The special issue, “AI and the Final-Year Research Experience: Transatlantic Perspectives,” is a collaboration between �鶹��Ƶ and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, where Reinvention is based. Zach Conklin ’28, Alyssa Collins ’27 and Chris Guider ’28 serve on the student-led editorial board alongside student editors from Warwick.

The project grew out of Tom Ritchie’s year at �鶹��Ƶ as a 2025-26 US-UK Fulbright Commission Visiting Scholar. Ritchie, reader and director of student experience in the Department of Chemistry at Warwick, focused on AI and belonging in course curriculum design during his time at �鶹��Ƶ, where he taught Conklin and Collins in his course ‘The AI Revolution’.

“So many of my conversations with �鶹��Ƶ students kept coming back to the same question: what does doing your own research look like now that generative AI is part of every stage of it?” Ritchie said. “Students are working this out as they go, often ahead of the guidance written for them. Their experience deserves to be in the literature in their own words, and it means a great deal that �鶹��Ƶ students are the ones shaping that conversation.”

The call for papers is open to current undergraduates and recent graduates from any discipline and any institution. Submissions may include research articles, critical reflections and book reviews on topics such as using AI to frame research questions or analyze data, how AI has changed conversations with faculty mentors, academic integrity and disclosure, access and equity, and the decision not to use AI. Reinvention is fully open access, and there is no fee to submit.

The issue will be published alongside a companion special issue of Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (PURM) exploring the same questions from the faculty and staff perspective. That issue is co-edited by Ritchie; Brandon Sheridan, associate professor of economics and Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Pedagogy Fellow at �鶹��Ƶ; and Yanyan Li, early-career fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study at Warwick.

“Putting the two issues side by side gives us something unusual,” Ritchie said. “We’ll hear from students and mentors on both sides of the Atlantic about the same moment in undergraduate research, and see where those experiences line up and where they don’t.”

Submissions are due Jan. 6, 2027, and the issue is scheduled for publication in summer 2027.

Full details are available on the .

“It’s just common humanity that we’re all going to struggle with well-being across our lifetime,” Iselin said. “It’s allowing that shared experience of struggle and being able to bounce back, reconnect and reorient.”

This perspective has shaped Iselin’s approach to teaching and caring for the whole student. Now, as the Faculty Fellow for Wellness and Well-Being, she is exploring how faculty can integrate well-being into their teaching while also caring for themselves.

Putting the person first

Growing up, Iselin spent time with peers whom others viewed as the “wrong crowd.” However, she saw them first as people and became interested in working with adolescents facing challenges. That interest became her entry into mental health, eventually leading her to work with youth who were in trouble with the law, including beginning as a live-in manager of a group home.

These experiences shaped Iselin’s life philosophy, which still guides her today: putting the person first.

“Trying to understand that person holistically before focusing on perhaps something that’s not going so well,” Iselin said. “The student before the concern. The student before the missed assignment. The adolescent before the criminal behavior.”

The commitment to understanding the whole person continued throughout Iselin’s academic journey. She studied psychology, social welfare and criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before completing her Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and postdoctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her career later took her to Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington before a family move to the Triangle and time away from full-time academia brought �鶹��Ƶ onto her radar.

“�鶹��Ƶ felt like a unicorn,” Iselin said. “It was this perfect way of integrating everything that I love, from my research questions to how I live my life and the ways that I care for students in the classroom.”

Iselin joined �鶹��Ƶ as a full-time faculty member the semester before the COVID-19 pandemic and began integrating wellness practices, such as deep breathing and values affirmation exercises, into her classroom. Once the pandemic began, she became even more intentional about incorporating wellness practices, drawing on her clinical psychology background.

“I realized I could bring my clinical self into the classroom,” Iselin said. “Not as a clinician, but as little healthy strategies that people can pull into their lives. Part of effective teaching at �鶹��Ƶ is caring for the whole student.”

