UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Andrew Guest

Imagining New Courses: A Focus Group Discussion on Interdisciplinary Teaching (Feb. 24) 

Have you been curious about developing a new Core Exploration course but haven’t yet taken the plunge? Do you feel like you understand interdisciplinarity as a concept, but not how to put it into practice in the classroom? The Core Curriculum (Andrew Guest) and the NEH “Core Humanities” grant team (Jen McDaneld and Molly Hiro) would love to get your insights on these and other questions at a focus group discussion over lunch (on us) at the Teske Room/Holy Cross Dining Room on Friday, Feb. 24, 11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m. (you’re welcome to join for just part of this time if you’re teaching). We’ll discuss new ideas you may have for courses, support UP might provide, and opportunities for making innovative classes happen. We’ll also offer a mini-preview of the pilot Engaged Humanities institute Jen and Molly will be leading in May (which will come with a $1,000 stipend for participants). Please email Andrew Guest (guesta@up.edu) to reserve your spot; faculty from all schools and ranks are welcome! 

University Core Exploration Level Course Information Sessions–Join the (Interdisciplinary) Fun

This Fall semester the revitalized University Core has launched the new exploration level for sophomore students who’ve come in on our new shared curriculum for all UP students. Each semester moving forward we’ll be offering more ‘X’ courses as additional students come to UP needing to take two X courses before graduating (this year first-year students and sophomores are on the revitalized Core; in 2023–2024 it will be first-years, sophomores, and juniors; and then in 2024–2025 we’ll reach full implementation). The general goal of X classes is to bring together multiple Core habits of heart and mind, embedding multiple ways of knowing from the liberal arts and sciences, to engage students in interdisciplinary inquiry on timely and timeless topics of interest. More information is available for UP faculty and staff on the pilots.up.edu Core curriculum page, and also on the public facing Core website. 

If you have a potential interest in, or ideas for, creating new X courses or evolving existing courses in an X direction, we’ll be hosting several information sessions in September prior to the October 1 priority deadline for course approvals through the Undergraduate Core Curriculum Committee (who can also consider other proposals on a rolling basis through the year pending department or program scheduling):

  • Thursday, September 15, at 2:30 p.m. in Franz Hall 222: A joint production between the Public Research Fellows program and the Core for purposes of networking across disciplines—finding ways for everyone to connect with the engaged humanities and imagining possible X courses that could come through collaboration.
  • Tuesday, September 20, at 4 p.m. via Zoom (https://uportland.zoom.us/j/7284758438) with the Core Director (Andrew Guest) to understand the design of X classes and the process for approval. 
  • Monday, September 26, at 4 p.m. in Franz Hall 205 with the Core Director to understand the design of X classes and the process for approval. 

Also feel free at any time to contact Andrew Guest (guesta@up.edu) for questions related to the Core.

Sign Up for a Core Samples Lunch (Sept. 27)

Engrossing new courses are being offered at the Exploration Level of the revitalized Core. All staff and faculty are invited to attend the first in a series of “Core Samples” lunches on Tuesday, September 27, from 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in the Teske Room of Bauccio Commons. In this new series, faculty teaching such courses as “Literature & Cultures of Food,” “History of Rock & Roll” and “Global Environmental Justice,” will teach a 20-minute segment from their course, then open it up for discussion among attendees. It’s a great chance to see our colleagues shine, learn cool stuff, find out more about the new Core, and enjoy a complimentary lunch, as a guest of the Garaventa Center and the Core Director. Andrew Guest will offer the first one, “Performance Under Pressure: Scientific Thinking, Global Consciousness, and the Perfect Penalty Kick,” an excerpt from his course The World Cup in Mind & Society. There are 15 seats available; please RSVP to Karen Eifler (eifler@up.edu) by September 23 to reserve a space for the first round. The second Core Samples lunch will be Wednesday, November 16, from 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

TLC From The TLC: Future Teaching, Super Courses, and Core Exploration

For this week’s Teaching & Learning tip, Andrew Guest, psychology and core director, offers possible prompts for summer teaching dreams – with a specific invitation to start imagining courses for the new Exploration Level of the University Core.

With the end in sight of this most challenging and odd academic year, it can be fun to start thinking about a near future of (maybe) having just a bit of time to read, dream, and do the kind of imagining that makes good teachers life-long learners. I’m particularly excited to dive further into a new book on Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning – thinking more about how we at UP can merge the current impetus for evolving our curriculum with best practices in creating great courses.

Dreaming of ‘super courses’ may also be worth some time for us at UP because of core revitalization opportunities to re-develop and create courses for the new Exploration Level – a set of course offerings to be phased in starting Fall of 2022 that aspires to interdisciplinarity, addressing timely issues, and broadening opportunities for students to learn and faculty to teach. For a brief overview of and invitation to Exploration Level opportunities and possibilities, see a new Teaching and Learning Community blog post on “The Once and Future Core Course: Imagining (and Designing) the Exploration Level.”

