Robin DeRosa: Stars and Constellations – Openness, Equity, and Teaching Toward an Unfamiliar Sky

• A free, public talk taking place on Wednesday, September 14, 2022, from 3:30-4:45pm (ET), in Wilson 142, titled, "Stars and Constellations: Openness, Equity, and Teaching Toward an Unfamiliar Sky." Registration is not required. 
   
• A free, limited-seating roundtable discussion on Thursday, September 15, from 11:00am-12:00pm (ET), in Wilson 117, on Open and Contemplative pedagogies with particular attention to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. To attend this roundtable, please register by emailing Karolyn Kinane: kk7av@virginia.edu. 

Talk Details

Robin DeRosa, director of Plymouth State’s Open Learning & Teaching Collaborative, will start this talk from the premise that the stories we tell about education— about what makes it effective, and rigorous, and good—that these stories have shaped our practices in ways that often defeat our deepest aspirations. Many of us come to teaching and academic research as star-gazers, with brilliant curiosity and a sense of urgency about our work and how it matters to our students and to the world. But the horizon line in higher education right now feels less like a bright light than a dim flicker. Robin will cast a critical eye towards the challenges we face, especially in public higher education, and investigate how the daily work of faculty, staff, and students can be leveraged to restore a hopeful vision for the future of learning. The twin values of equity and openness will serve as a lodestar as we consider how pedagogy, course design, scholarship, and the daily operations of our universities can guide us into a future that is humane, vibrant, and beyond our expectations.

Sponsored by CSC with support from the UVA Library, the College of Arts & Sciences Learning Design & Technology, and the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE).

More About Robin DeRosa

An advocate for open and public architectures for higher education, Robin DeRosa has worked with faculty and staff at dozens of institutions as they strive to make their learning environments more equitable and engaging. Robin was a high school English teacher and then an English professor for many years before she became the director of Plymouth State University’s student-driven Interdisciplinary Studies program. Today, she is the director of Plymouth State’s Open Learning & Teaching Collaborative, which is a center for innovative pedagogy and critical instructional design.