On behalf of Provost Capps and the Office of Academic Affairs, you are invited to the upcoming Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series presented by the 2023-24 faculty award recipients. Award recipients are nominated by their colleagues or students for excellence in their field, and then reviewed by a Faculty Awards Committee. 

The upcoming events are an opportunity for award recipients to engage with the campus and local community by giving a public lecture or performance or a different activity of their choosing. 

Please join us for this semester’s upcoming talks:

Andrea Juarez- Excellence in Teaching

Lecture date: Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Location: Goodwin Forum, NHE102

Time: 5:00-7:00 pm

Title: Beyond “Pedagogy”: Why Mentoring & Career Matter Too

Summary: A 2024 Inside Higher Ed survey found that more than half of students believe their professors should be mentors and should help them prepare for careers. Andrea will discuss ways she helps students succeed in and after college by fostering a classroom with engaging content, teaching curiosity and building confidence.

Humnath Panta- Scholar of the Year

Lecture date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Location: Goodwin Forum, NHE102

Time: 5:00-7:00 pm

Title: Empowering Inquiry: Enhancing Student Research Experiences

Summary: What defines an impactful research experience for students? Where do moments of discovery and growth occur in their academic journeys? In this interactive session, we will explore strategies to elevate student research experiences by fostering curiosity, collaboration, and meaningful mentorship. Together, we will consider how a supportive, inquiry-driven environment can empower students to engage deeply with their research, develop critical thinking skills, and contribute to knowledge creation. Please bring a story of a transformative student research experience or an example of effective mentorship to share as we collectively build a vision for enhancing research opportunities in our educational communities.

Loren Cannon- Outstanding Service

Lecture date: Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Location: Goodwin Forum, NHE102

Time: 5:00-7:00

Title: Service as Care-Work in the Contemporary University Context

Summary: Loren will lead an investigatory discussion to delve into the extent that service work can be rightly understood as actions and attitudes of Care. We will discuss whether this kind of framing is helpful in our efforts to create a care-infused university or misplaced given the realities of the contemporary context. Pulling from the philosophical literature as well as personal experience, Loren will try to thread the conceptual needle between celebrating practices of Care that strengthen our communities and encouraging potentially unhealthy practices that result in squishy professional boundaries and unmanageable working conditions.

Sara Sterner- Excellence in Teaching

Lecture date: Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Location: Goodwin Forum, NHE102

Time: 5:00-7:00 pm

Title: Humanizing Pedagogies: Centering Joy in Learning and Teaching

Summary: What does joy look like in your teaching and learning experiences? Where does joy bubble up in your work with students and colleagues? In this interactive session, we will explore these questions as we consider how humanizing pedagogies can not only center joy in our educational communities but also cultivate it. Please bring a story of humanized teaching or a joy-filled experience as a scholar-educator to contribute to our communal meaning-making conversations.

 Free and open to students, faculty, staff and members of the local community.

 See poster for details