The program was so successful that it is now a permanent part of the center’s offerings, says Angela R. Linse, associate dean of teaching and director of the center, who wrote in to tell me about it.
This year, Summer Read’s book is The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain, by Annie Murphy Paul.
In past years, the program has read What Inclusive Instructors Do, Mind Over Monsters, and The Spark of Learning.
The university has seen some 250-400 participants per summer, Linse says, with many groups and instructors returning.
Key to the program’s success, Linse writes, is that it’s a low-pressure way to connect with colleagues. The center’s faculty make an effort to choose books that connect to big ideas but also have practical implications, and that feel relevant across disciplines. Materials are available in Canvas, but their use is optional: The program has recommendations, not requirements.
Linse’s message reminded me that 2022 was a time of flux for teaching centers, which had taken a more prominent role during emergency remote instruction and sought to support professors in the next phase, while acknowledging that many of them were burned out. I wrote about that in the newsletter at the time.
I’m interested in how professional development around teaching has continued to evolve. Does your teaching center offer a reading program like Penn State’s? Or has it found another creative way to support professors that avoids feeling like one more burden? Tell me about it at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com, and your example may appear in a future issue of the newsletter.
Reading recs
Recently, we asked readers for their summer-reading and -listening recommendations. Here’s what they shared:
- Maria Bergstrom, associate dean of undergraduate education in the College of Sciences and Arts and an associate teaching professor in the humanities department at Michigan Technological University, recommended The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, by Priya Parker. “What might seem like an ‘event planning’ subject is actually all about how we can purposefully create spaces for engagement, productive action, learning, and enjoyment (Which is what teachers do every day, right?),” Bergstrom writes. “I have used the ideas in this book to plan working-group meetings, workshops, large events, and classroom activities. Double benefit, it is very well written and engaging to read (I have also heard that the audiobook is great).”
- Kerry O’Grady, an instructor in management communication at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management, shared three recommendations: Productive Failure, by Manu Kapur; Never Enough, by Jennifer Breheny Wallace; and The Teacher Wars, by Dana Goldstein.
- Paula Patch, associate director of the Common Reading and First-Year Foundations in the Elon Core Curriculum and an associate teaching professor of English at Elon University, recommended The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better, by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop. “What I like about this book is that it refuses to blame and shame anyone (teens, K-12 teachers, parents) and provides useful framing and tips for helping teens engage with their learning and their world,” Patch writes.
- Cyndi Kernahan, a professor of psychology and director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, recommended the American Campus Podcast. “It’s such a little gem!” Kernahan writes. “Short episodes, but I’m learning so much about so many things with respect to higher education. My favorite recent episode that really helped me in my own work.
- We also heard from a few authors who recommended their own books to our readers: Kevin R. McClure, an associate professor of higher education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, recommended his book, The Caring University. Rachel Spooner, an associate professor of the practice in business law at Boston College recommended her book, Tales From a Professor’s Office: An Insider’s Guide to Thriving in College. And Tolu Noah, an educational developer at California State University at Long Beach, recommended her book, Designing and Facilitating Workshops With Intentionality.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in with their recommendations, and happy reading.
Housekeeping note
The Teaching newsletter is taking a short break next week in observance of Independence Day, but will be back in your inbox on Thursday, July 10. We hope you have a Happy Fourth!
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com or beckie.supiano@chronicle.com.
-Beckie
Learn more at our Teaching newsletter archive page.
