Fall Faculty Study Seminars (FSS) announced Two Faculty Study Seminars will be offered this fall. The seminars provide a means for faculty with common interests to learn more about a teaching-related topic. Each group meets four times a semester, at times mutually agreed to by participants, to read and discuss a teaching-related book (books provided by the Office of Instructional Development). The participant’s only obligation is to read and to show up for discussion. To sign up for a FSS, e-mail the facilitator noted below with your contact information (e-mail and phone) and a copy of your fall semester schedule (noting the times you cannot meet). You will be contacted once an initial meeting date is set. For more information about FSS groups, contact Anne Kelsch at Anne.Kelsch@und.edu or 777-4233. John Tagg, The Learning Paradigm College (Jossey-Bass, 2003). Tagg’s book begins with a simple but profound question: “What are colleges for?” Noting that typically “the successful college...is the one that fills classes with students and thus grows in enrollment,” Tagg advocates for a paradigm shift towards a learning centered environment that attends to students rather than classes and he documents how this is happening at some institutions. Tagg argues that to change our paradigm from teaching to learning is to view education through a new lens, “seeing” our work in a different light and having diverse experiences as we and our students interact to learn. Reviewers refer to The Learning Paradigm College as “one of the most important, provocative, and accessible works to have entered the higher education literature in many years,...it is broadly applicable to every postsecondary institution.” If you are interested in reading this book as part of a Faculty Study Seminar, contact Anne.Kelsch@und.edu or 777-4233. Casanave, C.P. & Sosa, M. (2007). Respite for Teachers: Reflection and renewal in the teaching life. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Casanave and Sosa's book is not designed to teach something new; instead, the purpose of the book is to inspire faculty to spend time reflecting on the joys and challenges of teaching and of connecting with students and colleagues. The authors cover a wide variety of diverse topics, including a comparison of teaching and musical groups, difficult students, fear and curiosity, grading, mentoring, solitude, as well as a chapter about students who "just don't seem to belong where they are." Most of these chapters are designed to both raise an important issue and inspire at the same time. One reviewer noted that while the book is accessible and avoids jargon and terminology it "is very much grounded in theory and does an excellent job encouraging ... teachers and researchers to think about how to reduce the gap between theory and research and classroom practice." If you are interested in reading this book as part of a Faculty Study Seminar, contact Scott.Baxter@und.edu or 777-6381. -- Anne Kelsch, Director, Office of Instructional Development, anne.kelsch@und.nodak.edu, 777-4233