Skip to main content

Curriculum Development Workshops

Curriculum Development Workshops

Each year, we offer several online professional development workshops for faculty and staff from SCU and other higher education institutions. Please review which workshops best meet your needs and use the common application form to apply for the workshop(s) of your choice.

Partners

Our workshops are affiliated with several organizations.

SCU’s Center for Sustainability empowers SCU students, faculty, and staff to build a more humane, just, and sustainable world.

The words, Environmental Justice and the Common Good, in a circle with a tree growing out of it and a city skyline

SCU’s Laudato Si' across the Curriculum program supports faculty and staff at SCU and other Jesuit and Catholic colleges and universities to implement the Laudato Si’ University Pathways.

   Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) logo

SCU is a national Center for Sustainability Across the Curriculum affiliated with the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Comparing the Workshops: At a Glance

While the Sustainability across the Curriculum workshop covers the broadest range of content, you do not need to take the workshops in a prescribed sequence. You are also welcome to apply for more than one workshop in the same year. 

Workshop
Dates
Participants
Content

Sustainability across the Curriculum

June 26- June 30, 2023

Designed for faculty, instructional staff, and campus sustainability staff

How to design a module or course on sustainability in any discipline. 

Parallel track on how to design a Sustainability across the Curriculum program at your institution.

Environmental Justice and Integral Ecology

July 10-14, 2023

Designed for faculty, instructional staff, and campus sustainability staff

Especially for colleagues at Jesuit and Catholic colleges and universities

Deeper focus on how to teach about environmental justice and integral ecology in any discipline. 

Parallel track on how to design an Environmental Justice across the Curriculum program at your institution.

Pedagogy for Sustainability and Justice

July 17-21, 2023

Designed for faculty, instructional staff, and campus sustainability staff

Deeper focus on how to design project-based and experiential learning, community-based learning and community-engaged research projects, and using the campus as a living lab for applied learning about sustainability and justice.

Parallel track on how to design a pedagogy-focused professional development program at your institution.

How the Workshops are Taught

Each workshop involves around eight hours of work over one week. Workshops are taught using a hybrid method: live videoconference meetings establish expectations and relationships among participants and provide open office hours with instructors, and self-paced online instruction allows participants to work at their own pace. At the end of each module, participants apply what they have learned to design an aspect of a course or training program, contributing these assignments to small-group online discussions among members of the learning community. Throughout, participants receive feedback on their plans from their cohort and from the instructors. All participants who finish a course will receive a certificate; SCU participants are also eligible for a stipend. The workshops offer access to repositories of curricular examples, pedagogy, case studies, and other materials.

Instructors

Chad Raphael is a Faculty Associate for Sustainability across the Curriculum at SCU’s Center for Sustainability, a Co-Coordinator of the Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative, and a Professor and former Department Chair of Communication at Santa Clara University.

Leslie Gray is a Faculty Associate for Academic Programs at SCU’s Center for Sustainability, and a Professor and former Department Chair in Environmental Studies and Sciences.

Lindsey Kalbrenner is the Director of SCU’s Center for Sustainability, and teaches courses in SCU’s Department of Management and Entrepreneurship.

Veronica Johnson is the Academics and Engagement Program Manager of SCU’s Center for Sustainability, the former Sustainability Coordinator at Southwestern University, and studying for the EdD in Educational Sustainability at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Collectively, the instructors have over 50 years combined experience in teaching, leading undergraduate research projects, and designing campus-based and community-based learning about sustainability. Under Lindsey’s leadership of initiatives across campus operations, education, and campus and community outreach, SCU has earned top rankings for sustainability from AASHE and the Princeton Review.

Costs and Stipends

In 2023, registration fees are $100 per workshop for non-SCU participants.

SCU participants are eligible for a $500 stipend for completing one workshop, $750 for completing two workshops, and $1000 for completing three workshops, plus submitting their revised curricula by September 15.

Application Deadlines

Applications for all workshops open in February and are considered on a rolling basis. Those who apply by Monday, April 3, 2023 will receive top priority. Applications close May 5, 2023. Expect a response to your application within one week of submission, starting in April.

