Fall 2020 Faculty Speaker Series for High School Biology Teachers
Thank you for your interest. The Fall 2020 application is now closed.
Please see the sidebar on the left to access recordings of faculty talks and teacher resources.
This year’s program will feature scientists who are actively seeking to better understand the biology and epidemiology of COVID-19, and whose research is contributing to the development of new diagnostics and therapies. We are inviting faculty members from Harvard’s Medical School, T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Faculty of Arts and Sciences to speak to us about their insights into the pandemic which confronts us all. In addition, we will be joined by graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who will engage our participants in activities designed to impart a deeper understanding of this topic.
Program Format and Application Process
All participating teachers commit to attending 5 Thursday afternoon online sessions, beginning at 4PM. Each session will involve a short talk followed by a 15 minute Q&A period. After a quick (15 minute) break, we will reconvene to engage with an activity under the leadership of our presenters and LSO Fellows, ending around 6:15PM.
Because we will be utilizing breakout sessions within the Zoom platform, we may need to limit enrollment. We ask that teachers apply only if they can commit to full participation for each of the 5 afternoons.
Five Thursday afternoon sessions will take place from 4-6:15PM on:
- Week 1 October 8th
- Week 2 October 22nd
- Week 3 November 5th
- Week 4 November 19th
- Week 5 December 3rd
This program is FREE of charge and funded by the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. All participants will receive a PDP certificate upon completion of the program.
Applications are due on Wednesday, September 16th. Applicants must be full-time high school life science teachers or curriculum directors at public, private, parochial or charter schools in New England. We will notify applicants of their status by September 25th and accepted applicants must respond to our acceptance email by October 2nd. All program communication takes place via email.
Socially Engaged Learning at The Derek Bok Center: Life Sciences Outreach Partnership
The mission of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning is to elevate the quality of teaching at all levels. The Center offers avenues through which faculty and graduate students develop teaching and communication skills in their disciplines. The Socially Engaged Learning initiative at the Bok Center provides interested faculty and graduate students the unique opportunity to practice these skills in front of important external audiences. The Lifes Sciences Outreach Fall Faculty Speaker Series consists of faculty talks and activities led by faculty, graduate students and/or post-doctoral fellows. We encourage you to help us think about ways in which to leverage high school classroom experience and pedagogical expertise to help further graduate student development in the areas of teaching and communication.
If you have questions, please contact:
Susan Johnson
Assistant Director of Socially Engaged Learning
Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
susanjohnson@fas.harvard.edu