B.S., English, Tuskegee University
M.A., English, Auburn University
Ph.D., English, Auburn University
When I stepped into the college classroom as an instructor of record for the first time over 10 years ago, I could have never anticipated the needs this career path would meet for me as I grow as a professional and person. It’s that transformative nature of the classroom that will not let me turn away from it. Even as I worked in positions outside of the classroom, I eagerly said yes when asked if I had time to teach a class or two. The classroom transforms me every time by presenting me with the honor of learning with students who teach me more about the communities we’re currently building in not only our nation but the world. When presented with the opportunity to pursue teaching full time last year, I decided to make a change.
This change lead me to Belmont where my faculty fellowship presents me with many opportunities to grow as an instructor, scholar, and academic professional. I have worked with my faculty mentor to increase my preparedness for tenure-track, encountered welcoming colleagues willing to share their experiences, worked with thoughtful, creative students, and taken advantage of sessions and conversations that have made me a better teacher. My experience so far has shown me Belmont understands the support it takes to help faculty become better at every step in their careers. Transitions can be critical, and I’m grateful to have Belmont be a part of my transition to full-time faculty work and Nashville.
The First Year Faculty Thoughts series is a way for the Belmont University community to get to know new faculty members as they reflect on their journeys to Belmont.
The Elephant in the Classroom: Addressing Sensitive Topics with Skill and Courage
Julie Hunt and Marnie Vanden Noven present at the lunch discussion.
For many faculty, leading classroom discussions on sensitive topics is a persistent challenge. Topics like politics, religion, race and ethnicity, sexuality, and healthcare can come up in courses in a multitude of programs and disciplines. How faculty navigate these discussions can greatly impact the classroom environment and students’ learning. Thus, the Teaching Center hosted a lunch discussion on January 26th titled, “The Elephant in the Classroom: Addressing Sensitive Topics with Skill and Courage.” Attendees heard from a panel of faculty, in a variety of disciplines, who have experience and expertise engaging in difficult conversations in their classrooms. The panel included Tracey Carter (Law), David Dark (Religion), Julie Hunt (Social Work), Vaughn May (Political Science), and Marnie Vanden Noven (Sport Science).
The Q & A with Campus Partners series is designed to connect faculty with personnel and offices on campus in order to better serve Belmont’s students. This installment features Mary Claire Dismukes from the Office of Career & Professional Development.
What is your title and how long have you been at Belmont?
I am the Director of the Office of Career & Professional Development and have been at Belmont since August 2016.
What brought you to Belmont?
I was drawn to Belmont for its mission–a student-centered Christian community providing an academically challenging education that empowers men and women of diverse backgrounds to engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage and faith. I believe that every person deserves to discover and realize their God-given potential and that belief has guided me throughout my career in higher education. The last 13 years have been specifically focused in career development at both public and private, faith-based universities. I have a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Temple University and am licensed by the state of Pennsylvania as a Professional Counselor. I am also certified by the National Career Development Association as a Global Career Development Facilitator. I grew up in the college town of Gainesville, FL and received my bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina. Though my career took me to Philadelphia, PA for most of my professional life, I am thrilled to be back in the south and call Nashville home.
What do you do in your role as Director of the Office of Career & Professional Development?
As director, I lead a team of 6 professional staff and four student assistants and provide the strategic direction of the office. Our three-part vision includes: focused engagement with students and graduates, strengthened partnerships and relationships with faculty and employers and utilizing technology to better serve our constituents.
How does your office serve Belmont’s students?
We operate in Career Clusters and each major has a dedicated career development specialist. Each specialist focuses outreach efforts, programming, and appointments with students interested in a specific industry while cultivating and maintaining employer relationships in those areas.
In what ways do (or can) faculty partner with your office?
Last fall 2500+ students were reached during classroom presentations. We welcome the opportunity to engage with your students and can provide a custom presentation on a variety of career-related topics. Our Belmont & Beyond series focuses on career management, financial literacy, and industry-specific networking opportunities for all students and we are always looking for partners. You can help us spread the word by including us in your syllabus. Does your inbox get flooded with internship and job opportunities from employers? Let us help you with employer relationship management. We will follow up with any employer contacts/opportunities you refer, keeping you in the loop throughout, and assist employers with posting in Handshake, our university recruiting platform. We also invite you to attend our annual Career Fair and networking events on campus to build relationships with employers.
