W&L’s Leslie Wingard Cunningham to Headline an Associated Colleges of the South Summer Virtual Workshop Session The ACS will sponsor virtual sessions on faculty inclusivity and generative artificial intelligence on Aug. 2 and Aug. 15.

By Brian Laubscher
July 22, 2024

Leslie Wingard Cunningham, associate provost for faculty development and professor of English and Africana studies at Washington and Lee University, will lead one of two Summer Virtual Workshop sessions sponsored by the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS).

Cunningham is one of four scholars leading the summer’s first session titled “Setting the Stage for Inclusivity: a Scenarios Workshop for Faculty of all Academic Disciplines and Career Levels.” She will be joined by Patricia Herrera from the University of Richmond, Wilson Terrell, Jr. of Trinity University (Texas) and Maha Zewail-Foote of Southwestern University (Texas) for the virtual session from noon to 1:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 2.

The workshop, led by four teachers of color in the fields of STEM, humanities and social science, is intended for faculty and administrators of all backgrounds, academic disciplines and stages of their careers and seeks to foster an inclusive environment to enable faculty success at ACS schools.

Workshop participants will discuss real-life scenarios, including how to invite regular conversations about DEI in the classroom, and share best practices for welcoming new colleagues and connecting better with colleagues who have been on the job for longer. The session will also explore how professors, advisers, department chairs and deans can best consider a more diverse set of viewpoints and experiences in their professional interactions.

“It has been a joy to work with three like-minded scholar-teachers on constructing this hour-and-a-half online experience,” Wingard-Cunningham said. “Our campuses attract faculty hires who have always been a step above the rest academically.  This workshop is intended to remind us all that our schools can retain these hard-working professors by not only catering to their research, writing and teaching needs, but also by understanding and improving the social interactions that they have in and outside of their classrooms.”

The ACS will host a second virtual workshop session, titled “Building an Inclusive Generative AI Toolset for Student-Centered Learning Activities,” from 2:30 to 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 15. This session will be led by Andrew Bell and Saif Mehkari from the University of Richmond, H. Justin Ballenger of Morehouse College and Melanie Hoag of Southwestern University.

This second virtual session is designed primarily for faculty who wish to explore using generative artificial intelligence in their classroom and assignments. The panelists will identify specific cases for ethical, effective and inclusive tools that support both faculty and students, explore the various generative AI models, develop best practices for addressing the challenging discussions around generative AI and describe emerging paradigms for teaching and learning based on the immersion of AI into the learning environment.

“The ACS workshops, working groups and reading groups are allowing me and my peers to spend time developing innovative ideas in these slower summer months,” said Wingard Cunningham. “From now forward, thankfully, participants can feel like a team, checking in with each other on progress made.”

The second ACS summer session is an excellent follow-up to the well-received “Free Your Summer with AI” workshop hosted on campus this summer by new Harte Center Director JT Torres. Additional AI programming will be presented during the upcoming Fall Academy, which includes sessions presented by W&L’s AI Hub. For a full schedule of Fall Academy events and to register for AI sessions on Aug. 21 and Aug. 29, visit http://go.wlu.edu/fallacademy.

Advance registration is also required for each of the ACS workshop sessions and can be performed by clicking the links posted below.

Aug. 2 • Noon-1:30 p.m. EDT
“Setting the Stage for Inclusivity: a Scenarios Workshop for Faculty of all Academic Disciplines and Career Levels”

Aug. 15 • 2:30-4 p.m. EDT
“Building an Inclusive Generative AI Toolset for Student-Centered Learning Activities”