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Dear Faculty Colleagues,

It was a delight to see so many of you at the first tunk and the faculty meeting last week. I hope both provided you a chance to catch up with familiar colleagues and meet some new ones. You can find brief biographies of our new tenure-stream, library, athletics, and visiting faculty, as well as of our language interns, at the  page we created for new academic hires.

While I enjoy these larger gatherings, they don’t generally afford the opportunity for sustained conversation. To that end, I write with a series of open invitations to this fall’s “salons” at 9 East Kendrick St.

As many of you know, during the past two years, I have used the dean’s residence at 9 East Kendrick St. for salon-style discussions over meals. At these, we talk openly and sometimes animatedly about a particular theme or idea. For me, at least, these have provided a wonderful way to grapple with some of the big questions facing higher education. Far more importantly, thanks to guests’ willingness to share their varied disciplines, perspectives, and experiences, they have offered me an opportunity to come to know campus colleagues better. 

This fall, I will be hosting another round of dinner conversations. Rather than set the guest lists, I am making an open invitation to this fall’s dinners. I’ll have room for 14 at each table, and will fill them on a first-come basis. By this  so I don’t lose track of anything, please let me know if you would like to join one (or more) of the following themed dinner conversations:

Faculty Mental Health and Burnout 

This evening’s conversation grows out of smaller conversations that have taken place during the past couple of years and may lead to a reading group for interested faculty. Unlike the other dinners on this slate, this one will likely be a series of smaller conversations over dinner rather than one big table.  
Monday, Sept. 23, 6 p.m.
 

Is Grading Harmful?

Participants will discuss a chapter of Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students and What We Can Do About It by Joshua R. Eyler (to be distributed in advance).
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 6 p.m.
 

Remote Past Reception

Not quite a salon, but interesting all the same. I have charged Alan Cooper, director of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, with rethinking that program — including its geographic and temporal bounds. He and I are hosting a reception for those interested in the study of the remote past (however you might understand that). He encourages all interested to “Please come and please bring a dusty crumbling object to discuss (at least metaphorically).”
Thursday, Oct. 10, 5–7 p.m.  
 

Generative AI - Two Years In

Last year in a salon about AI, we asked “Is it The End of Higher Education? A New Chapter for College-level learning? Much Ado About Nothing?” Where are we now on our use, abuse, interest, investment, anxiety, and/or exhilaration about generative AI?
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 6 p.m.
 

Navigating Classroom Dynamics in the Days Following the Election

A happy(?) hour for faculty to share thoughts and plans over mocktails and cocktails. The conversation will be guided by faculty involved in the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation’s planning grant addressing open dialogue and how to facilitate difficult classroom conversations.
Friday, Oct. 25, 4–6 p.m.
 

The Purpose of the University

Truth? Inquiry? Moral formation? Professional preparation? Extending adolescence? All reasonable and undoubtedly some unreasonable answers will be considered as we ponder this big question.
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 6 p.m.
 

Global Literature/Literatures in Translation 

How do we/might we think about the comparative study of literature at �Ա���Ƶ?
Tuesday, Nov. 12, 6 p.m.
 

How Should We Communicate Our Values?

With growing public skepticism about DEI statements in hiring, how should a university like �Ա���Ƶ communicate its core values in the faculty hiring and recruiting process? (I am confident that this dinner will also include some spirited consideration of what our core values even are.)
Monday, Dec. 2, 6 p.m.

I look forward to these conversations and hope you will join one. If you have any questions please reach out to Tammy Still at tstill@colgate.edu.

Finally, while I have you, don’t forget the divisional gatherings at 9 East Kendrick St. this fall:
 

Division of University Studies: Thursday, Sept. 24, 4:30–6 p.m.
Division of the Social Sciences: Tuesday, Oct. 1, 4:30–6 p.m. (the date of this one might change)
Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics: Friday, Nov. 1, 4:30–6 p.m.
Division of Arts and Humanities: Tuesday, Nov. 19, 4:30–6 p.m. (The AHUM Colloquium is not slated for Tuesday this week) 
Department of Physical Education and Recreation: Thursday, Feb. 6, 8–9:30 a.m.

My best,

Lesleigh

Lesleigh Cushing
Provost and Dean of the Faculty
Mark S. Siegel University Professor in Religion and Jewish Studies