Faculty Development Day 2024
Date: November 6, 2024
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location:
Serota Hall, Long Island campus
Old Westbury,
NY
New York Tech faculty and staff are invited to attend the Fall 2024 Faculty Development Day: Cultivating Wellness and Respectful Dialogue in Higher Education on November 6, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (ET), at our Long Island campus, Mollie Rogers Auditorium, Serota Hall.
We welcome Associate Professor Mays Imad, Ph.D., Connecticut College, who will offer a keynote address on the critical role of teaching through discomfort and challenging traditional agreements and assumptions in higher education. Professor Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D., will join Imad in conversation to extend and deepen the discussion of these topics. Register now.
NOTE: Morning events are for New York faculty and staff only. NYITCOM-Arkansas faculty and staff will join us for the keynote presentation and are welcome to attend the afternoon breakout sessions via streaming. All events are Eastern Time (ET).
Agenda
| 9 – 10:45 a.m. |
Registration and Light Breakfast |
| 9:45 – 10:30 a.m. |
Breakout Sessions
|
| 10:45 – 11 a.m. |
Opening Remarks |
| 11 a.m. – noon |
Keynote Learning Through Discomfort: Transforming Educational Spaces for Intellectual and Emotional Growth, with Mays Imad, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Connecticut College This presentation will explore the pedagogy of discomfort, emphasizing the importance of learning through challenging traditional norms and embracing disagreement in higher education. We will discuss how educational spaces can foster understanding and growth by viewing discomfort as an opportunity. The session will encourage the community to support not only intellectual development but also the emotional and spiritual growth of students. By doing so, we highlight the link between the health of our educational environments and the broader well-being of society. The keynote speech will be followed by a conversation with Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Humanities. |
| Noon – 1:30 p.m. |
Lunch and Raffles |
| 1:45 – 2:30 p.m. |
Breakout Sessions
|
| 3 – 4 p.m. |
Faculty & Student Reception Join your colleagues and New York Tech students for an engaging afternoon of connection and celebration. Enjoy the donut wall and hot cider while you socialize! |
Both faculty and staff are invited, but because this event falls on a workday, staff members planning to participate must confirm attendance with their supervisor before registration.
Some of the breakout sessions include light stretching and activity, so dress comfortably. Wearing your New York Tech gear and/or colors is even better! Lunch is included, and a reception will follow.
Please register by October 23.
Support our students
Please bring a non-perishable food donation for the Grizzly Cupboard, New York Tech’s food and resource pantry, and/or new or gently used clothing or accessory donation for our new Tech Threads professional closet. Items will be collected when you sign in at the event. Everyone who donates will be entered into a special raffle.
About the Keynote Presenters
Mays Imad, Ph.D., began her academic journey at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where she pursued philosophy and minored in chemistry. She earned a doctoral degree in cellular and clinical neurobiology, with a minor in biomedical sciences, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona’s Department of Neuroscience, she joined Pima Community College (PCC), teaching a variety of biology-related subjects. During her tenure at PCC, she founded their Teaching and Learning Center (TLC).
Currently an associate professor at Connecticut College, Imad is interested in understanding the social determinants of student well-being and success and conducts research on equity pedagogy. Her work reflects a deep commitment to equity and justice in and through education. With fervor, she advocates for institutions to pay close attention to intergenerational trauma and to prioritize healing and well-being. She is a Gardner Institute Fellow, AAC&U Senior STEM Fellow, Mind and Life Institute Fellow, and a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ).
Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D., earned her doctorate in English from the CUNY Graduate Center and has taught college literature and writing since 1996. As a scholar, Griffiths focuses on African-American literature in addition to the interdisciplinary field of trauma studies, specifically in relation to gender, race, and justice. Her publications include two monographs: Traumatic Possessions: The Body and Memory in African American Women’s Writing and Performance (U of Virginia P, 2010) and At Risk: Black Youth and the Creative Imperative in the Post Civil Rights Era (UP of Mississippi, 2023). She currently serves as chair of the Department of Humanities, which includes advising the Civic Engagement, Medical Humanities, and Equity and Innovation minors.