Peer Learning Community (PLC) Cohorts

On June 15th, the 68 peer facilitators listed below began 4 weeks of intensive, collaborative work to learn more about online education and to plan similarly intensive learning experiences for their colleagues. The 55 disciplinary-based and 8 interdisciplinary learning communities they have prepared are described below.

Interdisciplinary Cohorts

  • Interdisciplinary Cohort #1 (August 10th - August 21st)
    Lauren Miller

    Lauren Miller
    Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish

    		 Carmen Perez-Munoz

    Carmen Pérez-Muñoz
    Assistant Teaching Professor of Spanish

    Interdisciplinary cohort 1 will run from August 10-14 and 17-21, with one, one-hour Zoom meeting each day. Specific topics covered will be guided by member interests, but we hope to work on projects that are directly applicable to faculty members’ fall courses given our later dates. We are especially interested in mastering Canvas, creating online community, Zoom, and video creation.  We also hope that these dates will allow our community to stay in touch and support each other as classes begin and throughout online teaching.

  • Interdisciplinary Cohort #2 (August 10th - August 21st)
    Nikki Elston

    Nikki Elston
    Assistant Teaching Professor of Counseling

    This peer learning community will run the week of August 10-14 and August 17 -21, with one, one-hour meeting each day. Our interdisciplinary group will allow us to hear new ideas and activities from a variety of departments. In this group we will focus on how to build community online, talk about a variety of methods to facilitate online learning, do some hands-on course development in Canvas, and share our excitement, fears, doubts, and worries about this change in course delivery. And last, but not least, (just in case you weren’t sold on the first part) maybe you’ll meet some new colleagues and develop an interdisciplinary partnership that changes your world.

  • Interdisciplinary Cohort #3 (July 27th - August 7th)
    Stavroula Glezakos

    Stavroula Glezakos
    Associate Professor of Philosophy

    This peer learning community will meet M-F for an hour each day during the two weeks. During the first week, we will discuss articles about online teaching, review the 2020 Spring survey feedback from WFU students and faculty, and look at some examples of lectures and course materials.  During week two the focus will be on developing and getting feedback from other group members on our course materials.

    We will make use of tools like Zoom, Canvas, hypothesis, and Google Docs (and can introduce others if faculty would like to try them out or share them) so that we can practice and learn together.

    My aim is to give us all an opportunity to share successes, challenges, and ideas, and to support each other as we prepare to head into this unusual teaching year.

  • Interdisciplinary Cohort #4 (July 13th - August 14th)
    Wake Forest professor David Phillips poses for a photo on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. Phillips teaches East Asian Languages and is a director of the new Humanities Institute.

    David Phillips
    Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities

    Our interdisciplinary peer community will start with introductory sessions focusing on pedagogy approaches to online course design. We will transition to workshops focused on topics customized to the interdisciplinary and discipline-specific needs of our learning community, which currently includes faculty from the Documentary Film Program, Interdisciplinary Humanities, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.  Our last unit will explore two topic areas: first, the interplay between pedagogy and online technologies and platforms, and second, strategies for assessment including qualitative and quantitative assessment strategies.

    Learning community members will be constructing a shared knowledge base in Google Drive during our three-week session and sharing content they’ve posted to their Canvas course sites.  Our peer learning community sessions will be divided into three modules:

    • Module 1: Online Course Design and Pedagogical Strategies
    • Module 2. Online Opportunities and Resources in Interdisciplinary and Discipline-specific Course Design
    • Module 3. Practicum in Building Online curriculum, Applying Technology and Assessment
  • Interdisciplinary STEM Cohort (July 27th - July 31st; August 10th - August 14th)
    Lucy McGowan

    Lucy D’Agostino McGowan
    Assistant Professor of Statistics

    My learning community is STEM focused. My background is in biostatistics and the participants are all from the Biology and Chemistry departments. The first week will be “learning heavy” – we will spend 17 hours “learning / reading” and 3 hours in synchronous discussions about the content. The second week will be “design heavy” – we will spend 17 hours designing our courses based on what we have learned in the first week and 3 hours discussing the process / progress in synchronous discussions. 

