Teaching and Learning Center

In keeping with AUP’s mission to provide a student-centered, career-enabling and transformative learning experience, the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) creates opportunities for faculty members to reflect on, discuss, and develop their teaching philosophies and practices. With workshops, conversations, consultations, seminars and events with AUP professors and international specialists, the TLC supports faculty endeavors to experiment with imaginative ways to engage students in thoughtful learning in and beyond the classroom. The TLC provides a forum for research on learning and teaching, by supporting faculty–student research collaborations, faculty research on issues of pedagogy, and research on the specificities of teaching and studying at AUP. 

In the 2025-26 school year, the TLC is directed by Professor Russell Williams who works with the support of Faculty Fellow Ruth Corran and TLC Administrator Brenda Torney. The TLC provides a space for thinking, discussing, enthusing about and experimenting with pedagogy at AUP. The TLC does this through informal lunch discussions, as well as more formal seminars and workshops focused on teaching. Faculty and Staff members should keep an eye on email and Outlook calendar invitations for news of forthcoming lunches and workshops. Russell Williams and Ruth Corran are also available to meet with individual faculty members to discuss ideas, pedagogy and to schedule class visits as required.

This year we are particularly interested in questions around Digital Literary and Experiential Learning. We are also thinking about how professors can best navigate sensitive political conversations in the classroom. Past workshops have included new course and syllabus design, using technology in the classroom, grading group work, preparing for class discussion, and more. The TLC also aims to showcase AUP’s excellent case studies of first-rate teaching and learning, and to make scholarship on teaching and learning available to faculty.

The AUP TLC has previously been directed by Professor Rebekah Rast (2018-2020) and Professor Geoff Gilbert (2020-2024). Previous Faculty Fellows have been Elena Berg, Martin Dege, Russell Williams, Maria Bach, Nahid Walji, Kate Yue Zhang and Francesca Balestrieri.

Impressions from the Teaching and Learning Center