By Carolyn Thomas, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education, Professor of American Studies

This past year I co-facilitated our First Generation Faculty Learning Community with CEE's associate director, Kem Saichaie. One moment stands out as most powerful to me, and I’ve reflected on it repeatedly over the subsequent months.

By Milmon F Harrison, Associate Professor, Department of African American & African Studies

By Laci Gerhart-Barley, Assistant Professor of Teaching Evolution and Ecology and Amelia Munson PhD Candidate, Animal Behavior Grad Group

Members of the inaugural First Generation Faculty Learning Community reflected on the following prompt: How does being a first gen faculty member change the way you teach? Below are there responses and classroom approaches:

By Anita Oberbauer, Ph. D., Professor, Department of Animal Science; Associate Dean for Agricultural Sciences.

Professor Oberbauer is the recipient of the 2018-19 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement.

By Mona Monfared, Assistant Professor of Teaching in Molecular and Cellular Biology

By: Joe Anistranski, Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Human Ecology 

In my first two quarters teaching at UC Davis I was assigned four separate courses, including our three-course lifespan development series (HDE 100A, HDE 100B, HDE100C, HDE 141). These courses served more than 800 students, total. As daunting as that task was, designing and implementing these courses provided a prime opportunity to implement and test evidence-based classroom practices.

By: Julie Sze, Professor of American Studies

My goal, if not always the actual practice, is to inculcate a culture and vocabulary of liberatory and transformative education.  

When I think about the transformative experiences I had as an undergraduate at a UC 25+ years ago, I remember amazing professors in huge lecture classes. I remember connecting with Teaching Assistants on a personal level. And I remember the creative assignments that taught me how to think and write differently. 

By: Becca Thomases, Associate Professor of Mathematics

By: Marco Molinaro, Assistant Vice Provost for Educational Effectiveness