by Gina Merys, Acting Director, Reinert Center “It is imperative that we maintain hope even when the harshness of reality may suggest the opposite.” Paulo Freire Each academic year, the Reinert Center chooses a theme to highlight and focus the programming we design for the year. The theme that we had chosen for the 2020-21… Continue reading What is Community?
Category: From the Director
Instructional Continuity
Given the increase in coronavirus cases in the US and abroad, we find ourselves in an unusual circumstance that asks us to act with concern and consideration toward everyone in our community and with a commitment to finding new ways to create and experience knowledge. At its most basic definition, “instructional continuity” means 1) that… Continue reading Instructional Continuity
Who We Are is How We Teach
by Gina Merys, Acting Director, Reinert Center If students and subjects accounted for all the complexities of teaching, our standard ways of coping would do—keep up with our fields as best we can, and learn enough techniques to stay ahead of the student psyche. But there is another reason for these complexities: we teach who… Continue reading Who We Are is How We Teach
Announcing STEM Teaching Fellows in the Reinert Center
The Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching welcomes three STEM faculty who will serve as STEM Teaching Fellows: Asmira Alagic (Chemistry) Philip Huling (Mathematics and Statistics) Scott Sell (Biomedical Engineering) During this academic year, they will hold weekly office hours in the Reinert Center and design/lead STEM-focused teaching workshops and other events. If you teach in… Continue reading Announcing STEM Teaching Fellows in the Reinert Center
Teaching 1619: A Challenge
by Debie Lohe, Director, Reinert Center This year marks the 400th anniversary of what is often referred to as the start of American slavery -- the documented selling of 20+ African human beings to British colonists in Jamestown, Virginia. While the transatlantic slave trade was alive well before this transaction, and while some have argued… Continue reading Teaching 1619: A Challenge
How Do You “Accompany” Students?
by Debie Lohe, Director, Reinert Center As we prepare to (re)engage students at the start of this new academic year, I’ve been thinking a lot about teaching as accompaniment. Earlier this summer, Fr. Arturo Sosa, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus (a.k.a., “the Jesuits” for those new to Jesuit education), articulated four key… Continue reading How Do You “Accompany” Students?
Reinert Center Welcomes Dr. Robert Cole
On July 15th, we welcomed Dr. Robert Cole as the newest member of the Reinert Center team. With almost 20 years’ experience as a faculty member at SLU, he brings deep teaching experience (both on-ground and online), a thorough knowledge of the University, and an already-strong commitment to the Center and its mission. Dr. Cole… Continue reading Reinert Center Welcomes Dr. Robert Cole
Teaching and Justice
by Gina Merys, Acting Director, Reinert Center The university must carry out this general commitment [to transform and enlighten the society in which it lives] with the means uniquely at its disposal: we as an intellectual community must analyze causes; use imagination and creativity together to discover remedies; communicate to our constituencies a consciousness that… Continue reading Teaching and Justice
What Story Are You Telling?
by Debie Lohe, Director, Reinert Center In a recent workshop on the importance of relationships in undergraduate education, Peter Felten and Charles Schroeder invited us to think briefly about how we perceive our work (and workplace) and to consider the ways in which our perceptions shape our behaviors. Citing the work of O’Meara et al.… Continue reading What Story Are You Telling?
Beginning Anew, Renewing Our Commitments
by Debie Lohe, Director, Reinert Center New academic years are filled with promise. All choices are open to us. We aim high, sure that the hectic pace of the old year has passed and we can finally achieve our most aspirational goals. It doesn’t take long for the calendar to fill and our best hopes… Continue reading Beginning Anew, Renewing Our Commitments
