Lectures, Seminars and Forums

Dates and times for all scheduled events are available on the events page .

The Sheridan Teaching Seminar Lectures

The Sheridan Teaching Seminar consists of a series of five lectures throughout the academic year pertaining to teaching in all disciplines, each followed by relevant interactive workshop sessions. The goal is to explore broad pedagogical issues and specific methods for implementing them. These interdisciplinary lectures are organized around the general theme of those elements which may comprise an individual or departmental Teaching Portfolio. Topics to be covered include: Pedagogical Goals and Objectives, Cognitive Diversity and Teaching, Persuasive Communication, and Syllabus Construction. The seminar will culminate in the development of an individual Teaching Philosophy, which may be the basis for Teaching Portfolios, job applications, grant proposals or tenure and promotion. Participation in the Sheridan Teaching Seminar (including the creation of an individual Teaching Philosophy statement) is one of the three requirements for the Sheridan Teaching Seminar - Certificate I Program.

Faculty Seminars

In response to suggestions from Brown faculty, the Sheridan Center organizes several seminars during the course of each academic year. Topics from previous years include: Teaching Large Classes, Writing Assignments - Creating Meaningful Prompts and Giving Meaningful Feedback, Crafting Educational Components of Research Grants, Mid-Semester Feedback, Grade Inflation and the Brown Grading System, the Writing Requirement, Languages Across the Curriculum, Universal Instructional Design, Course Assessment and Student Evaluation, and Departmental Teaching Evaluations.

Graduate Student Seminars

The Center organizes seminars for graduate students during the course of each academic year. Topics of past seminars include both Syllabus Construction and Teaching Preparation for Summer Studies Courses, as well as Responding to Student Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The Center welcomes suggestions for new seminars.

Departmental Seminars and Colloquia

The Center is available to assist departmental faculty and graduate teaching assistants in organizing specific seminars and colloquia designed to provide effective pedagogical exchange on selected topics, such as instructional assessment, teaching portfolios, etc. These seminars and colloquia may be arranged for a variety of audience in an array of formats, depending upon the needs of the individual department. The Center will supply relevant materials and organizational assistance upon request.

Brown Teaching Collaborative

This informal group of faculty and staff at Brown meets monthly throughout the academic year for a series of brown-bag lunch sessions to share news, ideas and concerns about issues of teaching and learning at Brown and elsewhere. It is open to all faculty staff involved with teaching at Brown. Visit the events page for the next meeting.

The Sheridan Teaching Forums

The Sheridan Center Teaching Forums, frequently sponsored in concert with the CCC and CIS, are lectures or panels concerning educational issues of interest to the entire University teaching community. Past speakers have included Dr. Howard Gardner (Harvard University) on academic disciplines, Prof. Kenneth Miller (Brown University) on strategies for pedagogical collaboration between faculty and graduate teachings assistants, and Dr. Peter Seldin (Pace University) on Teaching Portfolios.