What would you like faculty to know about the Office of Career and Professional Development?
We are cosponsoring a Teaching Center Luncheon on February 15th focused on Embedding Career Readiness in the Classroom. Join us for a lunch discussion to learn more about how employers rate our graduates—and how that differs from their self-perception. Engage in dialogue with faculty colleagues and discover strategies for developing students’ collaboration, communication, creativity, problem solving, professionalism, global fluency and leadership skills in the classroom. Panelists include: Jeremy Fyke, Communication Studies; Ryan Fox, Mathematics Education; Jeff Overby, International Business; Catherine Graham, Honors; Adrianne Archie, Student Affairs; Lori LeBleu and Chris Agans, Massey College of Business Career Development Center.
As leaders in career development, we aspire to make a difference in the lives of others by providing our community with meaningful connections in a global environment. We value our faculty colleagues and the important contribution you are making in the lives of our students and greater campus community.
January’s resource, “I Hate Group Work!”: Addressing Students’ Concerns About Small-Group Learning, is found in InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching. According to its website, the journal, published by the Faculty Center for Innovation at Park University, “emphasizes the enhancement of post-secondary education through the professional exchange of scholarly approaches and perspectives applicable to the enrichment of teaching and learning.” The article, written by Elizabeth G. Allan, identifies strategies that can mitigate student concerns about group work.
The purpose of the Resource of the Month is twofold:
1) To encourage the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) by providing examples of high-quality research.
2) To provide faculty with innovative ideas that promote effective pedagogy.
Assistant Professor, School of Occupational Therapy
B.S., Occupational Therapy, University of Kansas
M.A., Occupational Therapy, Texas Woman’s University
Ph.D., Occupational Therapy, Texas Woman’s University
Accepting a faculty position at Belmont University was a serendipitous moment in my life. Everything seemed to fall into place in a very short period of time. I applied in early April 2017, interviewed in May, and accepted the position and moved to Nashville two months later to start work August 1st. Needless to say, it was a whirlwind experience filled with emotion, however, never a day goes by that I regret making this career move!
As an occupational therapist, we value work-life balance, and this holds true at Belmont. The faculty in the School of Occupational Therapy have been so supportive and eased me into the system slowly, allowing me to get my bearings and finish my PhD. Co-teaching was a new experience for me, but I’ve decided I like and it gave me the opportunity to learn from others and observe different teaching approaches. The Teaching Center was also integral in my transition. Their new faculty educational seminars and lunch discussions offer current teaching strategies to implement immediately into the classroom and furthered my knowledge of the many pedagogical resources at Belmont.
As a whole, I am enjoying being faculty at Belmont and plan to take advantage of the many opportunities here—hopefully through more involvement in global health and inter-professional education.
The First Year Faculty Thoughts series is a way for the Belmont University community to get to know new faculty members as they reflect on their journeys to Belmont.
Reacting to the Past at Belmont: Pedagogy and Play
By James Al-Shamma
Presenters (left to right): Mitch McCoy, James Al-Shamma, Paul Gatrell, and Andy Miller; Not pictured: Beverly Schneller
On January 3, 2018, the Teaching Center hosted a workshop titled, “Reacting to the Past at Belmont: Pedagogy and Play.” Reacting to the Past (Reacting) is a role-playing pedagogy that places students at specific moments in history and asks them to debate the big ideas that influenced events at that time. It promotes deep learning through research, writing, speaking, and debate, in an environment that requires creative problem-solving, teamwork, and negotiation, all in the spirit of friendly competition. At this workshop, five Belmont faculty shared their experience with Reacting. The results of a survey administered to their students in Fall 2017 was presented as well. The panelists have used Reacting in diverse courses from across the Belmont curriculum: James Al-Shamma, Paul Gatrell, and Beverly Schneller in the First Year Seminar; Al-Shamma in a theatre history course; Mitch McCoy in an upper division Spanish course; and Andrew Miller in Honors Math Analytics and Mathematical Inquiry.
