Tag: ISA

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Teaching Day at ISA 2027: Call for Proposals

Consider submitting your proposal to present at Teaching Day at International Studies Association (ISA) 2027, which will be offered in both virtual and in-person formats this year (Tuesday, March 2, virtual, and Saturday, March 20th, for in-person in Atlanta). This third Teaching Day will be a great opportunity to share your teaching practice and exchange ideas with colleagues at all career stages on this fundamental part of our jobs. You can propose to lead a session on a core teaching and learning topic or skill (such as grading and giving feedback, course design, assignment design, active learning, or creating community and trust) or on the teaching innovation of your choice, as part of the Faculty Showcase. I encourage anyone who considers themselves to be a scholarly educator to submit–this is going to be a lower cost, add-on event to ISA that will provide a space for educators of all levels, regions, and perspectives to share ideas on teaching and learning, and fill in the gaps in training that many early career instructors experience. We hope to get a really varied set of presenters to ensure a wide range of perspectives are represented.

Submissions are due July 1, and also mark your calendars so you can plan for your attendance at this signature event planned by the ISA Pedagogy Committee. Read the call for proposals at https://isanet.org/Portals/0/Media/Conferences/Atlanta2027/Teaching%20Day%202027%20CFP-Final.pdf.

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Nominate an Early Career Instructor!

The Education and Learning in International Affairs Section of the International Studies Association is looking to recognize excellent educators among our early career colleagues. The nominee must be a member of ISA and the ELIAS section at the time of the award.

ELIAS Early Career Instructor Excellence in Teaching Award

Presented annually, the ELIAS Early Career Instructor (ECI) Award recognizes a section member early in their career for their efforts to be an effective teacher, defined as someone who reflects on their instructional practice, strives to improve, and embraces evidence-based and student-centered teaching practices. The recipient will receive a $100 USD cash prize and a certificate presented at the ISA Annual Convention.

The ELIAS ECI Award considers the following criteria in selecting the winner: 

  • Knowledge and use of effective practices in teaching and learning, including active learning approaches.
  • Learner-centered approach to teaching and learning
  • Reflectiveness on existing and future teaching practice
  • Alignment between stated intentions and actions on learning and teaching
  • Evidence of innovation, sharing teaching practice, publishing findings, giving workshops or other forms of collaboration in a community of practice.

Section members can nominate or self-nominate to the committee. Nomination packets should include: cv of nominee and a 1-2 page statement outlining how the nominee meets the award criteria.

After reviewing nominations, the committee may request additional resources, such as: a syllabus for a class the nominee has taught; artifacts such as assignments or activities; teaching philosophy statement; teaching evaluation summaries for two recent semesters;  and/or a letter of observation from a recent class.

The nomination deadline is April 30th. Nominations can be sent to the committee, Spyridon Kotsovillis, at spyridon.kotsovilis AT utoronto.ca. The committee also includes Kara Hoover (University of Chicago) and Amy Below (California State University, East Bay). 

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2nd Annual Teaching Day at ISA

If you are attending the International Studies Association’s Annual Meeting in Columbus later this month, I encourage you to consider attending the 2nd Annual Teaching Day at ISA, a free conference-within-a-conference on Sunday, March 22nd. While the rest of ISA features a number of great panels and roundtables on the scholarship of teaching and learning, the Teaching Day consists of workshops, simulations, and demonstrations of teaching techniques and approaches. Participation was competitive and we have a great program for you.

Check out the Teaching Day at ISA Program!

Continue reading “2nd Annual Teaching Day at ISA”
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Pedagogy Today: ISA’s New Resource

This week, the International Studies Association launched ‘Pedagogy Today’, a web resource of articles on teaching in the field. Right now there are two articles, Levelling the Playing Field: Leveraging LEGO for Playful Learning and Pedagogical Principles of Care: An Introduction and Practical Guide. ISA is inviting those interested to submit their own articles.

This will also be a good place to track upcoming virtual events on teaching and learning offered by ISA. Find out more about this new resource at https://isanet.org/Resource-Library/Pedagogy-Today.

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Entry-Level Governance in the International Studies Association

This week I published a short essay in the ISA Newsletter on governance in the International Studies Association. In it, I explore a key independent variable that I hypothesize affects who serves in the entry-level leadership positions in sections, regions and caucuses: the process of electing chairs and the length of service required to serve in a chair role. I argue that a common practice of requiring potential chairs to serve first as program chairs–and conversely, for program chairs to immediately step into the top role–may preclude many qualified, interested members from serving in entry-level leadership. This essay was inspired by my own experience entering leadership in the International Education section, which merged two years ago with the Active Learning Section to form the Education and Learning in International Studies (ELIAS) section.

Find the full essay here: https://www.isanet.org/News/ID/6621/ISA-Section-Governance-Structures-Differences-in-Self-Governance-in-Sections-Caucuses-and-Regions

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Submit to the Teaching Day at ISA!

Tomorrow (15 May) is the last day to submit to the Teaching Day at ISA, an effort to have a no-added-cost mini-conference within a conference at ISA 2026 in Columbus. Our inaugural event focused on four great roundtables on various teaching topics; this year, we are shifting to an interactive teaching demo model, and are looking for micro lectures, activities, workshops, simulations/games, classroom discussions, and other formats for sharing effective teaching practices. The event is free to ISA attendees and will be held concurrent with the first day of ISA panels. This is a joint effort between the Pedagogy Conference Planning Committee, the Education and Learning Section, and the Teaching Centric Institutions Caucus. I’m chairing the planning committee, and I’m really excited to have this event to share, reflect on, and adapt what we are doing in our classrooms. See the CFP and submit your proposal here: https://www.isanet.org/ISA/Governance/Committees/Pedagogy-Conference-Committee/Teaching-Day

Additionally, since we know many people will not are able to attend ISA in person next spring, we are looking to put on some virtual events during the year as well. So please feel free to use the link to submit your proposal for a session as part of ISA’s virtual programming.

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Teaching Day at ISA 2026

If you are planning to attend ISA 2026 in Columbus, please consider submitting a proposal for the 2nd Teaching Day at ISA, a mini-conference on Sunday, March 22nd during the first day of ISA that is free to those registered for ISA. The first Teaching Day in 2025 consisted of four roundtable-style panels on course design, AI and assignments, active learning and engagement, and early career instructors. This year, we are making a few changes. First, we are having a Call for Proposals to invite a wider range of presenters. It can be found here: https://www.isanet.org/ISA/Governance/Committees/Pedagogy-Conference-Committee/Teaching-Day

Second, as you will see by reviewing the call, we are asking for teaching demonstrations, workshops, and interactive sessions. Show off your best 15-minute micro-lecture, an effective discussion, or classroom activity–or one that is in development and could use some feedback. Submit a workshop on a teaching skill or practice, or run a short game or simulation. Roundtables and paper presentations can be submitted to the Education and Learning (ELIAS) section or the Teaching Centric Institutions Caucus (TCIC), who co-sponsor the event alongside the Pedagogy Conference Planning Committee, but the Teaching Day is moving to an interactive model where each presenter will provide resources for others to replicate what they do in their classrooms. We hope the event will allow the teaching community to share their teaching practice with each other. The submission form also allows respondents to indicate interest in offering virtual events under the Teaching Day banner, so we can build up a repertoire that benefits all ISA members regardless of attendance at the annual meeting.

The deadline to submit is 15 May 2025. I’m currently chairing the Teaching Day Planning Committee, so leave a comment if you have questions, or contact us directly at TeachingDayatISA AT gmail.com