We offer several campus-wide professional development opportunities throughout the year.
To support the intentional and strategic design of your courses and/or student research experiences, we’ve developed FurmanFlex and Online Learning opportunities so that we can journey together as a community to design learning experiences that highlight the unique and transformative value of a Furman education. For an up-to-date list of all events related to FurmanFlex or online instruction, please see here.
Our Lunch & Learn events bring together people from across our community in an informal atmosphere to collaborate and learn from each other. Event topics range from very practical tips for the classroom to more reflective discussions about student support, professional challenges, or the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Our Lunch & Learn series for Fall 2020 will be limited to periodic virtual events in response to efforts to de-densify campus and reduce risk. We look forward to launching a full suite of learning opportunities when it becomes safe to do so.
Propose a future Lunch & Learn event!
Suggested and facilitated by faculty or staff members—over breakfast, lunch or afternoon “tea” – Talking Teaching conversations provide an opportunity to build community and reflect on links between our teaching practice and student learning experiences. For each conversation, a small group of discussants (1-4) brings a short set of questions, personal examples, or an idea to spark the collective exchange of ideas around a central topic.
Have you got an idea you’d like to discuss or an issue you think needs our attention? Would you be willing to share your experience by serving as a discussant? For fall 2020, a few areas of particular interest, although not an exhaustive list, include:
Please contact an FDC staff member (FDC@furman.edu) or submit this brief interest form if you’d got an idea you’d like to discuss and are willing to facilitate conversation. Virtual events will be scheduled on a rolling basis for fall 2020.
The goals of the First Year @ Furman program are:
The First Year @ Furman program encompasses two central elements:
Click here for programming dates and descriptions for AY 20-21.
The goal of our reading groups is to enable small but sustained communities of scholars at Furman to work together to explore particular problems or themes through established research/literature, with outcomes that might range from new or revised courses to published work inflected by the reading and discussions that have taken place. Are you looking to expand your intellectual horizons through discussion with peers in related disciplines? Ideally, this includes at least 2-4 faculty from at least two departments/programs.
Propose an interdisciplinary reading group!
Each year, during spring study day, the Faculty Development Center facilitates the Furman Learning Exchange, an annual gathering of faculty, instructional staff, and students to exchange teaching and learning strategies, professional development hacks, and research in support of high impact practice in and beyond the classroom. Details about this event will be posted in early Spring 2021.
This series of engaging professional development short courses is designed to provide space for important but time-consuming collaborative work that is often difficult to accomplish during the busy school year. During each MayX session, we sponsor several opportunities for concentrated professional development activity. Each hands-on, individualized course is designed to facilitate focused, guided activities that allow participants to meet individual goals and objectives. Course participation involves 3-4 concentrated sessions during the MayX term each year, with associated self-directed tasks. MayX opportunities are communicated prior to the end of spring semester courses.
Founded in 1826, Furman is the oldest private university in South Carolina. In the nearly two centuries since that time, much has changed within our learning institution and the Greenville community. How is our community influenced by our extensive history and what stories are we...
Facilitated by: Srikripa Chandrasekaran Register here in advance with your institutional e-mail.
At an institution like Furman, one of the most critical tasks before you in your first year is to establish and craft your teaching practice. While teaching is an essential element of faculty identity, the scholarship we nurture and grow is also crucial. How do...