
Join us every Friday during the semester for a delicious pizza lunch and an engaging topic related to the latest in teaching and learning! This fall, we'll have a book club every month, a series on classroom discussion, and several sessions on common issues instructors face in the classroom. Can't make it in person? No problem! Register on Campus Groups and you'll receive a Zoom link to join us virtually (you'll have to provide your own pizza, however!). Relax, make connections with colleagues across campus, and learn a thing or two with UCITE!
Check out the schedule for Fall 2025 and don't forget to register!
Fall 2025 Dates and Topics
Friday, August 29, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
How to set a relational tone with your students: communicating through course documents and in-person.
Friday, September 5, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
Are there differences among how we read and how our students read?
“When students enter college environments, they…encounter texts and readings that they have never seen before. … [T]hey will likely not have experienced exposure to the kinds of rigorous texts that define learning in higher education. From peer-reviewed research articles to white papers and policy briefs, students in college encounter new genres of reading… Yet they may not have necessarily have accumulated the experiences to help them approach and respond to these readings with clarity” (Cohn, 2021, p. 10).
In this session, we will discuss strategies for introducing your students to ways of reading new and different text genres that they may not have been exposed to in high school.
Friday, September 12, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
Join UCITE on 9/12, 10/10, and 11/14 in a Book Club that explores how instructors can anticipate and then navigate some of the inevitable foul-ups that happen during the course of the semester. We'll have a copy of the book ready for you at the first session when you register on Campus Groups for at least two of the three sessions.
This year we'll be reading , by Jessamyn Neuhaus. Together, we’ll explore strategies for “what to do when things go wrong” in the classroom, sharing insights that turn missteps into meaningful learning moments. These gatherings also offer a unique chance to connect with colleagues from across the university, fostering supportive conversations and fresh perspectives on teaching.
The September 12 reading will be Part 1: Inequity (pp. 23 to 73).
Friday, September 19, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
This is the first session in a series of four (other dates are 10/3, 10/17, and 11/7) chatting about topics from (Brookfield & Preskill, 2016), a practical resource for energizing classroom conversations. We'll have a copy of the book ready for you at the first session when you register on Campus Groups for at least two of the three sessions. Each session will highlight strategies to make discussion a powerful tool for advancing in-class learning, with opportunities to reflect on how they can be adapted across disciplines. The book club also provides a welcoming space to connect with colleagues from across the university, exchanging ideas and building community around teaching.
This week we'll be going over techniques to get discussion going with new groups -- especially helpful in large lecture halls!
Friday, September 26, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
What do my course evaluations actually mean?
UCITE leads a conversation about how student perceptions of our teaching (i.e., course evaluation surveys) can be reframed to glean constructive ideas for potential change. We will also discuss ideas to teach students how their perceptions can be “used for good.”
Friday, October 3, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
This is the second session in a series of four (other dates are 9/19, 10/17, and 11/7) chatting about topics from (Brookfield & Preskill, 2016), a practical resource for energizing classroom conversations. We'll have a copy of the book ready for you at the first session when you register on Campus Groups for at least two of the three sessions. Each session will highlight strategies to make discussion a powerful tool for advancing in-class learning, with opportunities to reflect on how they can be adapted across disciplines. The book club also provides a welcoming space to connect with colleagues from across the university, exchanging ideas and building community around teaching.
This week we'll be going over the Top Ten Techniques for Text-Based Discussions.
Friday, October 10, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
Join UCITE on 9/12, 10/10, and 11/14 in a Book Club that explores how instructors can anticipate and then navigate some of the inevitable foul-ups that happen during the course of the semester. We'll have a copy of the book ready for you at the first session when you register on Campus Groups for at least two of the three sessions.
In this book club, we'll be reading , by Jessamyn Neuhaus. Together, we’ll explore strategies for “what to do when things go wrong” in the classroom, sharing insights that turn missteps into meaningful learning moments. These gatherings also offer a unique chance to connect with colleagues from across the university, fostering supportive conversations and fresh perspectives on teaching.
The October 10 reading will be Part 2: Disconnection.