This realization led Iselin to implement what she calls “well-being rituals” into each class, giving students a few moments to reflect, reset or reconnect with themselves.

For Iselin’s students, these small practices have made a meaningful difference in the classroom. Anna Grace Gilbert ’27, who took a class with Iselin and now serves as her teaching and learning assistant, has experienced that approach firsthand. She believes Iselin’s care extends beyond the “well-being rituals” and is an important part of how Iselin supports her students.

“At our very first meeting, I made name tags for everyone in the class. After I finished writing their names, she wrote a personalized note of encouragement on the back of each one,” Gilbert said. “I think that just demonstrates how much Anne-Marie cares about her students before she even meets them.”

Iselin’s commitment to integrating wellness practices into the classroom and caring for the whole student ultimately drew her to the Faculty Fellow for Wellness and Well-Being role, allowing her to expand that work beyond her own classroom.

Wellness as part of effective teaching

Central to Iselin’s work as the Faculty Fellow for Wellness and Well-Being is exploring what she calls the “mutuality” of pedagogical wellness, where supporting student and faculty well-being can work together.

“Anne-Marie brings a thoughtful combination of expertise, care and collaboration to this role,” said Marna Winter, associate director for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning, and Teaching Professor of Education at the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education. “She understands wellness not as an additional task faculty must take on, but as something that can be meaningfully integrated into pedagogy and course design.”

Jill McSweeney, assistant director of CATL, explained how that integration can create an environment where students can learn effectively.

“When a classroom is attentive to how students are doing physically, mentally and socially, it becomes a space that invites them to show up fully and take the risks that deep and meaningful learning requires,” McSweeney said.

Gilbert has experienced the connection between well-being and effectiveness in her role as Iselin’s Teaching and Learning Assistant (TLA).

“In the beginning, she set very clear expectations and made sure that I continued to put my well-being first,” Gilbert said. “She has been an incredible support system for me this semester. This has allowed me to be fully present as her TLA and do my job effectively.”

Iselin also emphasizes that supporting student well-being requires clarity about the faculty role, understanding meaningful ways faculty can support students, and recognizing when to connect students with other university resources.

“With students, I can empathize. I can affirm. I can support. I can reach out,” Iselin said. “But I don’t have to be a counselor. That’s not my role. That’s not my scope of practice.”

Rather than seeing role clarity as separate from care, Iselin views it as part of creating healthy and sustainable relationships with students. Being transparent about what faculty can offer and connecting students with others when different expertise is needed allows faculty to remain caring and responsive without assuming responsibilities that belong to mental health professionals.

Iselin is bringing these approaches to faculty and staff through the Kindness Pedagogy Community of Practice, workshops and one-on-one consultations.

Looking ahead, Iselin hopes that creating multiple entry points through the Kindness Pedagogy Community of Practice, workshops and one-on-one consultations with faculty and staff will help strengthen the culture of well-being at �鶹��Ƶ, where pedagogical wellness is recognized as part of effective teaching and learning.

“If faculty want to build their teaching effectiveness, this is another pathway for them to do so,” Iselin said. “To learn how to conceptualize it, implement it effectively and recognize the positive impact that it might have.”

The workshop marked the official start of the program’s first cohort year and brought together 21 departmental teams and 88 individual faculty to begin the work they will carry through the 2026-27 academic year. FIELDS is co-supported by CATL, the AI Hub, the Love School of Business and the Office of the Provost, and offers an exciting opportunity of various departments and centers across the campus to create a space for deep engagement around teaching and learning in the context of AI.

“The FIELDS initiative has provided me and the department with the opportunity to consider our values as teacher-scholar-mentors in the context of new AI products,” said Emma Mossewilde, assistant professor of history. “More than anything, the dedicated time and support from CATL to pay attention to this issue has highlighted the importance of the humanities and the humans who practice them at �鶹��Ƶ.”