  • Interdisciplinary ZSR Cohort (July 13th - August 14th)
    Amanda Kaufman

    Amanda Kaufman
    Learning & Instructional Services Librarian

    		 Summer Krstevska

    Summer Krstevska
    Research & Instruction Librarian

    This group is structured using a 5-week/8~ hours per week model and is especially suited for faculty who might find it difficult to commit to 40 hours over a 1-2 week period. The current cohort consists primarily of ZSR Librarians. We plan on having online catch-ups/work aheads for anyone that needs to miss a week for vacations.

    We plan on 2~ synchronous sessions per week for 1-1.5 hours. The rest will be asynchronous work and time for you to work on your own course. Topics covered will include: differences between online and face to face and strategies to make the transition; strategies for student engagement; building community; backwards design and assessment; choosing technology; trauma informed pedagogy; Universal Design for Learning and other strategies for equity, accessibility, and inclusion; and 1 on 1 workshopping with cohort leaders

    We are going to run July 13th-August 14th. Synchronous sessions are being held on:

    • Monday, July 13th, 3:00-4:30
    • Thursday, July 16th, 3:00-4:30
    • Monday, July 20th, 3:00-4:30
    • Wednesday, July 22nd: 9:30-11:00
    • Monday, July 27th: 3:00-4:30
    • Thursday, July 30th: 3:00-4:30
    • Monday, August 3rd; 3:00-4:30
    • Wednesday, July 5th: 9:30-11:00
    • Monday, August 10th: 3:00-4:30
    • Thursday, August 13th: 3:00-4:30
  • Antiracist Teaching Across the Disciplines in an Online Setting (July 13th - 31st)
    Ben Keating

    Ben Keating
    Assistant Teaching Professor of Writing

    		 Wake Forest associate dean and professor of English Erica Still poses in her office in Reynolda Hall on Wednesday, October 30, 2019.

    Erica Still
    Associate Dean for Faculty Recruitment, Diversity, and Inclusion;
    Associate Professor of English

    In this collaborative learning community, we begin with a grounding in antiracist pedagogy in order to take a critical approach to teaching. We proceed from the notion that just as ideologies and biases around social identity inform in-person classes, they operate in online teaching and learning spaces as well. It is our job to locate, analyze, and resist such exclusionary and discriminatory assumptions and practices, and antiracist teaching is a way to do that work. We conceive of antiracist teaching as a process that demands ongoing adjustment based on local and disciplinary contexts. We invite you to join us as we design online/blended curricula that accounts for such dynamics around privilege and racism in higher education. In the first week we’ll consider definitions of antiracist pedagogy and its role in various disciplinary spaces. The second week we’ll consider the intersections between antiracist pedagogies and best practices in online teaching, and we’ll finish with a third week focused on community-building from an equity-minded perspective.

    We will spend 10 hours in synchronous sessions over the three weeks: 3 in the first week (July 13-17), 4 in the second week (July 20-24), and 3 in the last week (July 27-31). The specific meeting times will be determined based on participant availability.

  • Intersectional Online Pedagogy (July 20th - August 7th)
    Kristina Gupta

    Kristina Gupta
    Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

    This interdisciplinary peer-to-peer learning community will offer two components: 1) an introduction to the nuts and bolts of online teaching for members who need it; 2) a critical examination from an intersectional perspective of issues of equity and justice in regards to online teaching, with a focus on the context of COVID-19, the economic recession, and nationwide protests against police violence. Topics to be covered in the first component include: best practices for online teaching, choosing the right technology, and student engagement and community building in online teaching. Topics to be covered in the second component include: accessibility, gender and sexuality online, racial justice in online teaching, and taking care of ourselves and our students during COVID-19. All interested in social justice and online teaching are welcome.

Disciplinary Cohorts

  • Business Cohorts
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Wednesday, August 14, 2019. Phil Anderson.

    Cohort: Business #1
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Phil Anderson, Associate Teaching Professor of Business
    Wake Forest business professor Scott Shafer is director of the new Master of Arts program at the Babcock Graduate School of Management.

