The Teagle Foundation

We’re revitalizing our classroom strategies at Lyon College, following the lead of Melinda Zook and her colleagues at Purdue’s Cornerstone program. This week students in a core literature course showcased their "creative adaptation" group projects. Their assignment was to identify a minor character from one of our readings and then create a document that would illuminate that character's point of view. One group created an Insta profile for Glauce, the reviled homewrecker in ??????????, casting her as a mean girl and developing for her a backstory of careless privilege. Another group created a diary for the priest in “Under the Black Water,” documenting his descent into madness—and inventing his perceived separation from God. Engagement was huge. And analysis was as sharp as I could ask for. At a faculty workshop today, one colleague shared assessment data indicating that her students may perform better on exams after experiencing this kind of "big-questions pedagogy." I’m happy to be tackling student engagement with vibrant, innovative colleagues here at Lyon and through the The Teagle Foundation network. #LyonCollege #GeneralEducation #HigherEducation #Humanities #Cornerstone #TeagleFoundation

Did you catch the latest episode of Kelly Corrigan Wonders? This episode reflects on the importance of seminar classrooms as our "best rehearsal spaces for democracy,"?quoting?Teagle president Andrew Delbanco. Give it a listen:

The Portland State University 'University Studies' Program is proud to announce that professors Sarah Dougher, Ph.D and Sonja Taylor have been awarded a second The Teagle Foundation grant in the amount of $150,000 over three years to support the?Inquiry For Justice (I4J)?program.?This grant will be matched by Multnomah Education Service District (MESD) Service District’s TRIO.? Read more: https://lnkd.in/g6MJyc_i

How can liberal arts institutions facilitate #transfer from community colleges? A new Ithaka S+R playbook shares actionable guidance for independent four-year #highered institutions on how to design and implement statewide transfer pathways, sharing insights from a project supported by the The Teagle Foundation and the The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Read the report for key takeaways from 14 states: https://lnkd.in/eDEkCiji

You're invited! Join us next week for a free workshop with Matthew Pinsker, Professor of History and Pohanka Chair in American Civil War History at Dickinson College, on how he teaches Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” as part of a first-year general education course. Register: https://buff.ly/3BUK91L

Supported by a grant from the The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and The Teagle Foundation, the Minnesota Transfer Initiative Project and the Iowa Private Transfer Collaborative are committed to a common goal of improving the transfer admissions and graduation pipeline for Iowa and Minnesota community college students. Faculty, advisors, administration and transfer admission staff from Minnesota and Iowa community colleges and independent colleges and universities are invited to attend the conference. The organizers also have put a call out for session proposal submissions. #Minnesota #Iowa #HigherEd #StudentTransfer

A recent piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights how Purdue University's Cornerstone: Learning for Living program has successfully "translated" the value of the liberal arts to its STEM-focused student body: "In 2016, Zook was charged with the daunting task of trying to make the liberal arts relevant to the science-and-engineering-oriented students at Purdue. She focused on general education, starting a program called Cornerstone. 'I told the dean that this was not going to work unless we took over requirements,' she says, and Cornerstone initially focused on the written and oral communication requirements for gen ed. At first, she had to lure faculty members with money, but also gave them lots of leeway; in time, they came to appreciate the freedom of teaching “transformative texts” — essentially a more-inclusive list of great-books authors. Over time, the program has grown from 100 students to more than 5,000." Read more:

You're invited! Join us next week for a free workshop with Meghan Sullivan, Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, on how she teaches Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life” as part of a first-year general education course. Register here: https://buff.ly/40jGvI7

The Foundation is thrilled to announce the launch of Civics in the City, a new initiative designed to prepare students to become informed and committed participants in the civic life of New York City. Civics in the City will not only promote primary source learning on topics such as the formation of the American republic and the history of New York City, but move students from the classroom to the city in which they live and offer opportunities for students to help care for New Yorkers, steward New York’s land and infrastructure, and work on alleviating some of the city’s most vexing challenges. Concept papers for the initiative are due?August 1, 2025. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eH2gPhvn

In October, Marina van Zuylen, Clemente Chair in the Humanities at Bard College, led a wonderful workshop on how she teaches Charles Baudelaire’s “The Bad Glazier” as part of a first-year general education course. Catch a sneak peek here or watch the full recording: https://buff.ly/41Zgmzy View the complete series for AY 24-25 and register for our next workshop: https://buff.ly/4dTSwbK