Each participating department formed a team of three to five faculty members, with one member serving as the department’s FIELDS fellow for the project. Those fellows spent the summer working through preparatory readings and reflections before stepping into their leadership role this fall, and will act as a project guide, meeting monthly with CATL and other fellows while also supporting their team’s progress.

This initiative responds to a moment CATL describes as an inflection point for higher education, as AI reshapes how students learn and how knowledge is produced both inside and outside the classroom. The idea for FIELDS grew out of departmental listening sessions CATL co-facilitated last spring and fall with partners from Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT), along with this spring’s AI Journal Club community of practice, both of which surfaced a shared desire among faculty for structured, evidence-based conversations with their own departmental colleagues.

Rather than pushing every department toward the same response to AI, FIELDS is designed to let teams define their own path. Some departments may focus on redesigning assessments and classroom activities to highlight learning that happens without technological support, while others build AI literacy into their curriculum, helping students think critically about where AI-assisted work fits, and where it falls short, within their discipline.

Brandon Sheridan, associate professor of economics and CATL Pedagogy Fellow, is leading the initiative and will facilitate monthly cohort meetings with the FIELDS Departmental Fellows throughout the year. Beyond the August kick-off, participating teams will reconvene in May 2027 for a showcase to share what they have learned, tested, and built within their departments.

“In conversations with faculty, it became clear to me that we were all thinking deeply about how AI interacts with learning, but those efforts were disconnected, leaving people feeling like they were on an island,” Sheridan said. “FIELDS was a response to give people a shared space, structure, and time to design strategies that are resilient to the evolution of AI.”

As the first FIELDS cohort begins its year of collaborative work, CATL hopes the initiative will grow into a lasting campus community, one where curriculum and classroom experiments feed into broader, department-wide approaches to teaching and learning in an AI-influenced world.

“It is clear that AI is here to stay and will necessitate ongoing learning and adaption from faculty, to ensure we are properly supporting the learning experience of our students. My hope is that this can become an ongoing initiative,” said Sheridan.

Questions and updates about FIELDS can be sent to Sheridan (bsheridan4@elon.edu) or visit CATL’s website for updates.

Marna Winter, teaching professor of education and associate director of �鶹��Ƶ’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL), will present two projects exploring student reflection, joy and engagement at the (SoTL) Summit, held virtually Sept. 16-18.

The conference brings together educators from colleges and universities across the United States and internationally to share SoTL research and approaches to teaching. Since its beginning in 1993, the summit has developed into a space for both experienced and emerging teacher-scholars to exchange research across disciplines and explore new approaches to student learning.
In “When Students Wonder, Instructors Learn: Building a Metacognitive Feedback Loop,” Winter will present alongside  professor of psychology and director of SoTL at the United States Air Force Academy.

Their work grew from the “I Wonder” project, an activity originally used by Winter at the end of a semester to encourage students to reflect on lingering questions about their learning. Winter found that those reflections could also reveal misconceptions, gaps in understanding and areas of curiosity that could inform teaching. After presenting initial work at the 2025 SoTL Summit, Winter connected with Scharff, leading to a contribution to the  blog and ongoing collaboration. At the summit, Winter and Scharff will share new findings and introduce a metacognitive instructional cycle for using student reflection to inform pedagogical decisions.

Winter’s second presentation, “From Play to Pedagogy: Reflective Inquiry into Joy and Student Engagement,” explores how brief, intentional “mini play sessions” at the beginning of class can help students pause, connect and transition into learning. Drawing on student reflections and survey data, Winter’s ongoing SoTL inquiry considers how small moments of play can foster curiosity, focus and engagement, positioning joy not as an addition to learning but as part of creating the conditions for meaningful learning.

Together, Winter’s two presentations reflect a broader focus on her active scholarship on creating learning environments that are responsive to students and attentive to how they experience the classroom.

For Winter, presenting at the SoTL Summit offers an opportunity not only to share what she has learned through her own teaching, but also to continue developing that work through conversation with educators examining similar questions about student learning and engagement.

