During Fall semester, Dr. Laurel Rodgers (Biology) will lead a series of workshops for new faculty based on A Pedagogy of Kindness (2024) by Catherine J. Denial. Current faculty are also encouraged to attend. Thirty copies of the book are on reserve at Smith Library.

The book is described as:

Part manifesto, part teaching memoir, part how-to guide, A Pedagogy of Kindness urges higher education to get aggressive about instituting kindness, which Denial distinguishes from niceness. Having suffered beneath the weight of just “getting along,” instructors need to shift every part of what they do to prioritizing care and compassion—for students as well as for themselves. ~ OU Press

We invite faculty to join their new colleagues in transforming aspects of their teaching in hands on workshops focussing on each of four chapters:

Kindness Towards the Self (September 14)

Kindness and the Syllabus (October 5)

Kindness and Assessment (October 26)

Kindness in the Classroom (November 9)

"A Pedagogy of Kindness" Workshop