Harvard News

Compelling Communication, Remotely

Compelling Communication, Remotely

June 7, 2021

Teaching is an act of scholarly communication, whether you are explaining a concept, giving a lecture, or presenting your research on the Sanders Theatre stage. Whether you are working with a small, familiar group of students or a large public audience, what goals do you have? How can you structure your content, use your visuals and voice to support those goals, and keep the audience engaged in your ideas? Engaged communication is a core component of the Bok Center’s work; over the past year, we translated lessons of engaged communication to the Zoom setting, and adjusted how we coach...

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Robert Lue

Robert Lue, 1964-2020

November 13, 2020

We are heartbroken to share that our beloved faculty director, Robert Lue, passed away on Wednesday, November 11. Rob was appointed as the inaugural Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning in 2013. He had a vision for a teaching and learning center that would attract and energize faculty, graduate students and undergraduates; that would spark excitement and creativity about what could happen in the classroom; and that would build an intergenerational community around teaching. During the seven years of his tenure, Rob transformed the Bok...

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 Championing Equity and Inclusion at the HILT Conference

Championing Equity and Inclusion at the HILT Conference

October 23, 2020

Bok Center staff played an active role in last Friday’s annual Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT) conference on Championing Equitable Instruction and Inclusive Classrooms, a topic at the core of our work with instructors at all stages. In addition to our many staff who attended the conference as participants, two Bok staff members led breakout sessions. Pamela Pollock, Director of Professional Development, co-facilitated a breakout session on...

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Rob Lue in the Learning Lab

Launching a program to solve global challenges

October 7, 2020

In a recent article in the Harvard Gazette, Bok Center Faculty Director Robert Lue invites Harvard undergraduate students to join the Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship (LPCE) and embrace their potential as change agents. "Do you have an idea that could positively transform society?" he asked. Our groundbreaking program develops the ability of students to propose and implement innovative projects. Its inaugural focus is on ideas, ventures and...

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LPCE

New Innovation Program Launches For Harvard!

September 15, 2020

We’re thrilled to introduce a new initiative for undergraduates that makes a knowledge of the liberal arts actionable at a crucial historic moment. The Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship, which is led by Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning and Harvard professor Robert Lue and generously funded by Brazilian innovator Jorge Paulo Lemann '61, has launched to empower students...

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Undergraduate Ed Portal Mentors

Mentoring Online: Lessons in Motivation

July 10, 2020

As classes moved online this spring, so did the work of the Bok Center’s twenty-seven undergraduate Mentors. Responsible for engaging Allston-Brighton children in interdisciplinary science, technology, and literacy programs at the Harvard Ed Portal, these undergraduates gain experience with skills central to good teaching, and reflect on their own development as teachers and learners.

When the Ed Portal’s programming shifted online...

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three glasses of white wine touching in "cheers"

Congratulations to the 2020 Derek C. Bok Award Recipients

July 1, 2020

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2020 Derek C. Bok Award!

The Derek C. Bok Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching of Undergraduates is given each year by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to five teaching fellows who have been nominated by their departments. The award includes a $1,000 prize from a gift given by David G. Nathan '51, M.D. '55 (Robert A. Stranahan Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School) and his wife Jean Louise Friedman Nathan.

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zoom call with participants and image of artwork

Close Encounters with Original Works of Art—Despite the Distance

May 8, 2020

When the Harvard Art Museums closed to the public just before Spring Break, it opened new doors in the online space. With numerous course collaborations scheduled for the remainder of the semester, the museums’ staff worked to transform gallery visits and classes in the Art Study Center into interactive visual learning experiences via Zoom.... Read more about Close Encounters with Original Works of Art—Despite the Distance

hands typing on laptop

Preparing for the Possibility of a Remote Fall Semester

April 30, 2020

In a recent article in The Crimson, Bok Center Faculty Director Rob Lue highlights the ways that the Bok Center has supported faculty throughout the transition to remote learning this spring and ways that we will continue to help faculty plan over the summer. “‘One thing that’s crucial is that the Harvard curriculum will be excellent. Everyone is committed to that,’ he said. ‘We’re going to be working super hard all summer long.’”... Read more about Preparing for the Possibility of a Remote Fall Semester