Center for Teaching Excellence Online Community Focuses on Teaching

The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) has developed The Flourishing Academic, an online community and blog for faculty and teaching assistants (TAs) of all disciplines.

The site, which launched last August, explores the ways in which teacher-scholars can thrive in academia and features posts about teaching and learning by CTE staff, faculty guest bloggers and participants in the Graduate Student Certificate of University Teaching program.

“We created The Flourishing Academic with a twofold purpose,” said Rachel Luckenbill, CTE’s instructional consultant for TAs and the blog’s lead editor. “First, we wanted to increase community and conversation around university teaching and learning by creating a dynamic resource that encourages participation. Second, we wanted to showcase the fantastic teaching ideas and practices that exist within the Duquesne community.”

The Flourishing Academic also provides an online resource for educators to research new ideas, learn more about best practices and become part of a community that is focused on university teaching. Community members can discuss instruction and active learning, share tips for practicing balance and mindfulness as busy scholars, and much more.

CTE welcomes posts from campus faculty and TAs who are focused on teaching and learning, and are written for a broad audience. New blog entries are published every Monday at 11 a.m. and can be viewed at flourishingacademic.wordpress.com.

For more information on The Flourishing Academic and submitting articles for publication, contact Rachel Luckenbill at 412.396.5177.