    Cohort: Business #2
    Dates:     July 13th – July 27th
    Facilitator:     Scott Shafer, Professor of Business
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Wednesday, August 14, 2019. Stephan Shipe.

    Cohort: Business #3
    Dates:     August 3rd – August 14th
    Facilitator:     Stephan Shipe, Teaching Professor of Business
    New faculty headshots during orientation, Wednesday, August 14, 2013. John Sumanth, Business.

    Cohort: Business #4
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     John Sumanth, Associate Professor of Business
    New Wake Forest faculty members pose for headshots on their first day of their orientation, in the Byrum Welcome Center on Wednesday, August 15, 2018. Brian Young.

    Cohort: Business #5
    Dates:     August 10th – August 21st
    Facilitator:     Brian Young, Associate Teaching Professor of Business
  • Creative and Performing Arts Cohorts
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Wednesday, August 14, 2019. David Geary.

    Cohort: Music #1
    Dates:     July 13th – July 24th
    Facilitator:     David Geary, Assistant Professor of Music
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Wednesday, August 14, 2019. Marco Sartor.

    Cohort: Music #2
    Dates:     July 13th – July 24th
    Facilitator:     Marco Sartor, Assistant Teaching Professor of Music
    Wake Forest professor of art Jennifer Gentry.

    Cohort: Studio Art
    Dates:     TBD
    Facilitator:     Jennifer Gentry, Associate Teaching Professor of Art
    Wake Forest Theatre Department headshot, Friday, September 4, 2015. Leah Roy.

    Cohort: Theater and Dance #1
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Leah Roy, Teaching Professor of Theater and Dance
    New Wake Forest faculty members pose for headshots on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. Kevin Frazier.

    Cohort: Theater and Dance #2
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Kevin Frazier, Assistant Professor of Theater and Dance
  • Divinity Cohorts
    Wake Forest School of Divinity professor Derek Hicks, Wednesday, July 11, 2018.

    Cohort: Divinity #1
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Derek Hicks, Associate Professor of Religion and Culture
    Kat Shaner

    Cohort: Divinity #2
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Katherine Shaner, Associate Professor of New Testament
  • Humanities Cohorts
    Wake Forest art students work on a detailed architectural analysis of Wait Chapel for their World Architecture class, led by professor Nikki Moore, on Hearn Plaza on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

    Cohort: Art History
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Nikki Moore, Teacher-Scholar Postdoctoral Fellow, Art History
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Thursday, August 14, 2014. Stephanie Koscak.

    Cohort: History #1
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Stephanie Koscak, Assistant Professor of History
    New faculty headshots during orientation, Wednesday, August 14, 2013. Mir Yarfitz, History.

    Cohort: History #2
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Mir Yarfitz, Associate Professor of History
    New Wake Forest faculty members pose for headshots during their orientation on Wednesday, August 8, 2012. Adam Kadlac, Philosophy.

    Cohort: Philosophy
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Adam Kadlac, Associate Teaching Professor of Philosophy
    New Wake Forest faculty members pose for headshots on their first day of their orientation, in the Byrum Welcome Center on Wednesday, August 15, 2018. Leann Pace.

    Cohort: Study of Religions
    Dates:     July 20th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Leann Pace, Assistant Teaching Professor of Religion
  • Languages and Literature Cohorts
    Wake Forest classics professor T.H.M. Gellar-Goad, Monday, May 7, 2018.

    Cohort: Classics ,EALC, & MESAS
    Dates:    July 20th – July 31st
    Co-Facilitator:     T.H.M. Gellar-Goad, Associate Professor of Classical Languages
    Co-Facilitator: Lu Lu, Assistant Teaching Professor of East Asian Languages & Cultures

     

    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Wednesday, August 14, 2019. Lu Lu.
    Meredith Farmer

    Cohort: English #1
    Dates:     July 27th – August 21st
    Facilitator:     Meredith Farmer, Assistant Teaching Professor of English
    Wake Forest English department headshots, Tuesday, September 28, 2010. Omaar Hena.

