by Nathan Loewen Since fall 2022, Lisa Dorr and I have hosted lunch-time faculty discussions focused on the topic of promoting “student belonging.” What’s that? I admit the term itself is vague. What might “student belonging” mean in useful practical or analytic terms? I think the category points to something that is indeed vague at the University of Alabama (not to mention on other college campuses). Our discussions are about whether and how students in our classrooms come to self-identify […]

By Matthew LaFevor, Geography. One of the ways I like to begin my classes is by asking students a very broad question: What’s going on in the world today?      Such a broad question has strong potential to fail, especially if students are too concerned with answering ‘correctly’. Students often come to class having skimmed the readings. They may only tenuously hold information in their heads. Beginning with such a broad question forces students to zoom out for a […]

By Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies. The challenge Decisions to attend the University of Alabama are based numerous reasons. A perusal of the University’s homepage suggests some of those reasons. At the time of writing this post, the byline for the homepage is that UA is a place “where legends are made.” The decision to come to UA might include an interest to participate in legendary moments that involve large-scale, highly-publicized events. This makes sense, since most individuals are […]

Join The Center for Instructional Technology to get your Fall courses polished and ready to go. CIT is hosting two days of workshops and one-on-one technical and pedagogical assistance to get you ready for the Fall semester. Register for a session(s) you would like to attend or drop by and receive one-on-one help setting up your courses. Refreshments will be served all day. Registration is appreciated, but it is not required to attend. Questions? Contact us at 205-348-3532 or cit@ua.edu. […]