Contact

Please contact sustainability@scu.edu with any questions.

Workshop Descriptions

Participants: This workshop is for instructors in any discipline who are planning to include a module on sustainability in an existing course or to develop a new course focused entirely on sustainability. A parallel track for staff and faculty members who are leading campus sustainability efforts addresses how to design and implement a Sustainability across the Curriculum program at your institution.

Agenda: The workshop will help participants draw inspiration from multiple visions of sustainability, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Laudato Si’ University Pathways,  and academic associations in multiple fields. Modules introduce how to use the campus for experiential and project-based learning about sustainability, as well as options for community-based learning. Exercises will help faculty to begin drafting their learning goals, focal questions for students, and activities. Optional modules focus on teaching about environmental justice, and food systems and food justice. All participants will leave with resources on designing sustainability curricula and assignments in all fields.

SCU instructors who complete the optional module on food systems and food justice are encouraged to qualify their course for the Sustainable Food Systems minor. 

Dates: The workshop begins with a live orientation on Zoom on June 26, 9:30 - 10:30 am (Pacific Time). Thereafter, participants can complete the material at their own pace between June 26 – June 30. Optional office hours are offered on Zoom each day. Participants receive online feedback from workshop instructors and their cohort throughout.

Cost: $100 for non-SCU participants. A limited number of scholarships for applicants coping with budget cuts may be available.

Instructors: Chad Raphael, Leslie Gray, Lindsey Kalbrenner, Veronica Johnson, Erika French-Arnold, Rachel Brand.

Apply here

Participants: This workshop is for instructors in any discipline who want to develop or deepen their teaching about environmental justice and integral ecology. A parallel track for staff and faculty members who are leading campus curriculum reform efforts addresses how to design and implement an Environmental Justice across the Curriculum program at your institution. While the workshop is especially geared to colleagues at Jesuit and Catholic colleges and universities, participants from all institutions are welcome.

Agenda: The workshop will equip participants with a deep understanding of environmental justice and integral ecology, and how they can be integrated into any discipline. Modules introduce the central concepts, and support participants to design learning goals and assignments in their disciplines on multiple issues (such as food justice, water justice, law and advocacy, health, urban planning, community economic development, and more). The workshop also helps instructors to relate academic learning to students’ vocations and community engagement for environmental justice and integral ecology. 

Dates: The workshop begins with a live orientation on Zoom on July 10, 9:30 - 10:30 am (Pacific Time). Thereafter, participants can complete the material at their own pace between July 10 – July 14. Optional office hours are offered on Zoom each day. Participants receive online feedback from the workshop instructor and their cohort throughout.

Cost: $100 for non-SCU participants. A limited number of scholarships for applicants coping with budget cuts may be available.

Instructor: Chad Raphael. 

Apply here

Participants: This workshop is for instructors in any discipline who want to refine or discover new methods of teaching about sustainability and justice. A parallel track for staff and faculty members who are leading campus curriculum reform efforts addresses how to train instructors on your campus in pedagogy for justice and sustainability.

Agenda: The workshop prepares participants to design project-based and experiential learning; create community-based learning and community-engaged research projects; use the campus as a living lab for applied learning about sustainability and justice; and apply Ignatian pedagogy to teach students about sustainability, environmental justice, and integral ecology. Modules support participants to design lesson plans, projects, and other assignments for high-impact, transformative learning experiences, and contributing to sustainability and justice on campus and in communities.

Dates: The workshop begins with a live orientation on Zoom on July 17, 9:30 - 10:30 am (Pacific Time). Thereafter, participants can complete the material at their own pace between July 17 – July 21. Optional office hours are offered on Zoom each day. Participants receive online feedback from the workshop instructor and their cohort throughout.

Cost: $100 for non-SCU participants. A limited number of scholarships for applicants coping with budget cuts may be available.

Instructor: Chad Raphael. 

Apply here

Sustainability and Justice Workshops Application