During the first hour of the workshop, following a brief explanation of Reacting, panelists shared their experience with the pedagogy, and the student survey results were presented. The panelists reported the practice to be a challenging and rewarding one, and all plan to continue incorporating it into their classes. The survey instrument was generously supplied by researchers at the University of Georgia. It addresses the learning environment promoted in the Reacting classroom, and its designers drew on social cohesion theory and the theory of relationship-driven teaching as they formulated their questions. At Belmont, 91 students participated in the survey, with a positive response across such categories as Reacting’s impact on learning and research, and on student behaviors and relation to faculty.
During the second hour of the workshop, attendees played the microgame, “Athens Besieged,” in order to experience Reacting firsthand. In this scenario, set in 405-404 BCE, members of the Athenian Assembly debate the best means of ensuring their survival as they face inevitable defeat at the hands of Sparta and its allies. Reacting allows for outcomes other than those dictated by history, and indeed the Spartan Kings at the workshop chose to utterly destroy Athens rather than spare its citizens and install the rule of the Thirty Tyrants, as actually occurred. A departure from the course of historical events, such as this, is not uncommon in Reacting; the pedagogy encourages students to conceive of history as not predetermined, as it may appear to be when read from a textbook, but rather as developing out of the complex interplay of numerous personalities, driven by various conflicting ideologies and motivations.
For more information on Reacting to the Past, click here and/or email James Al-Shamma.
Welcome back and happy 2018! So you can plan accordingly, you will find a list of upcoming Teaching Center events and opportunities below. As always, you will receive emails about individual events and deadlines.
Lunch Discussions
Friday, January 26 The Elephant in the Classroom: Addressing Sensitive Topics with Skill and Courage 12:00 – 1:30pm
Massey Boardroom
Tuesday, February 15 Embedding Career Readiness in the Classroom.
11:30am – 1:00pm
Massey Boardroom
Wednesday, February 7 Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching
12:00 – 1:00pm
Johnson Center 422
May 8/9 Teaching Center Workshop
TBD
Ayers 4th Floor
Reading Groups
February 6, 13, & 20 or February 9, 16, & 23 Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
Tuesdays at 8:00am or 3:30pm or Fridays at 10:00am or noon
Location TBD
Dates TBD Belmont Applied Teaching and Learning (BeATLe) Groups
Time TBD
Additional Deadlines and Events to Note
Tuesday, February 13 – 4:00pm Deadline to submit Teaching Center Travel Grant application
February 6 – 22 Teaching Center Formative Reviews
Wednesday, March 28 & Friday, April 13 – 10:00am Author Talk Series
Thursday, May 10 – 3:00 – 8:00pm Circle of Trust Retreat
This month’s resource, Using a Teaching Philosophy Statement as a Professional Development Tool for Teaching Candidates, is found in the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. According to its website, the journal, published by the Centers for Teaching & Technology at Georgia Southern University, “is an international forum for research and information about the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and its applications in higher/tertiary education.” The article, written by Nancy G. Caukin and Thomas M. Brinthaupt, analyzes teaching philosophy statements and how they can be used as a professional development tool for teacher candidates.
Dr. Brinthaupt led a workshop titled “Developing or Updating Your Teaching Philosophy Statement” at Belmont’s May 2017 Teaching Center Workshop series.
The purpose of the Resource of the Month is twofold:
1) To encourage the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) by providing examples of high-quality research.
2) To provide faculty with innovative ideas that promote effective pedagogy.
B.B.A., Business Management, Belmont College
B.S., Education, Belmont University
J.D., Nashville School of Law
It seems just like last week that I was running around the campus of Belmont College as a full-time student. Yes, we were a college until 1991. So much has changed since those years. Back then, the building I now teach in was where our baseball field and tennis courts were located. We had parking lots everywhere and no parking garages. And, Starbucks was not on campus, nor even in Nashville.
I have always been proud to be a graduate of both Belmont College and Belmont University (I graduated with a BBA in 1990 and an Education degree in 1991). Having taught as an adjunct here for many years, I have always been impressed with the serious approach Belmont students take to their education, while having fun in the process. Now that I am here as a professor, my love for the Belmont community is even stronger.