Friday, October 17, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
This is the third session in a series of four (other dates are 9/19, 10/3, and 11/7) chatting about topics from (Brookfield & Preskill, 2016), a practical resource for energizing classroom conversations. We'll have a copy of the book ready for you at the first session when you register on Campus Groups for at least two of the three sessions. Each session will highlight strategies to make discussion a powerful tool for advancing in-class learning, with opportunities to reflect on how they can be adapted across disciplines. The book club also provides a welcoming space to connect with colleagues from across the university, exchanging ideas and building community around teaching.
This week we'll be going over the Top Ten Techniques to Foster Active Listening.
Friday, October 24, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
Congratulations! You have made it through the middle of the semester (and, hopefully, so have your students). Take a wellness break with UCITE and enjoy a game with colleagues and our educational development team.
Friday, October 31, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
Join UCITE and Molly Watkins (Dean, Undergraduate Advising Support Office, Division of Student Affairs) to brainstorm ways of supporting students in your classes who are struggling. We’ll touch on questions such as:
- How can instructors tell when students are struggling in their classes?
- What are some useful things that instructors can do to find out what is happening in students' lives, and how this might be impacting their studies? What kinds of language can instructors use to draw students out, if they are comfortable doing so?
- What have students been struggling with during the Fall semester so far? What on-campus resources are available for student support? How can students access them?
Friday, November 7, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
This is the fourth session in a series of four (other dates are 9/19, 10/3, and 10/17) chatting about topics from (Brookfield & Preskill, 2016), a practical resource for energizing classroom conversations. We'll have a copy of the book ready for you at the first session when you register on Campus Groups for at least two of the three sessions. Each session will highlight strategies to make discussion a powerful tool for advancing in-class learning, with opportunities to reflect on how they can be adapted across disciplines. The book club also provides a welcoming space to connect with colleagues from across the university, exchanging ideas and building community around teaching.
This week will be about the Top Ten Techniques to Discussions Requiring a Decision.
Friday, November 14, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
Join UCITE on 9/12, 10/10, and 11/14 in a Book Club that explores how instructors can anticipate and then navigate some of the inevitable foul-ups that happen during the course of the semester. We'll have a copy of the book ready for you at the first session when you register on Campus Groups for at least two of the three sessions.
In this book club, we'll be reading , by Jessamyn Neuhaus. Together, we’ll explore strategies for “what to do when things go wrong” in the classroom, sharing insights that turn missteps into meaningful learning moments. These gatherings also offer a unique chance to connect with colleagues from across the university, fostering supportive conversations and fresh perspectives on teaching.
The November 14 reading will be Part 3: Distrust.
There will be no Pizza & Pedagogy sessions held on Friday, November 21 due to our staff being away at a conference and Friday, November 28 due to the University holiday. We'll be back on December 5!
Friday, December 5, 2025
12:45 PM to 1:45 PM
Herrick Room, Allen Memorial Library
Join us to celebrate the end of the semester and reconnect with colleagues! This is a great way to decompress at the end of the semester.
Past Topics
- Starting the Semester Successfully: Syllabus and Course/Class Sequence
- Student Feedback: Collecting, Acknowledging, and Learning from Student Perceptions
- Context Matters: What You Need to Know Before You Start Teaching a Course
- Teaching Matters: Start Writing Your Teaching Philosophy Statement
- Civil Discourse: Part 1, Planning Ahead
- Civil Discourse: Part 2, Facilitating Student Conversations
- Civil Discourse: Part 3, Managing Discourse in Crisis
- Who and What? GenAI in Teaching and Learning
- When and How? Assessing Student Writing in the Age of AI
- Why and How? Why Engage with AI and How Will AI Tools Continue to Impact Higher Education?
- You Have a TA - Now What?
- The Academic Job Search
- Open Educational Resources (OERs) for Teaching and Learning
- How to Create a High Structure Course to Enhance Student Learning
- Mentoring Success with Undergraduate Students
- Mentoring Success with Graduate Students
- Designing Your Course as an "Instructor of Record"
- Teamwork in Classroom Instruction
- Where's the Professor? Navigating Students' Perceptions of Young Professors