Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs)

Fall Topics

Topic 1: Finding Fulfillment in Online Teaching and Learning in 2026

• • Dr. Marin Laufenberg, Teaching Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of the Spanish MA Program
    • In the contemporary landscape of higher education, online teaching and learning has become paramount. Both instructors and students engage frequently in this modality in the post-Pandemic and it is imperative that we revisit how to effectively deliver and receive instruction this way. However, more importantly perhaps in a world of evermore frequent burnout for faculty, additional stressors for students, and a desire to retain students, we must all think about how to nurture community and find joy in online education as well. This Learning Community will read The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes by Flower Darby, 2026, and discuss our struggles and achievements with online teaching.  (10 seats available)

Topic 2: Teaching Information Literacy in the Age of AI: Bridging the Gap Between Expert Researchers and Student Learners

• • Spencer Jardine, Coordinator of Instruction, University Library 
    
    • Description: In today's world we encounter an immense amount of information. This can be overwhelming for us and our students. Along the way we have picked up varying degrees of information literacy skills as we have navigated academia and the research opportunities in our own disciplines. While these abilities look different in each field of study, the basic foundational concepts of information literacy remain the same. We know that authority is constructed and contextual, information has value, information creation is a process, research is an inquiry, scholarship is an ongoing conversation, and searching requires a strategic exploration. These threshold concepts make up the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education authored by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). This learning community will examine definitions of information literacy, discuss the six concepts or frames from the Framework, consider current and outdated notions of information literacy, debate the use of generative AI in the realm of information-literacy tasks (research world), and practice active-learning strategies along the way. Participants will become conversant with information-literacy concepts in ways that will close the gap between their own advanced information-literacy skills and those of their developing undergraduate students. We will review our own or sample research assignments, identify information-literacy elements where students may need explicit instruction or support, categorize among good, bad, and ugly research questions, and discuss the bottlenecks where students struggle. (20 seats available)

Topic 3: Neurodivergence and Pedagogical Challenges in Higher Education

• • Dr. Xiaomeng (Mona) Xu, Professor of Psychology
    
    • Description: This Faculty Learning Community is a book club for Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price, PhD, an Autistic Social Psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor at Loyola University Chicago. Through guided discussion and supplemental academic articles, we will explore the experiences of neurodivergent students, staff, and faculty in higher education. We will reflect on our experiences and teaching practices and consider adjustments to encourage authenticity, societal acceptance, and to better support our learning communities. We will also focus on how neurodivergence diversifies the academic experiences of students from first generation and minority backgrounds while focusing on ways of building inclusive pedagogical and assessment tools for all groups on this spectrum. (15 seats available, CLIE will provide books for faculty).
      

Topic 4: Climate, Land, and Community: Civic Conversations Across Difference

• • Dr. Evan Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Philosophy
    • Description: This Faculty Learning Community will explore how to have substantive, respectful conversations about climate, land, and community across lines of difference - and how to bring those skills back to our classrooms. In southeast Idaho, climate rarely comes up alone: it's entangled with public lands, water, wildfire, energy, and questions of regional identity, livelihood, and community resilience. Treating climate as a civic question - one that calls for evidence, deliberation, and the honest navigation of genuine value conflicts - rather than a purely scientific or partisan one, we'll examine together what makes these conversations hard and what makes them productive. In keeping with the FLC model, the group will set its own pace and choose its own readings collaboratively. Potential anchor candidates include Katharine Hayhoe's Saving Us (a climate scientist's accessible guide to dialogue across political and religious difference), Mike Hulme's Why We Disagree About Climate Change (a more philosophical mapping of the legitimate sources of disagreement among reasonable people), and shorter pieces on intellectual humility, values conflict, and dialogue practice, drawing on contemporary work in deliberative democracy and civic engagement. Faculty from across the disciplines — sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professional programs — are warmly welcome, and we'll work toward concrete tools each member can use in their own teaching and campus engagement.

To join, please register using the link provided below.

• Registration Deadline: 5pm, Wednesday, September 9.
• Next Steps: After the deadline, your FLC facilitator will contact all members to establish a meeting schedule.