The Graduate Teacher Program (GTP) is launching its Spring Conference 2018 next week with “New Directions in Higher Education.”
Who: Graduate students, faculty and staff
What: Spring Conference: “New Directions in Higher Education”
When: Friday, Jan. 26, 5–6:45 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 27, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Eaton Humanities, room 150; Fleming Building, room 155
Taking place Friday, Jan. 26, and Saturday, Jan. 27, the event will bring to campus speakers from inside and outside the Front Range on the topics of college pedagogy, academic professional development and employment opportunities for holders of advanced academic degrees.
The conference is designed for graduate students, especially those who work as TAs or GPTIs or serve other instructional roles on campus. It provides a forum for graduate students and faculty to discuss new directions in higher education with a focus on college teaching, the job market and larger changes that will have an impact on university life during the 21st century.
Events begin at 5 p.m. Friday evening in Eaton Humanities, room 150, with snacks and refreshments preceding the keynote address by Professor Philip Fernbach of the Leeds School of Business. His talk, titled “The Knowledge Illusion,” will draw on his much discussed co-authored 2017 book of the same name (Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach, The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think the Same).
The conference continues on Saturday, with panels beginning at 9 a.m. There will be a second keynote address at 10:45 a.m. in Fleming Building, room 155, by Jeffrey Bennett, who will present “The Race Between Education and Catastrophe.” Bennett received a PhD in astrophysics from CU Boulder in 1987, has served as a Visiting Senior Scientist at NASA Headquarters and is now the author of several award-winning books and textbooks for students, scholars and children.
Friday's keynote speaker Professor Philip Fernbach
This year features an original format with panelists from the University of Denver, Portland State University, the University of Wyoming, Regis University and CU Boulder; and two panels of PhD alumni from the humanities, sciences and social sciences, who have pursued careers outside of higher education after graduation.
The program is especially excited to present a panel of speakers on “Managing Conflict in the Classroom” and an “Ignite Session,” where graduate students can share their research with attendees in short five-minute presentations.
In the past, the GTP held two separate conferences, the Spring Conference, which was largely focused on college pedagogy, and the Collaborative Preparing Future Faculty Network Forum, held the Saturday before spring break, which focused on professional development. The 2018 conference combines these events in order to maximize opportunities for the campus.