    Cohort: English #2
    Dates:     July 27th – August 21st
    Facilitator:     Omaar Hena, Associate Professor of English

    Cohort: French Studies
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Veronique McNelly, Associate Professor of the Practice of French Studies
    Wake Forest faculty and staff headshots, Tuesday, August 1, 2017. Mary Knight, German and Russian.

    Cohort: German
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Molly Knight, Assistant Teaching Professor of German

    Cohort: Spanish & Italian #1
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Claudia Valdez, Assistant Teaching Professor of Spanish
    New Wake Forest faculty members pose for headshots on their first day of their orientation, in the Byrum Welcome Center on Wednesday, August 15, 2018. John Welsh.

    Cohort: Spanish & Italian #2
    Dates:     August 3rd – August 14th
    Facilitator:     John Welsh, Assistant Teaching Professor of Italian
    Wake Forest English professor Erin Branch, Thursday, August 11, 2011.

    Cohort: Writing #1
    Dates:     July 13th – July 17th; July 27th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Erin Branch, Associate Teaching Professor of Writing
    New Wake Forest faculty members pose for headshots on their first day of their orientation, in the Byrum Welcome Center on Wednesday, August 15, 2018. Keri Mathis.

    Cohort: Writing #2
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Keri Mathis, Assistant Teaching Professor of Writing
  • Law Cohorts
    Wake Forest faculty and staff headshots, Tuesday, August 6, 2019. Lance Burke, Law.

    Cohort: Law #1
    Dates:     Variable Dates
    Facilitator:     Lance Burke, Law Librarian
    Chris Knott

    Cohort: Law #2
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Christopher Knott, Professor of Law
    John Korzen

    Cohort: Law #3
    Dates:     July 20th – July 24th; August 3rd – August 7th
    Facilitator:     John Korzen, Associate Professor of Law
    Wake Forest University School of Law professor Tanya Marsh in the Worrell Professional Center on Friday, August 13, 2010.

    Cohort: Law #4
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Tanya Marsh, Professor of Law
    Ron Wright

    Cohort: Law #5
    Dates:     July 13th – July 24th
    Facilitator:     Ron Wright, Professor of Law
  • Social Science Cohorts
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Thursday, August 13, 2015. Andrew Gurstelle.

    Cohort: Anthropology
    Dates:     July 13th – July 17th; July 27th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Andrew Gurstelle, Assistant Teaching Professor of Anthropology
    Marina K

    Cohort: Communication #1
    Dates:     July 27th – July 31st; August 10th – 14th 
    Facilitator:     Marina Krcmar, Professor of Communication
    Wake Forest communication professor Ananda Mitra poses in Carswell Hall on Thursday, June 27, 2013.

    Cohort: Communication #2
    Dates:     July 13th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Ananda Mitra, Professor of Communication
    Wake Forest headshots Tuesday, August 5, 2014. Counseling professor Seth Hayden.

    Cohort: Counseling
    Dates:     July 13th – July 24th
    Facilitator:     Seth Hayden, Assistant Professor of Counseling
    Wake Forest economics professor Amanda Griffith poses for a studio portrait on Monday, December 1, 2014.

    Cohort: Economics #1
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Amanda Griffith, Associate Professor of Economics
    Wake Forest economics professor Megan Regan talks about her research into the economics of natural disasters, in a classroom in Kirby Hall on Thursday, December 13, 2018.

    Cohort: Economics #2
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Megan Regan, Visiting Associate Professor of Economics
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Wednesday, August 14, 2019. Debbie French.

    Cohort: Education
    Dates:     July 13th – July 17th; August 3rd – August 7th 
    Co-Facilitator:     Debbie French, Assistant Professor of Education
    Co-Facilitator: Ali Sakkal, Associate Teaching Professor of Education

     

    New faculty headshots during orientation, Wednesday, August 14, 2013. Ali Sakkal, Education.
    Mike Fisher

    Cohort: Military Science
    Dates:     August 3rd – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Captain Mike Fisher
    Wake Forest students and staff members in the Wake the Vote class pose for headshots on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. Professor Melissa Harris-Perry.