This August, �鶹��Ƶ hosted university and college educators from across the region and around the world for the 22nd Annual Teaching and Learning Conference. A free, hybrid event sponsored jointly by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (�䴡�ճ�),��Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT), and the Office of the Provost.

Nearly 70 educators attended the conference on �鶹��Ƶ’s campus, including faculty from Queens University of Charlotte, providing an opportunity for educators to connect and exchange ideas. Hundreds more participated virtually from institutions across the country and beyond.

Rather than simply streaming the in-person conference, the fully hybrid format offered distinct programming for virtual and on-campus participants throughout the day. The two groups came together virtually for the conference’s keynote, while other sessions were designed specifically for each mode of participation.

This year’s conference, themed “Teaching for Tomorrow: Building Transferable Skills and Lifelong Learners,” encouraged attendees to reflect on how today’s teaching practices shape students’ abilities to adapt, think critically and thrive in the future. Presentation submissions addressed one of four related sub-themes: Technology and the Future of Learning, Foundations for the Future, Building Transferable Skills for Tomorrow, and Teaching Innovations.

�ճ����keynote address was given by director for curriculum transformation initiatives at , titled “Boldness by Design: Reimagining our University from the Classroom Out.” McGowan shared how universities might move from preserving tradition to designing new models, structures, and pathways toward the learning outcomes they seek for students, drawing on her experience leading institution-wide educational transformation initiatives.

Following the keynote, McGowan and Jill McSweeney, assistant director of CATL, led an in-person workshop for on-campus attendees, “Envisioning Structures of the Possible,” which invited participants to imagine a new, fully experiential core curriculum requirement for the year 2032. The workshop asked educators to consider experiential learning as a holistic, emergent and relational response to the complexities of higher education today.

Throughout the day, presenters shared research, practices, and teaching strategies aligned with the conference’s themes, creating opportunities for both virtual and in-person participants to connect with colleagues and exchange ideas about the future of teaching and learning.

The Teaching and Learning Conference is held annually at �鶹��Ƶ and remains free for registrants. Information about the 2026 conference schedule, past conferences and future calls for proposals is available on the CATL and TLT websites.

The daylong workshop, co-sponsored by the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center and the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, was designed for faculty and staff who teach or lead study away programs, though it was open to anyone interested in strengthening global learning.

This year’s workshop centered on “Embracing Ambiguity: Multiple Ways of Knowing, Reflection and Preparing Students for Cultural Curiosity.” The theme invited participants to consider how students encounter different knowledge systems, histories, identities and relationships to place through global education.

Following welcome remarks from Dean of Global Education Nick Gozik and Provost and Executive Vice President Rebecca Kohn, the workshop began with a keynote by Laura M. Pipe, director of the University Teaching and Learning Commons at UNC Greensboro.

Pipe, an Indigenous educator of ���첹��ù:��ę (Tuscarora) and ��ǻ徱��ö���ö:�Ծ�’ (Haudenosaunee) descent, explored how global learning can move beyond a single tradition of knowledge. Drawing on Indigenous and decolonial pedagogies, the Toward a Liberated Learning Spirit model and reflective practice, she encouraged participants to cultivate curiosity, humility and reciprocal learning relationships.

The workshop continued with three breakout sessions:

• In “Exploring History and Identity through �鶹��Ƶ’s Campus,” Amanda Laury Kleintop, assistant professor of history and coordinator of the museum studies and public history minor, used �鶹��Ƶ’s campus history as a model for place-based learning. Participants considered how monuments, historical sites and museums can help students critically examine history and identity in both local and study away contexts.
• “Story Circles for Intercultural Learning,” led by Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, director of the Center for Research on Global Engagement, and Sandy Marshall, associate professor of geography, introduced participants to the UNESCO Story Circles model. Through a facilitated experience and debrief, participants explored how storytelling can foster intercultural learning and dialogue.
• Corey Roberts, assistant professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies, led “Layers of an Abroad Experience.” The session encouraged participants to consider travel in relation to land, history and personal identity. Participants developed activities to help students reflect on their relationship with the places they visit and the histories those places hold.

