Faculty Orientations
Every August the Bok Center contributes workshops on teaching and learning to the New Faculty Institute and Navigating Harvard orientations sponsored by the Office of Faculty Affairs. Our goals are to introduce new faculty, both tenured/tenure-track and non-tenure track, to the culture of the Harvard classroom, including the identities and expectations of our students and the tools and resources available to them as instructors.
Starting in summer 2024 we will also offer a summer workshop series prior to these orientations for new faculty who wish to get a head start on designing their courses for a Harvard context.
Summer 2024 Workshops
The Bok Center is pleased to offer new FAS faculty a series of summer workshops designed to help you get a head start to designing and teaching your course(s) at Harvard. We'll focus on topics including:
- what the science of learning teaches us about effective course design;
- the kinds of expectations and preparation with which Harvard students will arrive in your classroom; and
- how to access the many resources available to support you in your teaching, including the Bok Center, libraries, museums, instructional technologists, and more.
The workshops will run from mid-July through late August, and will be held primarily on Zoom with some opportunities to convene in-person as the academic year approaches.
See a full list of dates and times at right. For faculty unable to attend the live sessions, please view a slide deck of the resources we shared.
Upcoming Workshops
No upcoming workshops
New Faculty Institute & Navigating Harvard: Three Big Questions about Teaching
In this two-hour interactive workshop, the staff of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning will share insights into how to motivate and connect with your students, help you see how your teaching connects to the mission of your department and Harvard College more broadly, and invite you to reflect on how you can make your development as a teacher a meaningful and invigorating part of your growth as a scholar.
Session materials
- Slide deck [PDF]
- Expectancy, Environment, Agency, and Value worksheet and tipsheet
- Harvard College Fields of Concentration and accompanying questionnaire
- Information about peer observation at the Bok Center
Some additional resources re: Harvard students
- The Harvard Crimson's profile of the Harvard Class of 2025
- Harvard Undergraduates at a Glance
Some resources re: the Harvard curriculum
- A Glossary of Harvard's Teaching-Related Terms
- Faculty of Arts and Sciences Information for Faculty
Some resources re: developing your capacities
- Stephen Brookfield, Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, 2nd ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2017).
- Lovett, M. C., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Ambrose, S. A., & Norman, M. K. (2023). How Learning Works: Eight Research-based Principles for Smart Teaching. John Wiley & Sons.
- The Bok Center's programming for faculty
- Crowd-Sourced Ideas for Building a Supportive Network for your Teaching Development
Learn more about the Bok Center's resources
We hope that Navigating Harvard and the New Faculty Institute will be just the first of many times that you interact with the Bok Center! Here are some more ways to engage:
- Meet our Senior Staff, who are always happy to talk with you about a course your teaching or your longer term professional development
- Schedule a consultation to tap into our 360 Support for instructors. We're happy to sit down with you in person or over Zoom to review your syllabus, help you draft or revise an assignment prompt, plan the choreography of an in-class activity, develop a grading rubric, provide training to your Teaching Fellows, and more!
- Attend our events, like Faculty Lunches, our STEM Education Journal Club, or one of our Mentoring with Purpose peer learning communities!
- Read our online resources, which include comprehensive advice about designing your course, creating an engaging, active classroom environment, collecting feedback, preparing teaching materials for your tenure or job market dossier, and more!
- Get in touch with any other questions or ideas you'd like to share!