Greetings!

Thank you all for another fantastic year and your commitment to our students. I'm continuously amazed at all we have been able to accomplish and how much more we are striving to do. As we anticipate the year-end, we are grateful for the countless contributions of our SOGE community. We hope you enjoy the final digest of 2022, highlighting the many ways the members of SoGE continue to make an impact. Boiler up!

Association for General and Liberal Studies (AGLS)

The 63rd annual AGLS conference took place in St. Louis, Missouri, Sept 30 & Oct 1. The conference had several attendees who gathered to learn more about various topics in education that fell under the theme of Moving Forward with Purpose: Works in progress as we emerge from the pandemic. Purdue Global had several individuals present at the conference: Kate Scarpena, Stuart Collins, Jennifer Harrison, Tyra Hall-Pogar, Christiana Bevier and Maricel Lawrence . Thank you all for your hard work and continued commitment to the field of education.

Session: "Addressing Civic Indifference in the University Classroom"

Presenters: Kate Scarpena, Stuart Collins, Jennifer Harrison

The topic of civic indifference has been a consistent source of debate in contemporary society. As educators, we may encounter students who express the concern that their voices do not matter. How do university instructors and / or administrators address student concerns regarding barriers to civic engagement?

For our session, we examined how the Purdue Global Civics course encourages students to explore the rights and responsibilities of American citizens, with an emphasis on considering the power of their individual voices. We also addressed how the Purdue Global Civics course provides asynchronous and synchronous opportunities for students to share their perspectives on public policies and civic engagement; therefore, encouraging students to address topics related to access, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. During the session there was ample participation from session participants. We yielded several potential ideas for follow-up during the upcoming course revision process, including development of a voting plan, possibility of a formal pre/post-course survey in terms of voter registration, possible alignment with other PG coursework, and ways to provide students opportunities for integration of their own local context.

Session: "Futures Thinking: Looking to the future of your institution by 2035"

Presenters: Maricel Lawrence, Kate Scarpena, & Stuart Collins

Central Question Explored: How are institutions using internal or external current events and issues to prompt or guide general and liberal education revision or reform?

Foresight or futures thinking is defined as a discipline that uses signals and drivers of change to think creatively about plausible, possible, probable, and preferred futures by using different techniques and divergent thinking (Bishop, 1998; New Zealand Government - Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2021; Smith & Ashby, 2020). At the end of 2021, a group of faculty members, administration, and staff at Purdue Global launched a strategic foresight team to envision our institution by 2035. Our goal is to provide leadership with provocative scenarios discussing our students of 2035, the type of experiences they expect, and the type of portfolio we will be offering them. This foresight project should create insight and stimulate action today to prepare for the future.

In this workshop session, we introduced the audience to a general understanding of foresight, the project that is underway, and a few trends we are studying. Session participants had the opportunity to actively engage in future thinking exercises to allow participants to discuss trends that could impact their institutions and start using foresight practices. One of the key takeaways from this session is the continued need for both training and integration of practices into curriculum. Key emerging questions: how do we teach Futures Thinking and Anticipatory Thinking as a skill? How do we integrate these skills in meaningful ways within existing curriculum/coursework?

SoGE DEI Committee

CALL FOR SPEAKERS AND PARTICIPANTS

• The CTL is looking for speakers for Black History Month in February 2023 and Women’s History Month in March 2023. Complete their form to sign up.

• The 2023 General Education Conference call for proposals is open. You can find more information at the website here.

• If you would like to participate in SoGE DEIB events or have ideas, complete the committee’s December/January form here.

RESOURCES

This time of year can be especially stressful for some. If you would like resources on managing holiday stress, please visit the employee assistance mental health resources here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• Article: Friends in Flight Crossing the Finish Line Together

• Article: Daniels, Chiang meet with members of Iranian cultural club

• Event Recording: Purdue Global World AIDS Day Panel

• Article: LaQuinta’s Purdue Global Story: Finally isn’t the same as too late

• Event Recording: Purdue Global’s National First Generation College Student Celebration

• Article: Somita’s Purdue Global Story: Shaking up the legal field

Fall Photo Contest Winners

The Math Department recently hosted a Fall Photo Contest, and the winners were just announced. The department received 80 photo submissions to the contest, which consisted of 4 categories; one winner was selected from each category. Thirty-seven people voted - thank you for voting! Each winner received a $10 Amazon gift card.

And the winners are….Pam Cox,Mark Marino,Dawn Cox, and Nadine Ayoub. Congrats!

Please click HERE to view the winning photographs.