The day concluded with reflections from Gozik, associate dean of global education Jessica Gisclair and assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Jill McSweeney, followed by a wrap-up session.

“The Global Pedagogy Workshop gives us an opportunity to think carefully about how we prepare students to learn across difference,” said Gozik. “Global education asks students to encounter new places, perspectives and ways of knowing. Our role as educators is to help them remain curious, reflective and open when those encounters do not fit neatly into what they already understand.”

“The workshop was a success and continues to be an important and valued partnership between the GEC and CATL,” said McSweeney. “Faculty are able to dedicate time to thinking deeply about the pedagogy they actively practice in country, while also learning in community from their colleagues. Dr. Pipe offered a range of theoretical frameworks to ground that deep thinking, emphasizing the connecting into �鶹��Ƶ’s goals of evidence-based practices across learning experiences.”

Associate Professor of Spanish Mayte de Lama explored how literature can serve as a powerful tool for raising awareness and fostering meaningful conversations about mental health, at the XLII Congreso Internacional de Literatura y Estudios Hispánicos in Spain.

Drawing on Claudia Piñeiro’s novel “Elena Knows,” de Lama presented a classroom project developed for her course Spanish 3200: Reading Texts, Reading Life. In the project, students analyzed one of the novel’s central characters, identifying signs of depression and other factors that contributed to her tragic fate. After completing a workshop on wellness developed and taught by the Center for Design Thinking at �鶹��Ƶ, de Lama’s students used the same framework to engaged in critical reflection, discussion, and collaborative problem-solving to explore steps and interventions that might have changed the character’s trajectory.

Moving beyond literary analysis, the project encouraged students to apply these insights to real-world contexts, helping them recognize warning signs, cultivate empathy and consider ways to support mental well-being within their communities, families, and circles of friendship. The presentation demonstrated how the study of literature can contribute to wellness education while strengthening critical thinking and enhancing students’ analytical, cultural, and interpersonal skills.

Through this interdisciplinary approach, de Lama highlighted the potential of literature classrooms to promote both academic engagement and student well-being, creating opportunities for meaningful learning that extends beyond the text and into students’ everyday lives and relationships.

Sarah Bunnell, director of �鶹��Ƶ’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and associate professor of psychology, and George Talbert, assistant professor of marketing and sales, co-presented “The Power of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Individual and Institutional Transformation, in Business Schools and Beyond.” The online session marked the group’s second community event and drew educators from across Europe and beyond.

Bunnell opened by tracing SoTL’s roots to Ernest Boyer’s influential 1990 framework, which expanded the definition of scholarship to include systematic study of student learning. She then expanded on the field’s history to include later contributions from scholars like �鶹��Ƶ’s Peter Felten, assistant provost for teaching and learning, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, and professor of history, whose work has helped establish public dissemination, peer review and collaboration as foundational principles of SoTL practice.

Talbert then offered a personal lens, reflecting on his own transition from a senior marketing and sales career into higher education and how engaging with SoTL has reshaped his approach to teaching and student learning. Rather than focusing solely on content delivery and student satisfaction, he described moving toward deeper questions about how students’ thinking develops and whether his teaching approaches achieve their intended learning outcomes. This personal insight was highlighted by event organizers as a “”, and its accessibility to faculty across disciplines, not just educational researchers.

Bunnell and Talbert’s work is an example of meaningful collaboration between faculty across disciplines who center student learning, professional growth, and development of one’s teaching practice within their work. Their session is a meaningful contribution to the growing international dialogue about SoTL’s role in higher education, which �鶹��Ƶ is increasingly recognized as leading. The invitation for the keynote reflects the continued recognition of �鶹��Ƶ’s leadership in undergraduate teaching and educational development on the global stage. Following the session, Bunnell and Talbert were invited to remain engaged with the international SoTL community, with plans to continue building on the conversation in future collaborations.

