All around campus this term, groups of faculty are meeting to exchange and develop ideas about inclusive teaching practices. In this pilot year of the Faculty Communities for Inclusive Teaching initiative, funds from the office of the Vice Provost for Equity, Inclusion, and Academic Affairs are supporting ten different projects designed to spark faculty exchanges about how to cultivate learning environments that welcome and support students of all backgrounds and identities. This year's faculty participants represent over two dozen departments and programs, and their topics of focus range widely, from the effects of religious identity on student learning, to female underrepresentation in particular fields of study, to the dynamics of stereotype threat in science courses.

A full list with brief descriptions of this year's projects can be found on this Faculty Communities for Inclusive Teaching page.

Two of the projects include events open to the public. If you're interested in engaging with these conversations about inclusive teaching, consider attending one or both: 

• Tuesday, March 31, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.: Roundtable on Campus Climate and Disability. (In CRLT Seminar Room, Palmer Commons)
  Featuring a keynote by disability studies scholar and advocate Carrie Sandahl (University of Illinois, Chicago) with shorter comments by U-M's Jina Kim (PhD candidate, English/Women’s Studies), Jane Berliss Vincent (Assistive Technology Manager), Lloyd Shelton (M.S.W. Candidate, Community Organization), Jasmine Pawlicki (recent Michigan graduate, Peer Information Counselor, University of Michigan Library), and others, this roundtable will focus on the intersections of teaching and disability, with an emphasis on campus life sustainability for disabled teachers, students, and staff. The public roundtable will be preceded by informal networking among disabled graduate students, staff, and faculty as well as allies; to participate in this portion of the day's proceedings, please email Petra Kuppers at petra@umich.edu.
   
• Friday, April 3, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon: Panel on Native American Higher Education (Hussey Room, Michigan League) 
  This event is designed to bring Native American elders, faculty, administrators, and students to a “talking circle” with non-Native academic personnel to discuss issues of cultural equity as concerns Native students and faculty both at the University of Michigan and in higher education generally. The panel will be preceded by time for coffee and community (9:30-10) and followed by a Native/non-Native student/University community exchange over pizza (12-1). For more information, contact Michael Naylor at mnayl@umich.edu.