Associates in Teaching program to expand
The Associates in Teaching (AT) program had a strong start this year, with four pilot courses in the fall and one currently in progress. Dean Jon Butler has announced that it will expand to 12 courses next year, divided equally among the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. The AT program was set up to provide enhanced teaching opportunities for advanced PhD students, who work closely with a cooperating faculty member to create (or redesign) an undergraduate course and then co-teach it. ATs attend all class meetings in order to observe and reflect on the faculty member’s teaching and participate in weekly discussions about teaching with the faculty partner. “Our review of the Associates in Teaching program indicates that the teaching teams this fall were extremely satisfied,” says Dean Butler. “The program seems to be fulfilling its mission to provide a dynamic teaching experience for a graduate student and faculty member together.”
China welcomes Yale graduate students
Yale’s long-standing ties with China helped bring a contingent of 50 Yalies to that country over winter break, including 14 Graduate School students. After four days in Beijing, they went to Shanghai, where they stayed at the East China Normal University (ECNU). They studied conversational Mandarin every morning, followed by classes on the economics of China, the history of Shanghai, calligraphy, dumpling making, and tai chi. One day was spent at Fudan University, which has a long history of academic exchanges with Yale. There, Yale and Fudan students who work in the same fields met to exchange ideas and compare experiences. Amanda Foust, a PhD student in neurobiology, called the trip “an awesome experience. . . . We saw, touched, tasted, and listened to one of the oldest existing cultures on the planet. The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Pearl Tower—these are places I never expected to go in my life, and they were splendid. But by far, the most valuable experiences were connections made with students and their families, two communities from opposite sides of the planet seeking common ground.”
Diversity conference in March
The seventh annual Yale Bouchet Conference on Diversity in Graduate Education will be held March 26 and 27 in the Hall of Graduate Studies. The conference is titled “Demystifying Diversity: Uncovering and Exploring the Benefits of a Truly Diverse and Inclusive Higher Education Campus Community.” Organized by the Office for Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO), the event includes speakers and participants from around the country. This year’s Bouchet Leadership Award will be given to Dean Butler, who has been “an outstanding advocate for diversity,” says Michelle Nearon, assistant dean and ODEO director. One of his recent initiatives created diversity recruitment coordinators, tenured faculty members who serve on the admissions application review committee of their department and work closely with Nearon to develop outreach, recruitment, and retention initiatives for traditionally underrepresented students. The award is named in memory of Yale alumnus Edward A. Bouchet, the first African American to receive a PhD in North America (physics, 1876). More on the event can be found at www.yale.edu/graduateschool/diversity/bouchet_conf.html.
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