The Learning Communities below offer EMU faculty a place to grow as an educator and to get to know their colleagues. We encourage faculty of all disciplines to apply for any of our Learning Communities that sparks their interest.
Current Learning Communities
Research Writers' Collaborative
- Tuesdays @ 11-1 PM on Zoom
- Open to Faculty, Lecturers, and Department Heads
- Opportunity for EMU faculty to support each other while achieving realistic writing goals
Generative Artificial Intelligence Learning Community
- 2025 calendar-year long learning community
- Open to Faculty and Lecturers from any department, school, and/or discipline
- Acquire knowledge and skills that will help in shaping departmental and disciplinary approaches to working with Gen AI
Collaborative Course (Re)Design Learning Community
- Applications due Friday, May 30 @ 8 PM.
- Open to Faculty
- Learning community of faculty-student pairs working together collaboratively to redesign portions of a course that you want to update and improve
Instructional Partnerships Learning Community
- Applications are due by Friday, May 30 @ 8 PM
- Open to Faculty
- One semester learning community including pairs of faculty and their student partners who will serve as their instructional partner for a class of their choosing
Previous Learning Communities
General Education Professional Learning Community Expand dropdownThis learning community provided a space for instructors in each GE category to work collaboratively to improve the teaching and learning of their GE courses.
Collaborative Course (Re)Design Expand dropdownThis learning community included pairs of student-faculty partners that worked together to redesign a course taught previously
Engaging in Inclusive Practices amid Challenging Times Expand dropdownThis learning community focused on exploring topics on inclusive practices in order to create more positive learning environments for students so that they can persist in their majors and toward graduation.
Academic Leadership Community of Practice Expand dropdownThis learning community aimed to generate knowledge about experiences and skills for academic leadership in institutions of higher education.
Persisting Together: Increasing Student Retention through Connections Expand dropdownThis learning community aimed to generate conversations surrounding student experience and ways it could be enhanced in regards to retention.
Building Department Community through Student Voice Expand dropdownThis learning community explored how to develop a more inviting department community and increase satisfaction within your department.
Academic Leadership Community of Practice Expand dropdownThis learning community was for EMU faculty or staff members interested in exploring academic leadership.
Building a Caring Classroom Expand dropdownThis learning community helped instructors construct a classroom environment that supports the well-being and mental health of our students. Participants developed methods for incorporating life skills and resilience into their current course content and pedagogical practices. To facilitate this development, we partnered with non-profit organizations focusing on adolescent and young adult mental health.
Student-Instructor Partnerships in Clinical Education Expand dropdownDuring the 2022-23 academic year, the FDC hosted a learning community called Teaching and Learning Together that aimed to develop and nurture partnerships between students and faculty on EMU’s campus. For the 2023-24 academic year, the FDC returned with a second learning community, this one focused solely on clinical education and student-clinical educator partnerships.
Disability is Diversity: Accessibility Change Agents Expand dropdownThe Disability is Diversity: Accessibility Change Agents Learning Community, facilitated by Dr. Audrey Farrugia, brought together a group of educators to explore topics around providing accessibility for students with documented or undocumented disabilities in order to work towards creating universal design for learning on our campus.
Engaging Jewish Studies at EMU Expand dropdownThe purpose of this program was to promote Jewish Studies content across the curriculum and in the research activity of faculty on campus, as well as to develop the capacity of the university to deal with questions of Judaism and inclusion (including matters of religious diversity and antisemitism).
Teaching and Learning Together (TaLT) Learning Community
In part of EMU's strategic commitment to prioritize student-centered learning and academic success, the FDC aims to rebuild the connections between faculty and students which have fragmented as a result of COVID-19. Through this initiative, we created a learning community that worked together through the 2022-23 year to learn how we can get back what we've lost.
Learn More.
Inclusive STEM Teaching at EMU
This learning community was based on an NSF-funded free 6-week asynchronous online class for college instructors, the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (ISTP) (here is its syllabus). Faculty, full-time lecturers, and part-time lecturers who were teaching or on leave during Winter 2023 were invited to participate. EMU instructors who successfully completed the work of this learning community received an honorarium of $200.
