2023 Collaborative Unconference: Reimagining the "Impact" in Impact-Focused Education
June 7-9, 2023
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
Join us for the 2023 Collaborative Unconference @ Lehigh University
Reimagining the "Impact" in Impact-Focused Education
June 7-9, 2023
Pre-conference*: Deep-Dive into the Interdependence Toolkit, Wednesday, June 7th, 1-5 PM EST
Reception and Welcome: Wednesday, June 7th @ 6 PM EST
Institute Close: Friday, June 9th @ 3 PM EST
Engage with faculty, professional staff, and thought leaders to pose questions, gain insights, and form new networks. Develop pathways toward innovative best practices in the field of inquiry-driven, impact-focused higher education. Experience the historic and beautiful Mountaintop Campus at Lehigh University and interact with faculty-student teams working on an exciting array of interdisciplinary projects. A far departure from the tyranny of Powerpoint and the exhaustive (and exhausting) programming that dominates conventional conferences, the Unconference format allows for spontaneous networking, as well as structured and unstructured learning opportunities…in a beautiful setting with excellent camaraderie and creative conversations.
The Opportunity
Connect and co-create with scholar-practitioners dedicated to advancing ethical, critical experiential and community-based learning and research for more just, inclusive, sustainable communities
Consider, reaffirm, and reimagine best and promising practices in impact-focused education community-based global learning
Reimagining “impact” and what are the ethical, sustainable, just impacts on our selves, students, communities, and society
Learn from leading edge program models (like the Lehigh Global Social Impact Fellows), approaches to ethical engagement (like Fair Trade Learning), and assessment tools (like the Global Engagement Survey) to advance community-based, ethical engagement, at home and abroad
Apply insights and critical reflection to your own institution, context, and/or program model, workshopping with supportive colleagues
Experience and consider specific local spaces (for instance, Bethlehem), communities, and histories in the context of global and transnational thinking toward more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures
Logistics and Details
LOCATION
Lehigh University, Mountaintop Campus, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
COSTS
$249 Individual Registration
$149 for Collaborative Members or Return Unconference Participants
$99 for Community Colleges, Community Partners, K12, Students, Retirees, Institutions in the Global South
*Preconference:
$199 for Non-Members
$149 for Collaborative Members
LODGING
Comfort Suites Bethlehem
Hyatt Place Bethlehem (TBD)
Airbnb (North and South Bethlehem best neighborhoods for walkability)
Pre-Conference Workshop: Interdependence: Global Solidarity and Local Actions Toolkit (Micro-Credential)
We invite participants in the Collaborative Unconference at Lehigh University to join Eric Hartman and Samantha Brandauer in a pre-conference Interdependence: Global Solidarity and Local Actions Toolkit Workshop
About this 4-hour workshop
The Interdependence: Global Solidarity and Local Actions Toolkit is a collective on-line learning initiative to bring together educators, organizers, and learners who all share a commitment to building more just, inclusive, and sustainable communities.
The Toolkit is adapted in myriad ways; including for setting expectations in civic engagement projects or education abroad, pre-travel considerations of applied ethical research, preparing for place-based learning, cross-cultural/ international team building, in lieu of a textbook for a social/global issues course, as ‘flipped classroom’ group work, and beyond. The theme-based template allows users to scale their approach, picking and choosing from the multi-dimensional offerings to engage in many facets of one theme through different formats (visual, audio, text, discussion prompts, etc.). The pages are also designed so that learners can engage with them at their own pace, or along a set timeline; both synchronously and asynchronously.
Over 4 hours this professional development opportunity will take participants through concrete examples of how the Toolkit is being implemented and create space for participants to develop applications for their own institutional and organizational contexts.