Mini-Center for Teaching Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture and Society

The Center was established at the Department of American Studies with the main objective of creating a learning community of faculty and graduate teaching assistants who can support one another's efforts to improve, develop, and disseminate ideas and techniques for interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship in cultural and social studies.

The Center is in the process of setting up its schedule for the academic year. We believe that the best way to serve your and our mutual academic goals is to listen to your ideas of what you would find especially helpful in developing innovative pedagogies for cultural studies and improving undergraduate interdisciplinary teaching.

The main focus of the Mini-Center on Teaching Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture and Society will be on adapting innovative teaching techniques and pedagogical theories in ways particularly appropriate to improving undergraduates' understanding of our interdisciplinary subject matter. Among other goals we wish to

improve the quality of training and credentials for GTAs and faculty in the College who are teaching interdisciplinary studies of culture and society;

create a learning community to support teaching assistants and faculty interested in improving their skills in active learning, collaborative, and learn-by-doing techniques, and interdisciplinary culture studies pedagogies;

provide instruction and support for those wishing to apply information technologies (IT) to improve teaching and learning in undergraduate classes, as well as technical and pedagogical support and assistance for GTAs and faculty wishing to incorporate websites, dynamic syllabi, and other online resources into undergraduate instruction;

identify and explore online resources useful for teaching about cultural diversity.

Our specific activities will include the

development of a 3-credit graduate seminar: Pedagogies for Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture and Society. GTAs in the department would be required to take the course at the beginning of their GTAship, but the course would also be open to graduate students teaching in AMST and other affiliated units pursuing interdisciplinary culture studies;
development of a series of workshops and symposia on teaching. Topics would include collaborative learning techniques, learn-by-doing instruction, teaching diversity, feminist pedagogies, teaching visual literacy, teaching media literacy, service learning techniques, and others;
development of a series of workshops and symposia on teaching with technology. These meetings would focus on IT-based pedagogies and their application specifically to interdisciplinary cultural and social studies subject matter.