In-Person

This workshop invites faculty, instructors, and staff to explore how care can be intentionally designed into teaching and learning practices. Drawing on Nel Noddings’ ethics of care and relational pedagogy, reflect on how to create learning environments that support both students and instructors. Through dialogue and hands-on activities, participants will identify barriers, prototype equitable design interventions, and leave with practical tools to embed care as a foundation, not a response, in their pedagogy.

University educators are uniquely positioned to cultivate what Paulo Freire called “education in hope”, a critically aware, action-oriented understanding of our shared challenges. Yet, in times of uncertainty and crisis, sustaining hope can feel difficult. In this keynote, Dr. Kari Grain examines the concept of critical hope and how transformative pedagogies can inspire both educators and learners. Through creative teaching practices, explore how hope itself can be a form of resistance and renewal in higher education.

Kindness-informed pedagogies offer transformative ways to cultivate compassion, critical awareness, and connection in teaching and learning. This session introduces frameworks such as pedagogy of kindness, care, trauma-informed, resilience, embodied, and eco-pedagogies. Through guided reflection and practice, participants will consider how these approaches can foster relationality, deepen learning, and advance justice-based, compassionate education in contemporary classrooms.

This session examines how social class influences students’ access, time, and agency in learning. TAs will discuss strategies to address class-related challenges, respond supportively as issues arise, and foster greater class awareness through their teaching.

Balancing TA duties and grad school can be challenging. This session offers practical strategies to manage distractions, prioritize tasks, and build effective time management habits through guided reflection and collaborative activities.