When attending an academic conference, you probably expect to  meet and network with colleagues from your own discipline who share similar research interests–and to receive helpful feedback on your dissertation or other research projects.  As we’ve said before, presenting at these conferences is absolutely essential to preparing for a career in academia.  You might also consider, however, attending another type of conference as well: one devoted to research on teaching and learning.  These conferences give you the chance think about teaching strategies and develop your own teaching philosophy, and to get involved with some of the scholarship happening right now on pedagogy.  If teaching is your passion, you may find kindred spirits here.

While some teaching and learning conferences invite papers about a range of higher education issues, others are discipline-specific (like the American Political Science Association Teaching and Learning Conference and the Consortium for Computing Sciences in College conferences) or devoted to more specific themes (such as multiculturalism or using technology effectively in the classroom–AACE and EDUCAUSE are the major organizations for the latter).  The following websites maintain lists of upcoming conferences and deadlines that might help you find the right one:

• Conferencealerts.com
• Elon University’s Center for Advancement of Teaching and Learning
• Illinois State Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Keenesaw State University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
• Theconferencecalender.com
• University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Teaching and Learning

 

Financial support for attendance:

Traveling to conferences is expensive–and there is typically a registration fee as well– but funding help is often available.  For example, be sure to check conferences’ own websites for information about funding, and try the following CUNY resources:

• The PSC/CUNY Adjunct Professional Development Fund offers grants of up to $3,000 per year to adjunct faculty who teach six or more classroom contact hours during the semester in which the application is submitted (further guidelines here).  The grants can be used for a variety of professional development activities, including programs or conferences that will improve your courses.  Applications for the grant must be submitted by the first of the month prior to the month when the activity is set to begin.

• The Office of Student Affairs also offers conference presentation support of up to $300 to students who will present papers at academic conferences.

–Flannery Amdahl