Teaching Using Oral History
Alexis Braun Marks and Matt Jones hosted a learning community during the Winter 2023 semester called Teaching Using Oral History that has evolved into an ongoing community of practice for those faculty on campus who are engaging with oral history methodology for their own personal research and want to improve or expand their practice; faculty who would like to learn more about the practice for potential inclusion in their classes; or faculty who are interested in this documentation practice that is growing in popularity both within academic and popular culture.
College in Prison
During the winter 2023 semester, we hosted a seminar to create the curriculum for a BA program at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV). Due to restrictions on federal aid, we had been unable to offer credit for courses and have been relying on faculty volunteers to teach at WHV since 2008. However, this is changing thanks to newly available Pell Grants. This seminar brought together representatives from departments interested in being part of a liberal arts degree program. Participants served as liaisons to their departments to identify courses for this curriculum.
Navigating Sexual Violence
The purpose of the learning community was to support faculty who want to meaningfully challenge the culture of sexual violence. We offered hands-on, scenario-based, and evidence-driven best practices for addressing sexual violence in the classroom, including creating a trauma-informed syllabus, using (or not) trigger warnings, handling offensive comments and common myths, facilitating difficult discussions, responding to disclosures, and offering students a hopeful way forward.
Research Writers' Collaborative
The Research Writers' Collaborative group offered an opportunity for EMU faculty to support each other while achieving realistic writing goals (i.e. developing a conference paper, draft an article, revising a book chapter, etc.). This community also provided an opportunity for participants to give and receive helpful feedback on their writing as well.
Secondary Teaching Preparation Program
In 2018, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) announced their updated “students-first” teacher certification system. Since then, faculty across EMU’s colleges and departments have taken this opportunity to collaborate and revitalize our teacher preparation program to incorporate the new professional standards and state requirements, and we were able to launch our work and vision through a series of workshops hosted by COE and CAS faculty. These workshops described the draft blueprint of the program, introduced their guiding anchor principles, and reviewed high-leverage core teaching practices. This series of workshops informed as well as engaged participants in the work of integrating the anchor principles and core teaching practices in their activities and lessons. This initiative impacts faculty across EMU as many of us teach aspiring teachers in our content areas and general education courses, so all faculty, lecturers, and administration were invited to come to one or join all the planned sessions. Faculty and lecturers received an honorarium for participation in each session.
Equitable Educators Learning Community
Faculty, full-time lecturers, and part-time lecturers were invited to join this community of educators that is committed to developing cultural humility and committed to creating inclusive spaces and equitable outcomes for students. Members of the Equitable Educators Learning Community left this community with a plan for implementing the lessons learned into their classes.
Faculty Support Group
The Faculty Development Center invited faculty to join us for a chance to sit and talk to others about any concerns that they might have regarding job stresses and challenges. We envisioned honest and open discussion of the challenges we face, and also an opportunity to support each other, and rely on that support, as we deal with stress in our jobs and lives.
General Education Professional Learning Communities
The General Education (GE) program at EMU formed professional learning communities for three GE categories: Global Awareness (GEGA), US Diversity (GEUS), and Arts (GEKA). These learning communities are persistent and serve as opportunities to share learning activities and enrich our GE teaching and learning practices at EMU.
If interested in learning more about these communities click here.
Critical Pedagogy on Sexual Violence Expand dropdownThis seminar focused on critical pedagogy on sexual violence and provided a platform for faculty who wish to introduce a sexual violence component in their classes, and/or want to engage in critical discussions for institutional action or research on sexual violence.
Learn more about the Critical Pedagogy on Sexual Violence learning community.
Transforming the Classroom Through a Wellness Paradigm Expand dropdownWellness and well-being have become, of late, very buzzy concepts in the world of higher education, but many of us wonder what do they really mean and how are we as educators meant to apply these concepts in our practice? In these seminars, we explore the ways in which we can enhance wellbeing in our educational environments and the ways in which wellness is deeply rooted in the reciprocity of our relationships.
Learn more about the Transforming the Classroom Through a Wellness Paradigm learning community.
Improving Online Teaching: Emerging Tools and Strategies Expand dropdownHas the transition to online teaching inspired you to try innovative teaching strategies? Are you using an innovative online tool that has improved the impact of your teaching? Do you have an online teaching success strategy to share with others? Please check out our Improving Online Teaching learning community!
Learn more about the Improving Online Teaching: Emerging Tools and Strategies learning community.