Navigating the Path from Eager Graduate Student TA to Successful Teaching Faculty
Who: Dr. Darren Hoffmann
When: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, Noon-1:00pm
Where: 226 Weill Hall
Sandwiches and Refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP to cornellcte@cornell.edu or call 5-3990.
Description: In this talk I will be retracing my progression from a young student with an interest in a teaching career to a decorated junior faculty member. In reflecting on my own path, I will be discussing many important topics in the career development of all teaching faculty. We will talk about how to identify yourself as a teacher and discover your own teaching philosophy. I will share with you some of my experiences with a future faculty preparation program and how it has impacted my career. We'll discuss finding the right job for you and how to best start off at that new job. Finally, we'll talk about what it takes to transition from being a good teacher to a great teacher. The presentation will be rather informal, not discipline-specific, and you are encouraged to bring as many questions as you like.
For more information please contact:
Richard Kiely, Director, CTE-TA Program, rck6@cornell.edu
This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Dept. of Biomedical Sciences
Bio: Darren Hoffmann, PhD. joined the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa in 2006 and has received numerous awards for his teaching as a graduate student and faculty member. After a successful turn as a TA in his undergraduate anatomy course and an eye-opening stint as a substitute elementary music teacher, Darren decided to do the unthinkable – get a Ph.D. in anatomy working in the lab of Dr. Robin Davisson, with the intention of becoming an anatomy teacher (i.e. not necessarily researcher). During graduate school at Iowa, Dr. Hoffmann scavenged as many teaching opportunities as he could and was the first student to progress through a new future faculty preparation program for graduate students at Iowa. In the three years since graduate school, Darren has gone on to be highly successful as a faculty member in the Medical and Dental schools at the University of Iowa, being named Teacher of the Year in both schools in 2008-2009.