Finally, as one additional suggestion for the fast approaching summer possibility of having actual time to read, Heather McGhee’s recent book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together is excellent. While not specifically about teaching or higher education, it offers a robust and deeply evidenced take on what she calls the “solidarity dividend” – ways of working toward a better future by attending more carefully to the interests we almost all share (appropriate, perhaps, to the idea of the Core as UP’s shared academic experience).

Core Revitalization Course Changes and Advising Notes

As we get ready for Spring registration, there are a few curricular changes associated with the implementation of the revitalized University Core Curriculum that may be helpful for faculty and staff to keep in mind during the upcoming advising period. Note that general information about the revitalized Core is available at https://pilots.up.edu/group/core-curriculum, including a summary of Core changes pre- and post-2021. While all current students will stay on the existing Core through to graduation for their University requirements, several classes are changing to accommodate the new curricular design being implemented for incoming students next Fall. Most notably, these include:

  • FA 207: Introduction to Fine Arts is turning into two courses: FA 107: The Creative Process in Visual Art and FA 108: The Creative Process in Performative Art. The Core requirement is for students to take one of these two courses.
  • SW 205: Social Welfare and Social Justice is becoming SW 101: Social Work and Social Justice. The course will continue to fulfill a social science Core requirement for existing students, and will be one option to fulfill the ‘Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and the Common Good’ requirement for incoming first-year students next year.
  • A number of courses are changing titles to better reflect themes in the revitalized Core, including THE 105: Introduction to Theology which is becoming THE 105: Engaging Ultimate Questions: Religion, Faith, and Ethics. Courses with new titles will continue to count for existing Core requirements.

If any related advising questions arise, feel free to contact Andrew Guest (guesta@up.edu) in his Core Director role.

TLC Tip of the Week: Integrating Understandings of Truth Into Classes

At a time in public life where truth feels both tenuous and more important than ever, how might we integrate understandings of the truth into any and all of our classes? As a Teaching and Learning Collaborative tip of the week, core curriculum director and psychology professor Andrew Guest offers some liberal arts inflected ideas for teaching the truth on the TLC blog as part of the periodic Core Matters series.

TLC Tip of the Week: Difficult Conversations and Liberal Arts Ideals

During a challenging time in a challenging year many of us may be having difficult conversations in the classroom (or in other spaces). While there is no magic formula for making those conversations into constructive educational opportunities, there are lots of possible recipes. With suggestions and links to resources, this week’s Teaching and Learning Collaborative Tip of the Week takes the form of a Teaching and Learning – Core Matters blog post by core director and psychological sciences professor Andrew Guest offering ideas about connecting difficult conversations, and these challenging times, to educational opportunities in the spirit of the liberal arts.

Titles, Descriptions, and the Core of a UP Education

According to core curriculum director Andrew Guest, University faculty and staff are approaching that most magical of fall holidays: Deadline day for course title and description changes in the 2021-2022 University Bulletin (aka, November 6).

The best titles and descriptions are actually more than just titles and descriptions. They reflect the ideas students will engage, and offer coherence across a curriculum. This takes on some extra significance this year as UP starts the process of revitalizing the Core Curriculum. We’re hoping some Core course titles and descriptions can be updated to reflect the evolving underlying ideas and learning that happens in Core classes, and offer some thoughts at this link to the Core Matters portion of the Teaching & Learning Community Blog on the general endeavor of making titles and descriptions less “content-centered” and more “learning-centered.”

For more information contact Guest at x7348 or guesta@up.edu.

Core Revitalization Continues for Fall 2021

For several years the University has been engaged in a process to revitalize its core curriculum, and now a revitalized core is being readied for a phased implementation starting with new first-year students in the fall of 2021. Newly appointed core director Andrew Guest, psychological sciences, has posted an update on the revitalization process on the Teaching & Learning Community Blog under the Core Matters heading. This post includes an explanation of the logic for moving forward despite the unusual times we find ourselves in. There is also a new pilots.up.edu page for the Core Curriculum where key documents are available to UP saculty and staff looking for information about the core curriculum. Please also feel free to direct any core questions to Guest at guesta@up.edu, and look for more updates throughout the year.

New TLC Blog Entries: “Core Matters, Parts 3 & 4”

As part of an ongoing series of short essays on the Teaching & Learning Community Blog, two new pieces are ready to satisfy your core curriculum curiosity. Steve Mayer, chemistry, writes about the many ways chemistry classes contribute to the broader goals of a liberal arts education (while also fulfilling those pesky science requirements), and Heather Carpenter, environmental studies, writes about ways in which classes such as “Science of the Sustainable Gourmet” do the same.

If you have any questions about the series or want to make a contribution, feel free to contact Andrew Guest, psychological sciences, or Lars Larsen, English.