Sarah Purcell presents on Georgia Dentel

Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

The Mission of the CTLA

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment cultivates communities of inquiry and practice to promote excellent teaching, learning, and scholarship in the liberal arts. We nurture the learning environment of Grinnell College by fostering conversation and reflection at the intersection of pedagogy, the scholarship of teaching and learning, instructional design, and academic technologies. We advance practices of teaching and learning that are accessible, inclusive, and grounded in the best available evidence.

Community Friday, January 30: “The Liberal Arts: A Conversation,” facilitated by Jerry Seaman, Special Advisor to the President for Strategy

JRC 101
noon—1 p.m.
Lunch buffet will open at 11:45 a.m.
Please RSVP by Jan. 27 at this link: Community Friday RVSP for Jan 30

 

Jerry Seaman

Please join us on January 30th as we welcome Jerry Seaman, Special Advisor to the President for Strategy, to facilitate “The Liberal Arts:  A Conversation." 

To get us started, a panel comprised of Todd Armstrong, Paul Hutchison, Carolyn Jacobson, and Elaine Marzluff, from the faculty Executive Council, will share very brief remarks on the following questions:  

  • Why is it important to talk about the liberal arts at Grinnell? Why should we have this conversation right now? 

  • What do we mean when we say that Grinnell is a liberal arts college?  

From there, we intend to spend most of our time in table conversation. Specifically, we will explore the following questions together: 

  • How do you personally live out Grinnell’s liberal arts mission through your work? 

  • What would help you do this work better? 

This Community Friday is an opportunity for faculty and staff to discuss these questions together; other spring 2026 discussions and gatherings in academic affairs have been separately announced to the faculty by Dean Feingold. Please join us, enjoy the company of colleagues, share, and discover new perspectives and ideas.  

Please note that our venue will be JRC 101 so that we may welcome as many participants as possible.  The lunch buffet will open at 11:45 a.m. Thank you for bringing your reusable flatware to cut down on plastic waste.

Recently at Community Friday

Dan Kaiser presents at Community Friday
Iyelli Ichile
Megan Baldree and Beth Perlman presenting at Community Friday
traditional vs. flipped models for learning
David Harrison presenting at Community Friday
Joyce Stern presenting at Community Friday on October 10, 2025
Panel at queer/trans pedagogy event for Community Friday
PM Osera presenting on generative AI
Sarah Purcell presents at Community Friday
Todd Armstrong presents at Community Friday, Sept. 12, 2025

Events, Programs, and Resources

Community Friday with Joseph Tucker Edmonds

Spring 2026 Community Fridays

Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Humanities and Social Studies Center, Room A1231, from noon to 1 p.m. Lunch is served beginning at 11:45 a.m. 

  • Jan. 23: “The Shared Responsibility of Student Success,” with Jerry Seaman, Gemma Sala, Joyce Stern, Ben Newhouse, JC Lopez, and Mark Peltz.
     
  • Jan. 30: “The Liberal Arts: A Conversation,” a structured conversation led by Jerry Seaman, with faculty panelists Todd Armstrong, Paul Hutchinson, Carolyn Jacobson, and Elaine Marzluff [note: this event will be held in JRC101].
     
  • Feb. 6: ”Leave My Keys on the TV: Family Dynamics and the Sexual Selfhood Development of Black Gay Men,” with Marlon M. Bailey of Washington University, sponsored by Thabiti Willis.
     
  • Feb. 13: ”Consensus Building Workshop,” with Jose Cerado Lopez, Elon University. Sponsored by the Wilson Center.
     
  • Feb. 20: “The AAUP and its Role Supporting Faculty,” with Adey Almohsen, John Petrus, Sharon Quinsaat, and Jordan Reznick.
     
  • Feb. 27: ”Sustainability at Grinnell College,” with Liz Queathem and Chris Bair [note: this event will be held in JRC 101].
     
  • March 6: ”Helping Students Sell the Liberal Arts on the Job Market,” with Leslie Lemire, Mark Peltz, and Dustin Dixon.
     
  • March 27: To be determined.
     
  • April 3: To be determined.
     
  • April 10: To be determined.
     
