monthly newsletter
I thought I’d use the October newsletter to update everyone on how plans for the R initiative are proceeding this year.
The long term goal for the work I’m helping as the interim R coordinator is to get a regular and healthy offering of divisional R courses across as many departments as possible, and to support faculty who step forward to teach these courses in any way they need. We want to foster a culture of appreciation for oral competence as a fundamental aspect of a liberal education.
To initiate that effort this year I held a couple of orientation workshops in August, in which participants discussed both the pedagogy of the R and the institutional direction for this initiative. As a follow up, I recently met with the Communication faculty who teach R courses and we discussed how we can aid in this effort. We decided to research some of the models for speaking-across-the-curriculum at other campuses and meet with interested folks on campus in October to discuss a way forward. Anybody who is interested is welcome to meet with us. This discussion is scheduled for Friday, October 12 at 2:30, Higley 3rd floor.
We have talked about some substantive ideas to reach our goal. These included the need for ongoing faculty support and development, administrative help to insure steady numbers for the program, active student involvement in a teaching-learning support capacity (tutoring, etc.), space and facilities in a center similar to the Writing Center, as well as more permanent coordinator and/or faculty liaison.
This is uncharted territory for Denison, so we welcome everybody’s input. We in Communication really appreciate the wonderful support faculty and administration have given in stepping forward to help in this effort.
--John Arthos
October, 2007
Month In Review