Being here with the students, faculty, and administrators every day, I see how truly blessed I am to work at a place for which I hold such fond memories as a student. Also, what a joy it is to come to work each day to a place where God is celebrated. The Belmont community is a special place – vibrant with beauty, faith for God, and a focused excitement to be the very best in all we do. It’s great to be back on campus once again full-time.
The First Year Faculty Thoughts series is a way for the Belmont University community to get to know new faculty members as they reflect on their journeys to Belmont.
Memories of the Lilly Teaching Conference
Shape My Career Development By Pete Giordano
Professor, Psychological Science
2017 Lilly Conference Attendees (left to right): Jessica Mueller, Nathan Webb, Jennifer Thomas, Lucyellen Dahlgren, Mike Pinter, Marnie Vanden Noven, Pete Giordano, Brad Schleben, and Julie Hunt; Not pictured: Barb Padovich
I never thought I would be a college professor. Early on, I was not even sure I would get my bachelor’s degree. Neither of my parents have a college degree, and one of my older brothers had flunked out of Wake Forest about the time I was starting high school. Dave threw the javelin at Wake and, by his own report, that’s all he did – throw the javelin and, well, party. He was my idol and “role model,” so his brief stint at Wake put some doubt in my mind about my own ability to succeed in college. So I was proud of myself (and relieved) when I earned my undergraduate degree. Then a few years later, I applied to PhD programs in clinical psychology and by some miracle of the universe got in. But I never thought I would be a professor. Then I started to teach as a third year grad student and slowly my career interests began to shift. Through another stroke of luck, I had a wonderful major professor who started to point me in the direction of university positions that valued teaching and mentoring undergraduates.
As I look back on my 28 years at Belmont, two things stand out about my career path. First, my departmental colleagues are the best, and I am lucky to have landed with this group. Second, and this is the focus of this blog post, it is memories of the Lilly Conference on College Teaching that have shaped my career as a teaching professor. I’ve lost count of how many times I have attended this conference (the one at Miami University in Oxford, OH), but it is a lot. Below are three reasons why this conference has been important in my development as a teacher.
First, it is one of the best conferences on the planet if you want to develop your teaching abilities. I’d be lying if I said all the sessions at Lilly are spectacular. Some of them are boring, and I’m sure I’ve presented some of those sessions. If you’ve not read Richard Light’s Making the Most of College (2001, Harvard University Press), you should. There are many important lessons in this book. Here’s one of them. Where do students say their most important learning experiences happen? Guess what? Not in our classrooms. Many important learning experiences occur when our students are talking to their peers – outside of our classrooms when you and I are nowhere to be found. The same principle applies to the Lilly conference. I have learned a great deal from the talks and workshops but, like the students interviewed for Light’s book, I have learned so much from Belmont colleagues in the van drive to and from the conference, in conversations during the meals, at the receptions prior to dinner, and during “after hours” events with Belmont friends. The memories of these moments are a deep reservoir of inspiration that continue to mold my development as a teacher.
My second point relates to the first. There are a lot of faculty on our campus whom you do not know. But, like you, they care deeply about teaching and want to get better at it. The Lilly conference is a marvelous venue to get to know them. These new connections happen every year. While at Lilly, you meet Belmont colleagues from across campus and you develop new friendships. And ideally these friendships get renewed each year at Lilly, as they did this year.
Finally, I have learned a tremendous amount about teaching by making presentations at Lilly. I was terrified the first time I presented in front of a Lilly group, but I quickly learned these folks are just like me – they care a lot about becoming better teachers, and we are all on the learning curve together. At Lilly, the line between presenter and audience is blurry. The Lilly conference does not have a lot of pomp and circumstance. It is a delightfully quirky collection of academics who love teaching and want to talk about it. As a later career faculty member, it is also exciting to see the creative and interesting teaching projects that some of Belmont’s younger faculty are doing – this group keeps my teaching heart young.
So that’s a thumbnail sketch of how memories from the Lilly conference have shaped and will continue to direct my career development. That’s what memories do – they connect our past and future in a way that drives development forward.
You can read more about Lilly Conferences here and about Belmont’s participation in the 2017 Lilly Conference on College Teaching here.