  • April 17: To be determined.
     
  • April 24: ”Sixty-Five Years of Research in Psychological Development and Excellence in Early Childhood Education at Grinnell College,” with Ann Ellis and Karen Veerhusen Langerud.
     
  • May 1: To be determined.
     
  • May 8: ”DLAC Teaching with Technology Fair,” sponsored by the Digital Liberal Arts Collaborative. [note: this event will be held in JRC 101].
Faculty discussion at Teaching with Technology Fair

Faculty Resources

Faculty workshop led by Kevin Gannon

Summer 2025 Workshops

The schedule for summer 2025 workshops is shown below. Faculty and staff will have the opportunity to enroll in GLADIS for summer workshops of interest. If you have any questions, please contact the CLTA (Susan Ferguson or Karla Hall). For descriptions and more details, see the Summer Workshop web page.

  • May 20, 21, 22: Psychology Department Curriculum Assessment Workshop (Psychology faculty only)
     
  • May 27, 28, 29, 30: Advising a Career-Anxious Student Body
     
  • June 2, 3, 4: Academic Freedom
     
  • June 2, 3, 4: What does AI Mean to Our Community at Grinnell College?
     
  • June 9, 10, 11, 12: Your Students' Writing Process and Generative AI: A Marriage Made in Heaven or Hell?
     
  • June 16, 17, 18: High Performance Computing: Resources and Strategies for Teaching and Research
     
  • June 17, 18, 20: Commenting on Student Writing: Strategies and Best Practices
     
  • June 23, 24, 25, 26: Climate Change and the Grinnell College Curriculum
     
  • June 30, July 1, 2: Flipping the Grinnell Classroom
     
  • June 5, 12, 26, July 10, 17: Grantwriting and Proposal Development: Seeking Funding for Research and Pedagogy
     
  • July 21, 22, 23, 24 25: Tutorial Summer Workshop
     
  • July 29, 30, 31: Teaching and Learning in Prison
     
  • August 4, 5, 6: Open Educational Practices and Your Curriculum
     
  • August 5, 6, 7: Restorative Practices: Peacemaking Circle Training
     
  • August 11, 12, 13: Languages and the Future of the Liberal Arts: Three Perspectives
     
  • August 11, 12, 14: Designing and Sequencing Writing and Research Assignments
     
  • August 18, 19, 20: Peace and Conflict Studies in a Time of Global Crises and Insecurity

Scenes of Teaching and Learning at Grinnell College

Professor Elias Saba leads a class activity in a religious studies course

Professor Elias Saba and students in a class activity in a religious studies course.

Kristen Burson and students in research lab

Professor Kristen Burson works with students in her physics research lab.

poster presentation
Physics Professor Charlotte Christiansen demonstrating a concept at the chalkboard.

Physics Professor Charlotte Christiansen explains concepts during class.

Phil Jones tutorial students
Grinnell College Mock Trial team

The Grinnell College Mock Trial team.

On a day to day basis the CTLA works to

  • Support the development of teachers and learners through consultations, tutorials, and workshops at the course and curricular levels
     
  • Build a culture of reflection, engagement, and celebration around liberal arts teaching and learning through programming such as Community Friday lunch and the annual Teaching with Technology Fair
     
  • Welcome new faculty members to the Grinnell College learning community through New Faculty Orientation and ongoing programs of faculty development
     
  • Promote assessment of course, department, and college-wide learning outcomes through consultations and reviews of department-level assessment practices
  • Integrate established and emerging digital technologies, methods, and practices into teaching, learning, and scholarship through the Digital Liberal Arts Collaborative
     
  • Administer major elements of the digital campus infrastructure for teaching and learning, such as the Sites@Grinnell platform for web hosting and digital publishing
     
  • Provide training and support for classroom technologies and hardware/software applications such as Story Maps, Hypothes.is, and WeVideo
     
  • Collaborate with campus partners such as the Libraries, ITS, and DASIL, and coordinate campus-wide initiatives such as the Vivero Digital Scholarship Fellows program

Contact Information

Phone
641-269-3020

Humanities and Social Studies Center, S1370
1226 Park Street
Grinnell, IA 50112
United States

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