    Cohort: Politics #1
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Melissa Harris-Perry, Professor of Politics & International Affairs
    Wake Forest staff headshots, Tuesday, September 8, 2015. Sarah Lischer, Politics.

    Cohort: Politics #2
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Sarah Lischer, Associate Professor of Politics & International Affairs
    Wake Forest faculty and staff headshots, Tuesday, December 5, 2017. Melissa Masicampo, Psychology.

    Cohort: Psychology #1
    Dates:     August 3rd – August 14th
    Facilitator:     Melissa Masicampo, Assistant Teaching Professor of Psychology
    Jerid Francom

    Cohort: Psychology #2
    Dates:     July 27th – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Jerid Francom, Associate Professor of Spanish & Linguistics
    A portrait of Wake Forest sociology professor David Yamane in his office in Kirby Hall on Friday, January 13, 2017.

    Cohort: Sociology
    Dates:     July 13th – July 24th
    Facilitator:     David Yamane, Professor of Sociology
  • STEM Cohorts
    Pat Lord

    Cohort: Biology
    Dates:     July 20th – July 24th; August 3rd – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Pat Lord, Teaching Professor of Biology
    Lindsay Comstock

    Cohort: Chemistry
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Lindsay Comstock, Associate Professor of Chemistry
    Wake Forest computer science professor Daniel Canas (in yellow) talks with seniors Michael Crouse (in blue) and Tom Laughran (in striped shirt) and sophomore V.J. Cerniglia (in white) in a computer lab in Manchester Hall on Thursday, May 6, 2010. The four are working on their new iPhone and iPad application that tracks the Wake Line shuttle bus in real time using GPS technology.

    Cohort: Computer Science
    Dates:     July 13th – July 24th
    Facilitator:     Daniel Canas, Associate Professor of Computer Science
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots, Wednesday, August 14, 2019. Melissa Kenny.

    Cohort: Engineering
    Dates:     August 11th – August 14th; August 17th – 21st
    Facilitator:     Melissa Kenny, Assistant Teaching Professor of Engineering
    New Wake Forest faculty members pose for headshots on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. Abbie Wrights.

    Cohort: Health & Exercise Science #1
    Dates:     July 13th – July 17th; August 10th – August 14th
    Facilitator:     Abbie Wrights, Assistant Professor of Health & Exercise Science
    Wake Forest professor of Health and Exercise Science Gary Miller, Friday, April 6, 2018.

    Cohort: Health & Exercise Science #2
    Dates:     July 13th – July 17th; August 10th – August 14th
    Facilitator:     Gary Miller, Professor of Health & Exercise Science
    Wake Forest Department of Mathematics headshots, Thursday, February 24, 2011. Sarah Mason.

    Cohort: Mathematics #1
    Dates:     July 20th – July 31st
    Facilitator:     Sarah Mason, Associate Professor of Mathematics
    Wake Forest Department of Mathematics headshots, Thursday, February 24, 2011. Jason Parsley.

    Cohort: Mathematics #2
    Dates:     August 3rd – August 14th
    Facilitator:     Jason Parsley, Associate Professor of Mathematics
    Wake Forest faculty and staff headshots, Tuesday, August 1, 2017. Jack Dostal, Physics.

    Cohort: Physics #1
    Dates:     July 13th – July 24th
    Facilitator:     Jack Dostal, Associate Teaching Professor of Physics
    Wake Forest physics professor Jed Macosko poses in his Olin Hall lab on Monday, July 15, 2019.

    Cohort: Physics #2
    Dates:     August 10th – August 21st
    Facilitator:     Jed Macosko, Professor of Physics
    Wake Forest new faculty headshots at orientation, Wednesday, August 16, 2017. Nicole Dalzell.

    Cohort: Statistics
    Dates:     July 20th – July 24th; August 3rd – August 7th
    Facilitator:     Nicole Dalzell, Assistant Teaching Professor of Statistics
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