Acclaimed teaching scholar James Lang joins Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center
James M. Lang, the author of several popular books on teaching, including “Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It” and “Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning,” has joined the faculty of the University of Notre Dame through September of next year.
Lang’s appointment as a visiting professor of the practice is through the Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, a component of Notre Dame Learning, which serves as the hub of learning excellence and innovation at the University. He will spend approximately one week per month on campus and one week per month working remotely with faculty.
A Notre Dame graduate and former professor of English and director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University, Lang stepped down from full-time academic work in 2021 to focus on his writing and teaching. He has consulted with the United Nations on a multiyear project to develop teaching materials in ethics and integrity for high school and college faculty, and he writes a monthly column for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
During Lang’s time at Notre Dame, Notre Dame Learning will offer regular opportunities for faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and others to interact with him and learn from his decades of experience researching student learning.
“For those of us who care deeply about the education students receive in our classes, Jim’s name is synonymous with inspired teaching,” said Ron Metoyer, Notre Dame’s vice president and associate provost for teaching and learning, who leads the work of Notre Dame Learning. “We are excited to be able to welcome him back to campus on an ongoing basis for the next year.”
“My undergraduate learning experiences at the University of Notre Dame were so transformative that I have continued to reflect and write about them to this day,” Lang said. “I have been admiring the innovative work of the Kaneb Center since it was founded, so I am thrilled to partner with Kristi Rudenga and her team this year. The weeks I will spend at the center will offer me an opportunity to contribute new questions and ideas to the exciting conversations already happening on teaching and learning on campus.”
Upcoming events with Lang include:
Re-Framing Final Assignments for This Semester and Beyond
1-2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31, on Zoom
Lang and Rudenga, the director of the Kaneb Center, will present and discuss three pathways to creating or re-creating final assignments in light of the specific needs of students and the changing conditions in which courses are being taught (e.g., amid the growing presence of artificial intelligence). This online webinar is free and open to instructors and teachers both from Notre Dame and elsewhere, but registration is required.
Conversations Around Big Questions: Assessment in the Age of AI
9-10:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 10, in Meeting Room 2 South W210, Duncan Student Center
This event is designed for members of the Notre Dame teaching community to discuss what AI in practice means for instructors in classrooms, departments and at the University. There will be time to network with colleagues, a short overview of a current unanswered question or innovation in AI, and discussion prompts to consider together. Lang will lead the conversation with the Kaneb Center’s Alex Ambrose, Kathy Quardokus Fisher and Amanda Leary. Notre Dame faculty, postdocs and graduate students can register to attend through the Notre Dame Learning website.
Faculty Seminar — Writing Like A Teacher: Expanding the Audiences for Your Academic Research
Spring 2024
Translating the good teaching practices that support learning in the classroom to the writing strategies that engage readers and help them learn from academic research, Lang will work with Notre Dame faculty interested in reaching audiences beyond their disciplinary peers. The faculty seminar will meet once per month from January through May. To ensure participants receive plentiful feedback on their work, enrollment will be limited. See the application for more details.
Future events with Lang will be posted at learning.nd.edu/jim-lang.
Originally published by Notre Dame Learning at learning.nd.edu on Oct. 26.
Latest Faculty & Staff
- Political scientist explores extending constitutional duties to private actorsNew research from Christina Bambrick, the Filip Family Assistant Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame, explores the nonconventional idea that each of us, as private citizens, may be responsible for upholding the constitutional rights of our fellow citizens. She examines constitutional politics across the globe to explore these different approaches to balancing rights and responsibilities in a democratic society.
- Six new faculty join psychology department to advance research on mental health, other disordersThe Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame has hired six new faculty members this year, a significant expansion of a field that is core to the University’s commitment to fighting the U.S. mental health crisis.
- Notre Dame theologian to receive 2024 Ratzinger Prize from VaticanCyril O’Regan, the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been selected to receive the 2024 Ratzinger Prize in Theology, widely regarded as the most prestigious award in the field. Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, will present the award to O’Regan and to sculptor Etsurō Sotoo during a ceremony at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on Nov. 22. Both winners will also have an audience with Pope Francis earlier that day.
- Labor economist seeks to understand how society continues to innovate — and why relationships are key to progressKirk Doran, an associate professor of economics, has a research mission to identify where and how new knowledge is created. He is one of four finalists from leading global institutions for the 2024 Adam Smith Panmure House Prize.
- Virtual learning detrimental to school attendance, especially in districts with higher poverty rates, study findsSince the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of chronic absenteeism have nearly doubled across the nation for students in kindergarten through grade 12. This increase was tied to the mode of instruction during the early years of the pandemic. In particular, schools that employed virtual learning as the primary teaching mode during the 2020-21 school year experienced a greater increase in chronic absenteeism in the following year. That increase was significantly greater in school districts with higher levels of poverty, according to new research from William Evans, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics and co-founder of Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities.
- In memoriam: E. Jane Doering, professor emeritaE. Jane Doering, professor emerita in the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame, died Aug. 23. She was 91.
