The CTL sponsors Community Friday luncheon learning opportunities during the fall and spring semesters. These events are designed to give faculty and staff the chance to enjoy lunch with colleagues, learn from presenters, and engage in conversation and reflection. Topics for discussion will focus on pedagogy, teaching and learning, faculty development, and student success. Announcements are sent out on a weekly basis with a request for RSVPs and lunch options.
Unless otherwise noted, Community Fridays take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Humanities and Social Studies Center, Room A1231, with lunch service beginning at 11:45 a.m.
Fall 2026 Community Friday Schedule
Please join us on Aug. 28 to learn more about the many offices and departments across campus who work to support teaching and learning at the college. Representatives from these offices will be available for conversation at tables in the HSSC atrium.
The lunch buffet will open at 11:45 a.m. in the HSSC multipurpose room, A1231.
Please join us at the next Community Friday on Sept. 4 for a conversation with facilitators Kayla Reed, Gina Schlesselman-Tarango, Chelsea Soderblom, and Liz Queathem. Libraries may not be the first places that come to mind when thinking of sustainable initiatives. But not only has the American Library Association adopted sustainability as a core value, many libraries across the country are also taking action to better serve their communities. Grinnell College Libraries are no exception, and we are excited to share that we are pursuing a certificate from the Sustainable Libraries Initiative this year. What does that mean? Learn what the libraries are doing to renew our commitment to sustainability and share your thoughts on the sustainable actions you want to see at Grinnell and in the libraries.
Early arrival is encouraged for the lunch buffet that will open at 11:45 a.m. Thank you for using reusable flatware to cut down on plastic waste. The fall Community Friday schedule is available on the CTL website at Community Fridays - Center for Teaching and Learning.
The Office of International Students will offer an update on current issues impacting F-1 students and J-1 Exchange Visitors. We will reflect with intention on ways that staff and faculty practice inclusive advising and foster a welcoming community - when so many valued opportunities are restricted or unavailable to 20% of our student body.
You are cordially invited to join us at the Community Friday on September 18th. Mariko Schimmel, Associate Professor of Japanese, and Jin Feng, Professor of Chinese and Japanese, and Orville and Mary Patterson Routt Professor of Literature at Grinnell College in Chinese and Japanese, alongside their student assistants, will share research into the experiences of Grinnell College's Chinese and Japanese alumni from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century.
Early arrival is encouraged for the lunch buffet that opens at 11:45 a.m. Thank you for using reusable flatware to cut down on plastic waste. The fall Community Friday schedule is available on the CTL website at Community Fridays - Center for Teaching and Learning.
You are cordially invited to join us at the Community Friday on Sept. 25. Associate Dean Andi Tracy and CTL Director Erik Simpson will set the stage for conversation about AI in the current moment, both at Grinnell and more broadly. We will begin the session with some remarks about the many ways our circumstances have changed since the last AI-related Community Friday session a year ago, from institutional work at Grinnell to changes in AI technologies and their reception. The session will include time for the gathered community to share their ideas and questions in conversations, especially exploring the ways in which new questions and challenges may have arisen in your own experience of AI-related issues in the past year.
Early arrival is encouraged for the lunch buffet that opens at 11:45 a.m. Thank you for using reusable flatware to cut down on plastic waste. The fall Community Friday schedule is available on the CTL website at Community Fridays - Center for Teaching and Learning.
Dissatisfied with your grading system? Have you considered... an alternative one? In this Community Friday event, we give an introduction to the wacky world of alternative grading systems, discuss why you might consider adopting such a system (especially in the age of generative AI), and describe how you might implement such a system in your courses. To help facilitate our exploration, a panel of faculty across all three divisions with experience in alternative grading systems will share their motivations, system designs, and implementation journey. By the end of lunch, we hope that you better understand what alternative grading entails and how you might change your grading practices as a result (in both small and large ways).
Educational assessment isn't about chasing compliance monsters. It's about investigating the questions that matter most about student learning. Hop aboard the Mystery Machine for a Halloween-inspired Community Friday where we'll explore how curiosity, thoughtful questions, and careful examination can help us uncover clues, unmask assumptions, and solve educational mysteries. Together, we'll consider how assessment can deepen our understanding of student success and reveal opportunities to improve learning by creating more effective educational experiences for our students.
Early arrival is encouraged for the lunch buffet that opens at 11:45 a.m. Thank you for using reusable flatware to cut down on plastic waste. The fall Community Friday schedule is available on the CTL website at Community Fridays - Center for Teaching and Learning.
What is the experience of a high schooler these days? This session will feature a panel of four experts: Nora Main, a high school counselor at The Blake School in Minneapolis, formerly with Macalester College; Todd Crites, a social studies teacher at Grinnell High School; Lucy Skouson, a local high school student and sister of a Grinnell College graduate; and Farhan Rahman, a current Grinnell College international student. The panel will reflect on academic expectations in secondary education including assignments, grading, and attendance; how technology is used in the classroom and on college applications; and the relationship parents have with schools. Let’s think together about what forces are shaping high schoolers these days and wrestle with whether and how to adapt to a changing educational environment or to ask students to adapt to Grinnell.
Early arrival is encouraged for the lunch buffet that opens at 11:45 a.m. Thank you for using reusable flatware to cut down on plastic waste. The fall Community Friday schedule is available on the CTL website at Community Fridays - Center for Teaching and Learning.
Please join us for Community Friday on November 13! We are excited to welcome Kate Ferraro, Assistant Dean of Academic Success in the Academic Success Center, along with her panelists.
While much time is spent thinking about a student's first year at Grinnell, the second year is a pivotal moment of a student's college experience where they are asked to level up and make some big decisions! Come learn about the Level Up: Second Year Program from a panel of second year experts who can share what we are already doing to support students during this important period and imagine where this program can go next. We will hear from Donna Miller (Careers, Life, and Service), Alicia Stanley (Institute for Global Engagement), Jillian Steelberg (Academic Success Center), and Joyce Stern (Academic Success Center). This session will be particularly useful for faculty and staff who work closely with first and second year students.
Early arrival is encouraged for the lunch buffet that opens at 11:45 a.m. Thank you for using reusable flatware to cut down on plastic waste. The fall Community Friday schedule is available on the CTL website at Community Fridays - Center for Teaching and Learning.
Further details to come.
Further details to come.
Further details to come.