Interdisciplinary Faculty Development Seminars: A Model for Learning Emerging Technologies While Developing Interdisciplinary Partnerships

Abstract

A series of faculty development seminars at Haverford College has been designed to address the issue of keeping science faculty teaching and research up-to-date, while building bridges between departments. To ensure coverage of emerging areas of science, we have elected to train existing faculty in new methods using a series of workshops for which faculty receive either teaching release time or stipends. The goals of these seminars include developing faculty expertise in important new topics and methodologies, stimulating the inclusion of these skills into their research and the curriculum, and broadening the scope of teaching and research collaborations. The initial three workshops have been targeted at areas of particular concern: boosting faculty expertise in scientific computing, bioinformatics, and issues surrounding the relationship of science and society. The seminar format has been designed to foster dialogue between different departments, as well as individual faculty, by including time for informal conversations and shared workshops, and by requiring collaborative curricular projects. The initial focus on the natural sciences has broadened into topics of interest to faculty in the social sciences and humanities.