�ճ����Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) is pleased to announce that Tracey Thurnes, professor and academic operations coordinator of physician assistant studies, has been selected as the inaugural CATL Pedagogy Fellow for Teaching and Learning in Graduate and Professional Programs. Beginning in August 2026, Thurnes will serve a two-year term supporting faculty development and advancing excellence in teaching and learning across �鶹��Ƶ’s graduate and professional programs.

Thurnes brings extensive experience in graduate education, curriculum design, assessment and student mentorship to this new role. Throughout her career in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, she has designed and led courses focused on clinical medicine, clinical reasoning, and case-based learning while mentoring graduate students through research and capstone projects. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes applied learning, critical thinking, reflection, and professional identity development—key components of effective graduate and professional education. She has been recognized for her commitment to teaching and mentorship through the School of Health Sciences Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award. Thurnes recognizes that “Excellence in graduate and professional education is not defined solely by content expertise. It also depends on the ability to design learning environments that challenge and support students as they grow into confident professionals.”

Thurnes has been an active participant and contributor to faculty development initiatives across the university. She has completed CATL’s Inclusive Teaching Certificate program and participated in the Neurodiversity Summer Institute, experiences that have informed her approach to creating inclusive and accessible learning environments. In addition, her work with the Center for Design Thinking as both a Curricular and Research Catalyst has provided opportunities to facilitate workshops and collaborate with faculty from a wide range of disciplines. Through leadership roles including interim director of curriculum and instruction for physician assistant studies, chair of Academic Council, and director of the Accelerated Pathways Program, she has developed a broad perspective on teaching, learning, and student success across the university.

As Pedagogy Fellow, Thurnes will work closely with CATL colleagues to develop workshops, consultations and resources that support faculty teaching graduate and professional students across �鶹��Ƶ. She is particularly interested in expanding support for assessment and feedback practices, case-based and experiential learning, student well-being, professional identity formation and inclusive teaching. Through this work, she hopes to create meaningful opportunities for faculty to share ideas, reflect on their teaching, and implement evidence-based strategies that enhance student learning and success.

The article, “,” was co-authored by Jennifer Stephens, director of Academic-Residential Partnerships and assistant professor of education; Jill McSweeney, assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning and assistant professor of wellness; Nina Namaste, professor of Spanish and assistant director of First-Year Seminars in the �鶹��Ƶ Core Curriculum; and Brandy S. Propst, director of �鶹��Ƶ 1010 and assistant director of Academic Advising.

The collaborative nature of this work is, in itself, a unique reflection of �鶹��Ƶ’s approach to the first-year experience, as it brings together offices across academic affairs and student life to create a unified and campus-wide ethos to the first-year experience, which they argue is essential but often missing in institutional approaches to the first-year experience.

The piece explores how institutions should view the first-year experience as a culmination beyond first-year seminars, and that in doing so, it requires us to see this as a unique pedagogical context that differs from teaching students in their sophomore to senior years of college. The authors present a framework for faculty development in First-Year Pedagogies, incorporating CATL’s Teaching for Equity and Inclusion work, and faculty, staff, and student data at �鶹��Ƶ. The framework asks educators to think intentionally about who they teach, what they teach, and how they teach, all within a commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusivity.

The article outlines how other institutions can put this framework into practice, by sharing how over the last two years, �鶹��Ƶ has developed specific faculty development opportunities to bring together faculty and staff from across first-year experiences (e.g., residential learning communities, gateway major courses, advising seminars). The goal of this work has been to build shared values, language, and classroom strategies focused on preparing students to be engaged, autonomous, and self-directed learners during their college degree and supporting students through the numerous transitions they experience during their first-year at college.

This work reflects why �鶹��Ƶ has earned national recognition for the first-year undergraduate experience and emphasizes the importance of uplifting and supporting staff and faculty in order to continue to best support our first-year students.