How universities will need to change to accommodate future teaching and learning innovations served as the topic of Georgetown's Fall Faculty Convocation on Oct. 28.
Diana Chapman Walsh, president emerita of Wellesley College and the convocation's featured speaker, said universities are in the midst of a "thought revolution, a movement to reawaken higher education to its highest calling."
"We ask ourselves what would an excellent and rigorous undergraduate education look like if it were more fully attuned to the 21st-century global imperatives of interdependence, sustainability and mutual cooperation?" said Walsh, who served as president of Wellesley for 14 years.
"What better place to ask ourselves that than in this university, in this city, in this country?"
Contemplating innovations in teaching and learning at Georgetown is an ongoing process represented in a new video screened at convocation by the
Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS).
"Reimagining Tradition: The Spirit of Teaching and Learning at Georgetown" is a 13-minute compilation featuring faculty and students exploring how learning in and out of the classroom has changed in recent years.
(Watch the video below)
Traditionally, learning meant absorbing content and information, and then moving into the field using practical applications, said
Randall Bass, executive director of CNDLS, assistant provost and associate professor of English. Now, the learning process shift means students start with practice in the field and discovering content through experiential learning.
"I think we have to figure out if that's actually the new reality, and if it is, we have to grapple with the fact that our curriculum was built on the flow from content to practice. We have a major reconciliation to unpack," Bass added.
Walsh said she felt compelled to entirely rewrite her convocation address after viewing the CNDLS video prior to convocation.
"There is much at stake in the questions you are asking yourselves now, and the way that you are asking them," Walsh said. "My hope for you … is that you will lead the way in embracing what may be a moment of truth and a reflection point for higher education, and make of it an opportunity to design a profound, searching and satisfying learning experience for everyone."
Georgetown President
John J. DeGioia acknowledged the complexity of maintaining Georgetown's 220-year-old traditions while adapting to new learning environments. He urged faculty members to get involved with three initiatives this spring that stem from conversations on traditions, innovations and the undergraduate experience at Georgetown.
A new faculty seminar series, "Reimagining Tradition," will explore ways the university campuses and schools can work together for innovation. The annual provost's seminar on teaching and learning will investigate "Rethinking Classroom Practice." And the university will launch the Georgetown Learning Forum, a virtual discussion space for alumni and parents about education in the 21st century.
"One of the animating characteristics of the Jesuit tradition is the idea of magis -- that our work should always be guided with the intent of doing more," DeGioia said. "That is why we come together today, and that is what we hope to accomplish in the series of conversations and discussions we will be having this year."
