Overview
CWRU is committed to fostering learning environments in which community members feel respected, valued, and empowered to engage in dialogic learning practices. In 2024, Provost Joy Ward launched the Enhancing Civility and Connection initiative. This effort began during a time of global unrest and deep concern, with a goal of encouraging open, thoughtful dialogue across campus. Today, this mission remains as critical as ever. Read Provost Ward's original letter to learn more about the origins and goals of this initiative.
The Civil Discourse Teaching Collaborative is a NEW educational development opportunity designed to facilitate the application of civil discourse skills developed by the Civil Discourse Advisory Group. These skills are at the heart of a range of university-wide efforts to promote respectful dialogue, deeper understanding, and a greater sense of connection within a community of scholars and learners.
Join a small, cross-campus cohort of colleagues who will spend 2027 learning and developing practical strategies for classroom discourse activities, applying activities in their own courses, and reflecting together on what works to activate and sustain student learning.
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Tell me more about the program!
What are the primary goals of this teaching collaborative?
- Learn (spring): six active learning educational development sessions with colleagues from other disciplines.
- Apply (fall): teach your redesigned course with UCITE support and collegial classroom visits.
- Reflect (throughout): monthly conversations where the cohort learns from each other's real classroom moments.
Participants will engage with topics including:
- Types of discourse
- Setting students up for success with discourse agreements and appropriate preparation
- Developing discourse-guiding questions that also allow for student agency
- Desirable difficulties; methods to facilitate productive discourse
- Facilitating hot and cold moments during discourse activities
The cross-campus cohort will have opportunities to learn with and from one another to apply discourse skills in CWRU courses.
Who is eligible to apply?
CWRU teachers who engage students in discourse-based learning activities (e.g., dialogue, discussion, or debate):
- tenure-track and non tenure-track faculty
- full-time adjunct faculty
- post doc communitiy members
- doctoral students serving as teaching assistants or instructors of record
- doctoral students planning to pursue a teaching position in higher education
If you have questions about your eligibility, contact UCITE.
When will Teaching Collaborative activities take place?
Civil Discourse Teaching Collaborative activities will take place over the course of the Spring and Fall 2027 semesters.
Spring 2027
The cohort will meet over six interactive lunch-time sessions (11:30 am - 12:20 pm):
- January 20
- February 3
- February 17
- (mid-semester pause)
- March 17
- March 31
- April 14
Successful participation in the Spring 2027 Teaching Collaborative requires a commitment to attend each of the sessions and actively engage with course readings, reflective journals, and program evaluations. Participants should allow approximatel four hours per week for readings and journal reflections.
Fall 2027
The cohort will meet five times in the Fall, based on participant academic schedule availability. Participants should be teaching and actively engaging students in civil discourse learning activities or, in the case of post docs or doctoral students who may not have assigned instructional roles, partnering with a CWRU teacher who is incorporating civil discourse in their course(s). Cohort members will reflect on their teaching practice and student engagement with discourse-based learning, and informal peer observations will aid in the exchange of teaching methods among participants.
Participants who successfully complete the Civil Discourse Teaching Collaborative will receive a $2,000 grant, disbursed equally in two stages -- at the end of the Spring sessions and at the end of the Fall cohort meetings, to be used for academic purposes. Funding is available through May 31, 2028.
What does the application involve?
To apply for the Civil Discourse Teaching Collaborative, please prepare a one-page cover letter and confirmation of your planned Fall 2027 teaching assignment OR confirmation of the teaching partner you plan to work with (post docs and doctoral students). Submit your materials through our online portal.
- In the one-page cover letter, briefly explain your reasons for applying. You might discuss personal teaching experiences and potential goals for your participation in the program. Include the Fall 2027 course you plan to redesign and how discourse activities are or will be used to deepen student learning. Finally, share what you hope to contribute to and gain from colleagues in this teaching and learning collaborative.
- Obtain confirmation of your teaching assignment from a department curriculum coordinator or your department chair (a simple email confirmation will work--convert your email to a pdf and upload with your cover letter). If you are a post doc or doctoral student partnering with a CWRU teacher, a similar email confirmation from that teacher will be adequate.
- Complete the Civil Discourse Teaching Collaborative Application form, upload your cover letter and teaching confirmation to the application, and submit!
Will you accept nominations of one colleague from another colleague?
Yes! If you would like to nominate a colleague who engages students in discourse-based learning, please contact UCITE with their name and the course they teach. Our office will reach out to the nominee for further inquiry, keeping the nominator anonymous.
May I use AI tools while preparing my application?
No, because we want to hear from you as to how this opportunity might lead to better student learning through discourse.
Who do I contact with questions?
Contact UCITE by phone -- 216.368.1224 -- or email -- ucite@case.edu. We're happy to respond to your questions and inquiries about this exciting new opportunity.