Overview
What is the Colloquium?
The annual Bentley Learning and Teaching Colloquium is a one-day, internal conference where faculty reflect on the past year of teaching and grow professionally. It includes speakers from outside and inside Bentley, all presenting on topics relevant to university teaching, plus breakfast, lunch, and a reception after the colloquium.
Who can attend?
Any full- or part-time faculty at Bentley, plus any staff interested in teaching, are welcome to attend. There is no registration fee. The Bentley Learning and Teaching Council plans a program that should be of general interest to all university instructors.
When is it?
The colloquium happens between finals week and commencement each May, meaning that almost all faculty should still be in town and able to attend the event.
The 2025 colloquium was held on May 14 in the LaCava Campus Center.
Information about the 2026 colloquium will be posted on this page in Spring 2026.
2025 Colloquium Schedule
Abstracts and further details for each session appear at the end of this page.
Time | Content | ||
8:30am-9:00am | Breakfast in LaCava Campus Center Executive Dining Room | ||
9:00am-10:15am |
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10:30am-11:30am | Concurrent sessions on various topics, including:
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11:30am-12:15pm | Lunch in LaCava Campus Center Executive Dining Room with optional demonstration of educational VR tools | ||
12:15pm-1:15pm | Concurrent sessions on various topics, including:
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1:30pm-2:30pm |
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2:30pm-3:30pm | Closing reception in LaCava Campus Center Faculty-Staff Dining Room |
Abstracts for Colloquium sessions listed above
Belonging―in the classroom―is a critical dimension of success at college. Belonging differs based on students’ social identities, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or the conditions they encounter on campus. It can affect a student’s degree of academic adjustment, achievement, aspirations, and even whether a student stays in school. Dr. Strayhorn will discuss how belonging develops for students, and a conceptual model for helping students belong and thrive. They will introduce findings from their research and offer practical exercises that may aid faculty members in creating a space where belonging is interwoven into the classroom and faculty-student engagement.
How do we advance equity, remove systemic injustices, and improve the material conditions that may impede access for Bentley students? What’s the role of faculty members in promoting student belonging? Join David Stamps, Assistant Professor in Experience Design, and Dr. Terrell Strayhorn, Professor and Director of Research at Virginia Union University, and CEO of Do Good Work Consulting (https://dogoodworkllc.org/) for a fireside chat on how we can move the needle on student belonging and enrich the relationship between faculty and students. Bring your questions!
Have you ever wondered how your teaching strategies impact your students after they graduate? Join us for a special session where Bentley alumni return to share how their classroom experiences have shaped their personal and professional lives. Hear firsthand feedback on the teaching methods that made a lasting impression and learn how the lessons they learned in your classrooms continue to influence their careers today. We'll have a few questions to kick things off, but we also encourage you to bring your own questions to the discussion.
This session will feature presentations by recipients of the prestigious Adamian Award for Teaching Excellence and the Cronin Award for Excellence in Academic Advising and Mentoring. Join us in this opportunity to learn from the collective experiences of award-winning educators who are at the forefront of pedagogical excellence. The session will start off with an interactive exercise about teaching challenges. The panelists will share their strategies and insights on potential topics such as preventing academic integrity violations, navigating political divisiveness within classroom discussions, provide support through student crises, among other topics. Through dialogue and collaborative exploration, this session aims to equip participants with practical tools and innovative strategies to apply within their own teaching and mentorship endeavors.
If you have ever wanted a greater sense of community and support among your faculty peers, come help create one in this session. Based on feedback from a February 2025 survey, many Bentley faculty want new ways to connect to talk about issues such as how the political climate affects our teaching and other challenges. Andy Aylesworth and Wiley Davi will lead this participation-friendly ideation jam to help figure out what a new faculty peer to peer support system could look like at Bentley. Everyone’s voices – full time and part time – are welcome here.
Several Spring 2025 workshops showcased how Bentley faculty across departments have thoughtfully experimented with integrating AI into their coursework and assignments. This session includes two new examples, including one on research methods and one on prompt engineering in the context of international entrepreneurship. Faculty at all points on the AI adoption spectrum are welcome, from never-tried-it to seasoned veteran. Attendees will also receive a handout summarizing AI resources for Bentley faculty, including all video recordings of the Spring 2025 workshops on AI in the curriculum, plus online resources from the Library and ATC. Portions of this session will be interactive.
What happens when we engage with our students as collaborators in the learning process? In this session, faculty will explore how conceiving of students as colleagues (as opposed to customers) opens pathways for community-building, trust, and pedagogical innovation. We will consider strategies for understanding and overcoming classroom power dynamics to address shared challenges—tackling anything from wicked problems to skill-building and career development. Together, we will explore examples of how this practice can take shape. Come prepared to collectively brainstorm how we can better employ this approach in our teaching.
The Classroom Without Borders: The Practice and Spectrum of Experiential Learning in Higher Education explores how faculty across all disciplines can incorporate meaningful experiential learning into their teaching that maintains academic rigor and integrity without a complete redesign of their courses. Through interactive demonstrations and practical examples, faculty will be encouraged to discover accessible entry points to experiential learning that align with their teaching style and subject matter. We’ll explore a spectrum of approaches, from simple in-class activities to complex external partnerships. We’ll discuss how to implement strategies that enhance student engagement through an understanding of adult learning theoretical concepts. Join this interactive presentation to learn how you can transform your classroom, expand its boundaries, and prepare your students for addressing real-world challenges.