“Sites of Learning – Teaching and Learning Spaces in and outside the Classroom” The 13th Annual Toronto German Studies Symposium 2021 (April 22-23)
Painting by Jabbar Muhammad

“Sites of Learning – Teaching and Learning Spaces in and outside the Classroom” The 13th Annual Toronto German Studies Symposium 2021 (April 22-23)

Organized by Stefana Gargova

April 22-23, 2021
University of Toronto
online
Program available here.
Please register here.
Brochure available here.
Resource sheet available here.

The Toronto German Studies Symposium (TGSS), organized by the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at University of Toronto, is an annual highlight for post-secondary educators and academics in the field. This year, the Symposium will have a teaching focus and will offer an opportunity for experts and leaders in pedagogy to come together and share their knowledge and experiences. This will also be the first virtual TGSS event to be held exclusively on Zoom.

The theme of Sites of Learning will address current shifts in education and explore new perspectives on contemporary and broadened understanding of learning and knowledge production. Specifically, we will focus on the various learner identities and viewpoints present in our classrooms, as well as on how these affect the ways we occupy and use spaces – as learners, as teachers and as a community. These spaces, both figurative and literal, impact, shape and transform teaching and learning experiences. Presenters at this year’s Symposium will offer insights into diverse teaching strategies aimed at magnifying their potential.

Participants will present in various formats ranging from talks to performances and workshops, in which active participation is welcome. The first day of the Symposium will be dedicated to teaching strategies that allow learners to claim learning spaces. In order to frame our thinking around these topics, our initial sessions will offer perspectives on various identities in the classroom, as well as tangible solutions for creating inclusive learning spaces. The second half of the Symposium will be dedicated to the ways in which physical learning spaces can be expanded and augmented, affording new kinds of learning, including digital.

While some of the presentations will focus on learning spaces within German language and German studies classrooms, the majority of presenters will share insights and strategies applicable to a variety of teaching subjects and environments. We are convinced that the Symposium will be the place for educators from various fields to discover methods and ideas that they can introduce into their own learning and teaching spaces thus enhancing and improving student learning and experiences across the university campus.

Thursday, April 22nd, 2021

  • 9am – 9:30am: Opening Remarks by Prof. Stefan Soldovieri, Chair of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and Prof. Susan McCahan, Vice-Provost, Academic Programs and Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education
  • 9:30am – 10:30am: Indigenous Knowledge and Perspectives in Post-Secondary Classrooms by Cat Criger, Cayugan from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
  • 10:30am – 11:45am: Incorporating Indigenous Content into the Language Curriculum, Workshop by Nicola Townend, B.Ed., MA, UTS
15 Minutes Break
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm: Emotions: The Invisible Teacher, by Dwayne Brown, OCT, M.Ed., PhD York University
30 Minutes Lunch Break
  • 1:30pm – 2:30pm: Cellphilm Production in the Classroom and Community: Re-focusing Everyday Media Production for Teaching, Learning, and Speaking Back, Workshop by Casey Burkholder, Assistant Professor, University of New Brunswick
  • 2:30pm – 3:30pm: Utilizing Immersive Technology to Explore Culture, Language and Identity, Workshop by Paul Alexander, PhD, Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
  • 3:30pm – 4:30pm: Mindfulness as Education in Higher Ed Classrooms, by Shelley Murphy, PhD, Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education”

Friday, April 23rd, 2021

  • 9am – 10:15am: Erzählstunde mit Katharina Ritter, Geschichtenerzählerin
15 Minutes Break
  • 10:30am – 11:15am: Theater as Classroom and Classroom as Theater: Taking on New Identities in the German Language Classroom, by Lisa Parkes, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Director of German Language Program, Harvard University
15 Minutes Break
  • 11:30am – 12:30pm: Identity, language learning, and open technology: Global Storybooks in Germany, by Prof. Bonny Norton, FRSC, University of Britisch Columbia
30 Minutes Lunch Break
  • 1:00pm – 1:30pm: Viewing of Cellphilms, with Casey Burkholder, Assistant Professor, University of New Brunswick
  • 1:30pm – 2:30pm: Critical Environmental Thinking in Beginning German Classes, by Kiley M. Kost, PhD, Visiting Assistant Professor, Carleton College
  • 2:30pm – 3:30pm: Competing Goods? Social Justice & Cultures of Environmentalism in the Classroom, by Joela Jacobs, PhD,Assistant Professor, University of Arizona
  • 3:45pm – 5:00pm: Feedback Strategies: Engaging Students in Dialogue On-campus and Remotely, Workshop by Carolyn Samuel, PhD, Senior Academic Associate, Teaching and Learning Services, McGill University, and Eva Dobler, MA, Teaching and Learning Consultant, Teaching and Learning Services, McGill University

Closing Remarks