4D Symposium on Thursday, May 18, 2023

Interested participants should complete the Qualtrics form found at the link below by noon on March 13. Spots are limited so participation will be on a first come first serve basis once the Qualtrics form is complete. You will be notified if you have secured a spot or been placed on the waiting list.

Dr. Cris Tietsort (4D Faculty Fellow of Character; Assistant Professor, Communication Studies) will lead this community, and can be reached at cris.tietsort@du.edu

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Have you taught a course that touches on the theory or practice of social, emotional, financial, spiritual, physical, or other aspects of well-being? OR, do you have student well-being in mind when you design your courses? Would you like to share current practices and experiences related to teaching about (or teaching for) well-being at DU?

This faculty community will focus on the 4D dimension of well-being, sharing practices currently in use that either a) teach students about well-being, broadly defined (e.g., courses on wellness, self-care, emotion regulation, social connection, fiscal literacy, spirituality), b) teach students practice in skills related to well-being (e.g., courses that teach mindfulness, sport, mentorship, financial skills), or c) use well-being during course design to enhance learning of other, non-well-being-related course material (e.g., inclusive practices meant to model growth mindset, decision making, grace; help students prioritize sleep, social connection, and self-care to enhance learning).

The goal of this community of practice is to a) form a small faculty community of those who believe well-being can have an important place in the classroom, b) gather current teaching practices at DU that touch on well-being, and c) develop strategies to support faculty interested in further integrating well-being in their courses.

Participants in this community of practice will meet for 90 minutes, 5 times between March 1 and June 1. Participants should also be available to attend the 4D Symposium on May 18, 2023. Participants will be paid $500 for their attendance at these meetings, the symposium, and their asynchronous contributions to developing support for faculty to begin to engage in this work (4-6 hours).

The community will be led by Kateri McRae, 4D Faculty Fellow for Well-being and Psychology faculty member. Interested participants should complete the Qualtrics form found at the link below by March 13. Full-time faculty in all series are eligible. If more faculty apply than spots available, faculty with a range of approaches to and expertise in well-being will be selected. Contact: kateri.mcrae@du.edu

Register Here