Ninth Annual Provost’s Teaching & Learning Symposium
Cultivating Critical Hope: Nurturing Transformative Teaching
Location
University Center : 3rd Floor
Date & Time
September 19, 2025, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Description
Please join us for the ninth annual Provost’s Teaching and Learning Symposium! The symposium, part of the Hrabowski Innovation Fund initiative, will bring together UMBC faculty and staff to discuss transformative learning experiences. This year’s event will center around the theme Cultivating Critical Hope: Nurturing Transformative Teaching and Learning and feature breakfast with the Deans, a poster and teaching tool demonstration session, two rooms featuring demonstrations of reflective, healing, and transformative practices, lunch, and a keynote presentation.
Overview of the Symposium Schedule
This year’s keynote, described below, will be given by Dr. Kari Grain, author of Critical Hope: How to Grapple with Complexity, Lead with Purpose, and Cultivate Transformative Social Change and faculty in the University of British Columbia’s Department of Education Studies.
Keynote: Critical Hope as a Catalyst for Transformative Pedagogies
Higher education offers a context in which students can gain what Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, called “education in hope” – a forward-looking and action-oriented understanding of the complexities that affect oneself and one’s society. But just as hope can be a vital foundation for the construction of possible futures, its utopian ideals can sometimes alienate those experiencing despair or disappointment. With such duality in mind, this keynote examines the foundations of “critical hope” (Freire, 1994; Grain, 2022) and explores how it might be taken up through teaching and learning practices in higher education. Specifically, we explore experiential and transformative pedagogies that offer vibrant possibilities for educators and learners alike.
Graduate TAs are welcome to attend.
Overview of the Symposium Schedule
- 9:00-9:30 Breakfast with the Deans and Welcome [REGISTRATION REQUIRED, REGISTER HERE]
- 9:30-10:45: Poster and teaching tool demonstration session
- 10:15-11:30: Demonstrations of reflective, healing, and transformative practices
- 11:30-12:00: Lunch available and introductions [REGISTRATION REQUIRED, REGISTER HERE]
- 12:00-1:30: Dr. Kari Grain, keynote speaker √ § Ͼ
This year’s keynote, described below, will be given by Dr. Kari Grain, author of Critical Hope: How to Grapple with Complexity, Lead with Purpose, and Cultivate Transformative Social Change and faculty in the University of British Columbia’s Department of Education Studies.
Keynote: Critical Hope as a Catalyst for Transformative Pedagogies
Higher education offers a context in which students can gain what Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, called “education in hope” – a forward-looking and action-oriented understanding of the complexities that affect oneself and one’s society. But just as hope can be a vital foundation for the construction of possible futures, its utopian ideals can sometimes alienate those experiencing despair or disappointment. With such duality in mind, this keynote examines the foundations of “critical hope” (Freire, 1994; Grain, 2022) and explores how it might be taken up through teaching and learning practices in higher education. Specifically, we explore experiential and transformative pedagogies that offer vibrant possibilities for educators and learners alike.
Graduate TAs are welcome to attend.
Ͼ CIRTL graduate students are invited to attend
√ Counts toward the ALIT Certificate
§ Counts toward the INNOVATE Certificate
Please note that only the keynote presentation counts toward the ALIT or INNOVATE Certificate.§ Counts toward the INNOVATE Certificate
