Special Events for Innovations Week
A Competitive Edge in the Information Society
Tuesday, October 9, 10 am–1 pm (lunch provided)
Powell Library Rotunda, second floor
Critical thinking is key to undergraduate academic success. Students of the Internet generation have technical and social networking skills but often lack the information and research skills needed to compete academically and professionally. A panel of faculty and librarians will showcase collaborations and projects that enhance undergraduates’ information skills and understanding of the scholarly process. Faculty will hear about innovative approaches and learn how they can obtain assistance with instructional development. The panel will be followed by a lunch reception where faculty can engage with key Library and campus partners.
Sponsors: UCLA Library Information Literacy Program, and College Library Instructional Computing Commons (CLICC).
Service Learning and Civic Engagement
Tuesday, October 9, 12–1:30 pm (lunch provided)
California Room, Faculty Center
RSVP to lmchugh@college.ucla.edu
The UCLA Center for Community Learning engages undergraduates, faculty, and community partners in courses that integrate teaching, research, and service. Our work in Los Angeles, the state, the nation, and in the global community connects the research interests of faculty and students with the priorities of our community partners. This lunchtime session will begin with an overview of these academic programs, including the undergraduate minor in Civic Engagement and our contributions to the “UCLA in LA” initiative. Faculty members with experience teaching service learning courses will present examples of their curricular innovations.
Sponsor: The Center for Community Learning
Dialogue on Disability Studies
Wednesday, October 10, 11:30 am–1:30 pm (lunch provided)
Charles E. Young Grand Salon, Kerckhoff Hall
RSVP to ghamm@college.ucla.edu
Disability Studies reorients our perspective on a marginalized phenomenon at the center of our experience—disability—revising what is often misconceived as an aberration of daily life into basic and formative reality. At UCLA, 32 faculty members from 20 departments and interdepartmental programs across the College and professional schools have formed an innovative minor in Disability Studies. This event will provide information on the intellectual possibilities within the minor, including internship and capstone project opportunities. It will offer an environment for students and faculty to engage in a dialogue on the meaning and potential of this emerging discipline.
Sponsors: Faculty Advisory Committee for Disability Studies, Undergraduate Education Initiatives, and the Disabled Students Union
Foundations of Knowledge: GE at UCLA
Wednesday, October 10, 11:30 am–1 pm (lunch provided)
314 Royce Hall
RSVP to mries@college.ucla.edu
UCLA’s commitment to the improvement of its General Education curriculum has been singled out in the 2007 report of the University of California Commission on General Education in the 21st Century, which noted that “the combination of significant budgetary resources, aggressive leadership, and an atmosphere of campus support has enabled UCLA to emerge as a model among the [UC] campuses for innovation in general education.” Panelists will discuss UCLA’s ten-year effort to provide undergraduates with a common foundational GE experience that strengthens intellectual skills and exposes students to a wide breadth of scholarly inquiry, integrative learning opportunities, ethical issues, and sensitivity to difference.
Sponsors: Undergraduate Education Initiatives, Student Affairs, the General Education Governance Committee, and College Academic Counseling
Bruincast: Course Webcasting at UCLA
Wednesday, October 10, 12-1:30 pm
(light refreshments provided)
186 East Powell Library Building
The Office of Instructional Development has been recording and web streaming regularly-scheduled courses with its Bruincast initiative since Fall 2005. You’ll learn about UCLA’s video and audio webcasting options for your courses. Faculty who have used the service will share their experience and advice. We will present findings from our survey regarding students’ use of these services and their attitudes about technology in the classroom.
Sponsor: The UCLA Office of Instructional Development
Undergraduate Student-Initiated Education
Thursday, October 11, 11:30 am–1 pm (lunch provided)
Charles E. Young Grand Salon, Kerckhoff Hall
RSVP to ghamm@college.ucla.edu
Undergraduate Student-Initiated Education provides a select group of juniors and seniors in the College with the opportunity to develop and facilitate, under close faculty supervision, a lower division seminar for their peers. This program refreshes our undergraduate curriculum, gives students a more active role in their education, prepares them to become teacher-researchers, and deepens their knowledge of topics. This event will allow students and faculty to converse in depth about the opportunities and risks of taking initiatives as learners and connecting personal interests with the methods of scholarly inquiry through the USIE program.
Sponsors: Faculty Student Advisory Committee for Undergraduate Student-Initiated Education, Undergraduate Education Initiatives, and the Undergraduate Students Association.
Diversifying the Academy
Thursday, October 11, 4–5:30 pm (reception included)
Royce 362
Diversity is a core value of UCLA, and the campus is committed to preparing students from diverse populations for academic careers. Funds from federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Education play a critical role in funding key campus programs that provide minority undergraduates with a two-year organized research program and other activities that help them become competitive for graduate studies at the best universities. Faculty panelists will discuss the challenges UCLA faces in diversifying the academy, and student representatives and alumni from our NIH Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program for life and physical science students and our DOE McNair Scholars Program for arts, humanities and social sciences students will reflect on their experiences.
Sponsors: UCLA’s Undergraduate Research Centers, Center for Academic and Research Excellence (CARE), Academic Advancement Program (AAP), and the Graduate Division.