Atlantic Universities’ Teaching Showcase
University of Prince Edward Island

October 19, 2019

Critical Hope and Other Academic Virtues

In considering hope critically, I believe that we will be able to think more deeply about pedagogy, about our lives as educators, and about the relationships that form our communities. In its radical openness and possibility, hope is our vehicle for reclaiming agency in the face of despair. If we let it, hope can be a collaborative and imaginative process by which we overcome despair and reclaim agency in our pedagogy, pushing us forward to collectively reimagine the future and its possibilities.
(Jacobs, Dale. (2005). “What’s Hope Got to Do With It?: Theorizing Hope in Education.” JAC: A Journal of Composition Theory, 25 (4), 783-802. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/englishpub/11 )

In a time that might tend our students either to apathy or to despair, this conference suggests that we might look beyond the knowledge and skills that tend to dominate discussions of higher education: to ways to cultivate hope, empathy, and other virtues that can support students and instructors in making real change in their own lives, in education, in their communities, and in the world. More than merely wishful thinking, critical hope combines a critical understanding of the past and the present with a resilient belief that things can be different than they are.

Topics might include the following (but please feel free to range widely!):

• What are some of the most important virtues or attributes in higher education? In your disciplines?
• What are the problems or barriers to teaching for hope or other such qualities?
• What are some practical strategies for cultivating hope, empathy, and other virtues?
• How can educators maintain their own hope in trying times?
• What is hopeful in higher education? In learning?

Please submit your proposal as a Word or PDF attachment containing the following information to this address: showcase19@upei.ca

Deadline for submission: August 16, 2019

SESSION PROPOSAL

Session Format: 25-minute; 50-minute; Furious Five*; 20-minute mentoring**

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• Co-presenter(s):

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• Description of Session

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Outcomes/Goals:

Description (250 words max.; as it will appear as an abstract in the Showcase program):

Plan to engage participants actively (250 words max):       Preference will be given to sessions (whatever the length) that engage participants in non-traditional ways –in other words, sessions that model active learning. *NOTE: The Furious Five is a lively and engaging plenary session in which presenters are given five minutes each to introduce the audience to an innovative teaching strategy or tip, or pose a profound question for the audience to ponder. Strategies, tips, and questions will be relevant to a range of disciplines **NOTE: The 20-minute mentoring session is a new addition to possible types of presentation. In such a session, the presenter should tackle a single issue, strategy, challenge related to teaching and provide two or three immediately practical, concrete suggestions.

If you have any questions, please write to Gerald Wandio, Program Coordinator, Faculty Development Office, UPEI, at fdo@upei.ca